THE PETROVS AND THE FLU written by Aleksei Salnikov. A book review.
(Russian writer from Estonia)
A difficult book, uncomfortable in its description of banality, hyper-realistic, somewhat insane in its nitpicking. The Petrovs are a family of two generations, banal, everyday Soviet people with no inspiration whatsoever, who never want to take responsibility. Their lives just drift along as they come. An ordinary life, with unhealthy indifference, going along with the nonsense of Soviet citizens in the 1980s: complicit by absence: decisiveness and vision are lacking. They find it difficult to say “no”. Things just happen as they happen for them: e.g. no help for Sergei's friend, just carries out orders. Shoot! Total lack of empathy. Goes along with everything without saying “no” to Igor, the alcoholic (manipulator).
The same goes for their terminally ill son; the parents feel only irritation. The line between fantasy and reality is paper-thin. For example, Petrova almost cuts off her son's finger: a strange sensation (murderous intent).
The description of different generations better reveals their nature. There is no improvement over time. They remain banal.
Women rule the roost, men allow themselves to be seduced into mindless drunkenness, smoking cigarettes on the balcony.
Father Frost, the Christmas tree (fun for parents) and Snegurochka (snow maiden) are their only entertainment around Christmas, with little enthusiasm.
For Salnikov, the flu is a metaphor for their sick state, harmless but rotten. The prosaic routine and madness merge, remaining beneath the surface.
The past (2000) with American music, sometimes also our past, years are beautifully captured. Forgotten things sometimes resurface.
The appearance of the computer, the mobile phone and the behaviour of people who seem idiotic: talking to themselves and gesticulating.
The language is very strong.
The bottles clinked together like frosty logs.
They drove as slowly as on a motorised turntable.
Choosing who can lead, not who wants to.
The magic trick: the canonisation of the authorities. Deaf man's conversations about everything and anything.
Boys with rucksacks and hats, whose ears glowed red in the wind and whose delicate colours were reminiscent of the pads under a cat's paws.
The washing machine made a thumping noise like the engine of a jet fighter.
Petrov's wife: agitated like a cat in heat.
She kissed like a welding machine (difficult person).
A shrill cry: she screamed like a seagull.
Little Petrov was afraid of the dark (at Grandma's cat). It smelled like adults; a small animal did not belong there.
The toilet seat was as cold as a GP's stethoscope.
Flushing the toilet with a cord = roaring water.
He had to eat at a small table at school with an itchy jumper. His mother denied everything and dominated (typically Russian).
Petrov only wants animated films.
Observation of adults who pay little attention to the child: especially the mother: denies, overwhelms, never thinks critically. TV was only black and white.
It bothered him that the first letter of his name looked banal: a banal curl like a half-eaten sandwich.
He saw the bonnet when it rained on his yellow coat (association).
He dreamed of sailing on a raft through reeds.
Also about the conditions outside, travelling by trolleybus, which is always late, full of old fools, lunatics, depicts the conditions in Russia at that time for the ordinary Soviet citizen.
The library with its dark corners and armchairs is used as a refuge, as there is no cosiness at home.
Comments
Post a Comment