Translated material
Victor Sonkin. Endless sailing
Victor Sonkin
Date of publication: October 8, 1999
Julian Barnes. History of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Translation by V. Babkov.
You are a charming author and presenter of television programs about the history of ancient civilizations, who is recognized by sight, although not at first sight, in almost every city in the world. You are going with another young friend (that is, of course, an assistant) on a Mediterranean cruise to tell middle-aged American, Canadian, British and, of course, Japanese couples about the Egyptian pyramids and the mysteries of the Minoan civilization for decent money. You are English, but you have an Irish passport - it’s somehow safer with it. The journey is not even halfway through when your signature lecture about the Palace of Knossos is interrupted by a short burst of machine gun fire. The cruise ship was captured by taciturn dark-skinned people in red armbands. Unbeknownst to yourself and almost against your will, you become the main representative of the hostages. The leader is frank with you: he admits that if Western governments do not agree to his terms within the appointed time (and they always drag their feet), then they will have to kill passengers - a couple per hour. The priority will be determined by how much the homeland of a particular tourist is to blame for the unforgivable state of affairs in the Middle East. First, the American Zionists (that is, the old Zimmerman couple). Then the rest of the Americans. Then the British. Then the French, Italians and Canadians. You yourself assured the leader of Black Thunder that people need to explain why they are being killed. Well, then explain. Give them a lecture about who is really to blame for the problems in the Middle East. And for this we will take your word for it that your girlfriend is, oh, wife? ok, my wife - she's Irish. Although she has a British passport.
Of course, I got carried away. I hope this doesn't ruin your enjoyment of the book. First of all, this is just the beginning. The denouement is entirely contained in the last sentence of this story. And secondly, there are nine and a half more such stories.
“The History of the World” was published in the journal “Foreign Literature” in 1994 as part of the “Literary Guide” section, which at that time was called “Postmodernism: Similarities and Temptations of Reality.” The respected critic A. Zverev, in the afterword, tried for a long time to explain why Barnes’s novel is thoroughly postmodernist. It turned out because it consists of small short stories, which, on the one hand, are not connected in any way by plot, but on the other, are very intertwined. What a surprise. In my opinion, what is much more important is that almost each of these stories (like the ones retold) directly addresses eternal moral problems and treats them without detached irony and without banter. And the fact that the author is well educated and easily plays with different literary styles is not yet a reason to label him a postmodernist.
Barnes plays with styles not just easily, but masterfully, and Vladimir Babkov, who translated his book into Russian, does not let the author down anywhere, demonstrating the same brilliance and charm of the language. In History of the World you will find a legend, you will find something like fairy-tale fiction (which has nothing to do with the vague genre of "fantasy"), as well as a detailed documented account of a 16th-century legal battle, plus an essay on the history of art (if you decide to read book √ stock up on a reproduction of Theodore Gericault's painting " The Raft of the Medusa ", otherwise the whole chapter will be wasted for you); there is a short moralistic treatise, which seemed to me a parody of Milan Kundera; there is a story about two pilgrimages, the success or failure of which everyone is free to judge to the best of my understanding; there is, finally, a collection of letters that a certain actor sends to his girlfriend in London from the Amazon jungle “Mutt was taking a leak in the river, and one of the radio operators came up to him and said that he was in vain. Supposedly there are these tiny fish here that are attracted to the heat or something, and when the tide goes out, they can swim up your stream... And then it climbs right up to the end of you, spreads its spines and gets stuck there... Her You can’t take it out, it’s like an open umbrella inside you, and you have to chop off all this stuff in the hospital.” But the story is not at all about these fish. I’m again tempted to start retelling, but even here the plot is dashingly wrapped up, surprises at every turn of the river, - I guess I’ll say nothing. This chapter is the best in the novel in terms of intensity and drive; it’s called “Upstream!” - that’s what it means in the original, with an exclamation point.
I wanted to do without a list of cross-cutting motifs on which the raft of Barnes’s narrative rests. And I’ll make do: during the first reading, it’s much more pleasant to find them yourself. Some of them are also very funny. But I will still mention one thing - this topic is so ubiquitous and so obvious that I will not give away any secrets. Barnes's novel is one endless voyage. The shadows of sea travels, from Noah's Ark to the Titanic, do not leave the reader for a minute. Ultimately, "History of the World" is one of those books that confirm the old truth: " Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse " (it is necessary to sail, but not to live).
Web presence
First - the promised bonus. Barnes was transferred to us relatively a lot, but, perhaps, still less than he deserves. In particular, at one time the completely unnecessary “Porcupine” was translated - solely because it described a certain abstract Slavic country (most similar to Bulgaria) in the notorious “transition period”. But the brilliant novel-essay "Flaubert's Parrot" has not yet been translated (as far as I know). As part of propaganda and all fair use, I am publishing - for the first time in Russian - a chapter from this work entitled "The Eyes of Emma Bovary", which rhymes not only with the current, but also with the previous issue of "Indiscriminate Reading". I probably still have some wonderful illusions, but sometimes I console myself with hope: suddenly some publisher will accidentally go to the Internet, see a good text, and want to publish something so good... Translation by Alexandra Borisenko and yours humble servant. " The Eyes of Emma Bovary ".
The excellent Julian Barnes Website and Bibliography is dedicated to Barnes. The British should be ashamed that it is on the server of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . A separate page is devoted to the bibliography of "History of the World " (the background of this page is a reproduction of "The Raft of the Medusa" by Géricault). Links to the bibliography of other works can be found here . "History of the World", as can be seen from the page with the topics of student works and abstracts - in still the author's most popular work.
Writer Joyce Carol Oates writes a review of "History" in the New York Times archives (see also reviews of the writer's other novels in the NYT). Fans of the writer's work have a chance to meet others like themselves on the Julian Barnes Discussion Board website. The British Sunday Times interviews Barnes: "What was your favorite book you read at school? - Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time. It proves that no matter how English you think you are, your sardonic romantic soul is Russian." Another interview - in the Czech magazine "New Presence". A collection of Barnes's book covers - all in the same place, in Illinois. Another biography and a very detailed bibliography is in Germany. The recent film " Metroland " based on Barnes's first novel - on geocities.
The Moshkov library contains the full text of the novel . From the January "Foreign Woman" - the story " Flash " translated by L. Motylev: Barnes's Russian theme excites and calls. The Latvian newspaper "Hour" talks about the Literary Review magazine's competition for the most disgusting description of sex in literature (writes Katerina Borschova) - I'm omitting the details about Barnes. Sergei Kuznetsov connects his thoughts on postmodernism and existence with Barnes’s novel. Deputy The editor-in-chief of "Foreigner" G. Chkhartishvili in the MSU newspaper mentions Barnes in the article " What writers should you know in order not to blush in society ", and in the essay " If I were a newspaper magnate " ("Emergency Reserve") promises that if he, that is, Grigory Chkhartishvili, was a newspaper magnate, he would send translators to answer questions for Pavich and Barnes on his personal plane. That would be life.