'THE MOST IMPORTANT LIVING RUSSIAN WRITER' New Yorker
MY HEAD SPINS. I'M LYING IN A BED. WHERE AM I? WHO AM I?
A man wakes up in hospital. He has no idea who he is or how he came to
be there. The doctor tells him his name, but he doesn't remember it. He
remembers nothing.
As memories slowly resurface, he begins to build a picture of his former
life. Russia in the early twentieth century, the turbulence of the
revolution, the aftermath. But how can this be possible when the pills
beside his bed are dated 1999?
In the deft hands of Eugene Vodolazkin, author of the multi
award-winning Laurus, The Aviator paints a vivid, panoramic picture
of life in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, richly
evoking the sights, sounds and political turmoil of those days.
Reminiscent of the great works of Russian literature, and shortlisted
for the Russian Booker Prize, it cements Vodolazkin's position as the
rising star of Russia's literary scene.