The Golovlevs

I just finished reading THE GOLOVLOV FAMILY and am still reeling from it. That anyone could read this novel and not feel utterly gripped by it is beyond me. On the back cover the publishers felt the need to compare this masterpiece to Faulkner and Marquez, but I think Balzac is much closer in spirit: Balzac channeled through a Russian soul. The plotline involving Annika, though crushing, is embued with a haunting rapturousness. Such a shock to read a book as long neglected as this one (in the US, at least) and find a character so compellingly alive.

This is actually the single most depressing book I've ever read. Which is saying a lot. Even if you consider Schedrin's semi-contemporary Dostoyevsky, there's plenty of depression to be drawn from there. The difference is, the Golovlevs highlight a story of utter desolation centred around nothingness. And there's little sense of redemption. It's meant to be a story of a rural landowning family through several generations and its greed and selfishness. However instead of a social commentary on peasantry and serfdom in Russia I saw something else that was more prevalent. It was more a story of a family curse - whereby one loveless and anal-retentive upbringing causes the same thing to be passed onto the next generation. The Golovlevs are mainly concerned about keeping up their family fortune, at the expense of family relationships or their own souls. However Schedrin savagely highlights how fruitless such a life is. The depressing thing is not about anything horrible that is done but rather that nothing of worth is done with by the main characters. I found this more disheartening than any debauchery or cruelty they might have committed. This book is a very confronting and difficult read. Perhaps it will remind you of people you know or even yourself. But it is also uplifting because it makes you realise how much better off you probably are than the Golovlevs (no matter what your situation) and how most people have the possibility of redemption if their lives are about something, even if that something is bad in itself.

"The Golovlyov Family" by Shchedrin is an excellent book. I've read both American and English literature, but this is a whole new literature form that seems to have the best of both worlds; it has the vivid descriptions of English literature, yet the simplicity of American works, that is, there's no nonesense dialog of meaninglessness that's often found in English novels. My first thought at reading the book was how could a translation be SO good, and how good would the Russian version be?There is much emotion in the book, and the feelings permeate or pulse out of the book, absorbing and drawing in the reader like a good book should. Although set in the 1800's at the time the first Russian revolution ( I'm by no means a historian by the way), the book is not heavily focused on politics as works of Orwell are. The political affairs are a very distant and small prop on this rich stage of a book.When reading the book, however, I strongly recommend the note taking of names, because some characters are referred to by more than one name. It's not hard to follow if you jot a few reminders down when introduced to each character, this will save much confusion later.On a final note, if you're reading this book, read it purely for it's own sake. This isn't an adventure book with a climax and an unbelievable series of events at the end, so if that's what you're expecting, you'll regret reading the book. However, if you're after some brilliantly rich literature, with excellent characters, settings, and unfoldings of events, then this is a book I highly recommend. It truly is a masterpiece.