Buryat Smoke
The village of Namkhai stands amid the taiga, on the banks of the wilful Tashur River. The novel begins with its land, its water and its distant past, which continues to live alongside its people
Yuri Nevsky
This is where my father, Yuri Nevsky, speaks. His stories come from another time, yet they run through me like the same underground river. He shapes life into words; I shape it into cities, interfaces, and a path of my own. Between us lie years, different temperaments, and separate roads. Yet the voice is one — Nevsky, passed from one generation to the next
12 items
We, Children of the Galaxy
What if Ulan-Ude grew up on the site of a starship crash? Childhood memories, power-grid diagrams, and beloved books help the narrator see his hometown as the trace of a cosmic catastrophe
King of the Board
After a day in the workshop, the narrator walks through wintry Ulan-Ude in search of a little bottle. His nocturnal odyssey unfolds in glowing little shops amid the cold and drifting snow
A Furious Ride
An artist rides out for supplies for an exhibition, admires the city, and loses his bicycle chain. An ordinary trip between the shop and the workshop turns out to be full of anxieties, temptations, and small victories
Ulan-Ude Slowpokes
Two strangers help each other run across a road and get talking. Between their stories of Moscow, Gusinoozyorsk, work, and family, an unexpected closeness develops
In a Faraway Land
Somewhere in a beautiful, faraway country lives the narrator’s mental double: an old house, vineyards, a beloved woman. This imagined life beckons with its ease and its freedom from everyday worries
Wild Songs of My People
An appeal to walk more becomes an occasion to remember the roads, people and habits of one’s country. Observations and digressions come together in a conversation about a life that is hard to measure in useful advice
Vladimir Nikolayevich
The artist Vladimir Nikolayevich paints Baikal, where he has never been, from a friend’s stories and photographs. Generous strokes, an enormous fish, and recognising yourself on someone else’s canvas
How’s It Going, Dude?
On the road to Monakhovo, a weary traveler finds an abandoned grave. Amid the forest and the hum of mosquitoes, a chance stop sets him thinking about the man who remained here forever
There Is Only the Forest
On the commuter train, the narrator notices passengers who board at the same platform. Watching these strangers gradually breaks the monotony of his journey to work
In the Gatehouse, in the Park, in the Black Safe…
On the Khuramchir Plateau, the crew of an enormous tractor is laying a road, while a young artist paints sunsets and befriends a captain from another era. Through music, dreams and strange encounters, memories return to him of a world that has vanished
The Secret of Painting with Ancient Colours
Every spring, the narrator’s wife seems to slip out of life. To bring her back, he travels to his grandmother in the northern forests—for ancient colours and knowledge that cannot be learned from books