Title: The Librarian (Goodreads)
Author: Mikhail Elizarov
Translator: Andrew Bromfield
Published: Pushkin Press, 2007
Pages: 410
Genres: Magical Realism
My Copy: Paperback
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
The books by Gromov, obscure and forgotten propaganda author from the Soviet era, have gained a bit of cult following. However this is not your normal fandom and his book are unlike anything you will ever read. These books have the ability to magically transform anyone; make the weak strong, the cowardly brave. Small groups have formed to protect these supernatural book with their leader given the title The Librarian. War breaks out between these libraries in desperate attempts to seize any copies of Gromov’s books they may have. The Librarian tells the story of Alexei, a loser who unexpectedly stumbles across one of Gromov’s books that changes his life forever.
This dystopian world created by Mikhail Elizarov is an obvious allegory for the Soviet Union, however it is something to be expected in post-Soviet literature. However Elizarov explores some interesting themes as well, in particular an idea of ‘blind faith’ in politics. The Librarian looks at the way people will thoughtlessly adopt a political system in which they are forced to inhabit. The author has a lot to say on the Soviet system and, like other Russian authors (in Soviet and post-Soviet literature), he adopts a satirical method to explore these ideas.
Alternatively, you could look at The Librarian from the perspective of the power of books. The entire novel is about people reading these books and gaining power, knowledge, and so on. This is the true power of books; as readers, we educate ourselves and learn empathy, and also get different political, historical or cultural points of view. While we might not gain the same amount of power as the people in this novel, we do gain power.
I found this book extremely interesting and I was engrossed the entire way through it. It is violent and could be a little too hard for some to handle but there is something worth exploring here. The Librarian won the Russian Booker Prize in 2008; this is very similar to the Man Booker Prize but for Russian novels. I had not heard too much about the Russian Booker Prize previously but I am now very interested. As a fan of Russian lit, I will keep an eye out for books translated into English so I can continue to explore more post-Soviet literature.
My reply from your comment in youtube: In The Librarian, it’s a cut and dry graphic novel style. It’s warranted but not cringeworthy. It suits the plot because there is a war going on, there will be battles and they aren’t going to be pretty. There’s nothing elegant about a battle scene and I appreciate the parody of how ridiculous war is. Humans become animals during war.
One of the coping strategies for survivors of trauma is humour. It’s one of the main points of Catch-22. Maybe it’s one reason why the Soviet Union has so many Satires? People were traumatized and needed to find relief, in any form possible. And humour was the only faculty left for expressing themselves. In the Librarian, he shows all the tiny details of battle. The old ladies actually made me chuckle. Later on, even that humour is extinguished. I think that’s when they basically stopped being humans in mind.
Disclaimer: The violence in The Librarian is easy for me to discuss, usually violence makes me angry, uncomfortable and is difficult to explain why it’s necessary in a book. There’s some 20 line violent scenes in other books that I just couldn’t read. I skipped over them. In movies, it rarely enhances the plot, it’s often just mindless action. If it’s the main focus of the movie, I check out before the credits are done. I’m not an advocate for violence and I don’t enjoy overly violent things. The Librarian is an exception because of the way the violence was demonstrated.