MAKINE'S DREAMS - a wonderful work of art

There's more to life than war, taxes and politics - and a lot of it's more fun, too! That's why every WEEKEND, here at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, we post on some of the cultural things we're into, things we think you might also find entertaining, enriching, and stimulating. And who knows: We just might turn you on to something cool.

Here's a great work of art: A GREAT NOVEL BY ANDREI MAKINE: DREAMS OF MY RUSSIAN SUMMERS

WIKI:

Makine was born in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union on September 10, 1957 and grew up in city of Penza, a provincial town about 440 miles south-east of Moscow. As a boy, having acquired familiarity with France and its language from his French-born grandmother (it is not sure Makine had a French grand-mother; in later interviews he claimed to have learn French from a friend), he wrote poems in both French and his native Russian.

In 1987, he went to France as member of teacher's exchange program and decided to stay. He was granted political asylum and was determined to make a living as a writer in French. However, Makine had to present his first manuscripts as translations from the Russian to overcome publishers' skepticism that a newly arrived exile could write so fluently in a second language. After disappointing reactions to his first two novels, it took eight months to find a publisher for his fourth, Le testament français.

Finally published in 1995 in France, the novel became the first in history to win both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medicis plus the Goncourt des Lycéens.

RELIAPUNDIT: I count this book as one of my all-time favorites. The writing is superb and fresh; the story gripping - with an extremely emotional and rewarding climax. Plus, you get a great human history of the USSR. I've read it four times. I love it and respect it more each time
I read it.