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A Dictator Calls
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Brief Description
The new novel from the first winner of the International Man Booker, inspired by three minutes in June 1934 when Joseph Stalin allegedly called Boris Pasternak. A fascinating meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism, power structures, and a period of great writers. LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER...
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A Dictator Calls
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Description
The new novel from the first winner of the International Man Booker, inspired by three minutes in June 1934 when Joseph Stalin allegedly called Boris Pasternak. A fascinating meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism, power structures, and a period of great writers.
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024
'Comrade Stalin wishes to speak with you.'
A fascinating exploration of the relationship between writers and tyranny, from the winner of the first Man Booker International Prize.
In June 1934, Joseph Stalin allegedly telephoned the famous novelist and poet Boris Pasternak to discuss the arrest of fellow Soviet poet Osip Mandelstam. In a fascinating combination of dreams and dossier facts, Ismail Kadare reconstructs the three minutes they spoke and the aftershocks of this tense, mysterious moment in modern history.
Weaving together the accounts of witnesses, reporters, and writers such as Isaiah Berlin and Anna Akhmatova, Kadare tells a gripping story of power and political structures, of the relationship between writers and tyranny. The telling brings to light uncanny parallels with Kadare's experience writing under dictatorship, when he received an unexpected phone call of his own.
Translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson
'One of Europe's most decorated authors... Seasoned fans of Kadare will be enthralled' Sunday Times
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529920574
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 July 2024
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage
Contributors:
- Translated by John Hodgson
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 164g
Pages: 224
About the Author
Ismail Kadare (1936-2024) is Albania's best-known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019 and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.
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