Faithful Ruslan

Who is more loyal than a dog? This book talks about how loyalty can be manipulated, and how the best and truest can become the most misused. A haunting parable.

Beware-- this book may haunt you. A simple dog story it is not.On the surface, this is an accessible easy read; we're in the point of view of Ruslan, formerly a guard dog in a labor camp. When the camp bewilderingly closes, Ruslan is left to his own devices-- trying to find his commander, trying to get food. One terrible scene I have never been able to get out of my mind is when a peasant cruelly offers him a piece of bread-- covered with hot mustard, knowing it will cause the dog pain. No animal lover can read this scene without compassion or tears.And yet.Ruslan is faithful, but the reader knows the system he served was an evil one. Like the best allegories, this book works fully on all its levels-- as a sheer survival story from a decent, though misguided, dog's point of view the book is sad. But with the knowledge that certainly any Russian reader would have (and that any reader should have, really) about the changes in Russian society-- this book comes out of the Thaw period, when artists began to be able to critique more openly the repressive Stalinist regime-- the book's real tragedy is almost too much to take.For Ruslan, you see, like so many Russians, had been deceived in his attempt to be a Good Dog. What Ruslan remembers fondly, the reader with horror can understand as atrocity (attacking prisoners, for example). (Another book which does this is Martin Amis' brilliant TIME'S ARROW, in which the Holocaust is remembered backwards, so that the narrator recalls resurrecting millions out of ashes).Ruslan comes to a terrible, inevitable end-- the details of which are left to the reader's shivering imagination. Ruslan sees some people he once knew-- and goes to do his job. But the world had mysteriously and completely changed. Poor Ruslan, he was only doing his job-- truly. The real criminals are the ones who corrupted and perverted his loyalty and decency into serving their evil ends.An unforgettable book. I wept at its end, and emailed my Russian teacher to complain! (I got no sympathy; tragedy and sorrow are so Russian, she said).

This is one of the most mind-wrenching books of the 20th century, and if you read it, you will understand this is not hyperbole. A simple Jack London-esque story of a man and his dog, and the vast love and respect they share through their many adventures. You know the stuff: patrolling the perimeters of political prisons. Chasing down concentration-camp escapees. Tracking the innocent through frozen wastelands as they desperately flee their persecutors. I mean, how can you not love a dog?

The end of Stalin's system of forced labor labor camp is seen through the eyes of forced labor guard dog. This powerful premise provides a unique perspective on the lasting impact of the Stalinist nightmare on the survivors, and shows the reader that the destruction of one system of evil does not inevitably mean the end of all misery.The survivors, whether they worked for the system -- as in the case of a guard dog, or those who who were crushed by the system, as in the case of millions of former prisoners, were all forced to continue to endure in Soviet Russia, without any real justice for the victims.The confusion that resulted, with former victims being "rehabilitated" and yet never enjoying any real restitution, and the former tormentors never being required to face the enormity of their deeds is palpably felt.In addition, by using a morally neutral character, a dog, the author shows that in the case of many who supported the system, it is impossible to definitively assign to them guilt for the system which they supported. The book shows that while totalitarianism has a few monsters, it has many more people who accede unquestioningly to the environment with which they are surrounded. And it does all of this quietly, without melodrama or histrionics.This powerful book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the human condition. Let us hope that more such books are written in Russia, and that this book is reprinted. Michael Glenny provides a well-crafted translation of this important book.

I was staggered by the sheer beauty of this novel. I always wanted to read something by a Russian Author, but I was worried if it might be bleak. This is a highly engrossing story with colourful characters and a real page turner. Well worth reading if you get the chance!