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A review by fallona
Stravaging “Strange” by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
5.0
I received an electronic ARC via NetGalley.
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky has been one of my favorite writers since I first encountered one of his stories as an undergraduate. I've been delighted by the chance to read more of his work in English translation thanks to this collection (and, from the same publisher, [b:Countries That Don't Exist: Selected Nonfiction|56198978|Countries That Don't Exist Selected Nonfiction|Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1608624490l/56198978._SY75_.jpg|87538959]). Being already familiar with and fond of the author, I was well-disposed toward this book from the beginning. It did not disappoint.
The stories in this collection are, as I suppose the title suggests, often strange. They're also surprisingly moving, and while it helps to have some understanding of Krzhizhanovsky's context before enjoying his stories (as with every book in the Columbia University Press Russian Library I've read thus far, the introduction does an admirable job of providing a lot of this context, and the endnotes are also there to help) I think they're enjoyable even if you don't catch all of his references. I can't pretend to catch them all, despite a decent familiarity with Russian literature and some Polish--Krzhizhanovsky's references are wide-ranging, but they don't feel pedantic.
Personally, I particularly enjoyed the last two segments of the book: excerpts from some of his notebooks and looseleaf notes, and the afterword of excerpts of Anna Bovshek's "Through the Eyes of a Friend (Material for a Life of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky). Together, they provide a glimpse of Krzhizhanovsky the man as well as Krzhizhanovsky the author.
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky has been one of my favorite writers since I first encountered one of his stories as an undergraduate. I've been delighted by the chance to read more of his work in English translation thanks to this collection (and, from the same publisher, [b:Countries That Don't Exist: Selected Nonfiction|56198978|Countries That Don't Exist Selected Nonfiction|Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1608624490l/56198978._SY75_.jpg|87538959]). Being already familiar with and fond of the author, I was well-disposed toward this book from the beginning. It did not disappoint.
The stories in this collection are, as I suppose the title suggests, often strange. They're also surprisingly moving, and while it helps to have some understanding of Krzhizhanovsky's context before enjoying his stories (as with every book in the Columbia University Press Russian Library I've read thus far, the introduction does an admirable job of providing a lot of this context, and the endnotes are also there to help) I think they're enjoyable even if you don't catch all of his references. I can't pretend to catch them all, despite a decent familiarity with Russian literature and some Polish--Krzhizhanovsky's references are wide-ranging, but they don't feel pedantic.
Personally, I particularly enjoyed the last two segments of the book: excerpts from some of his notebooks and looseleaf notes, and the afterword of excerpts of Anna Bovshek's "Through the Eyes of a Friend (Material for a Life of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky). Together, they provide a glimpse of Krzhizhanovsky the man as well as Krzhizhanovsky the author.