Сбор клюквы сикхами в Канаде

"Sbor kli͡ukvy sikkhami v Kanade" mozhno rassmatrivatʹ kak svoego roda povestʹ. Narrativ ot tretʹgo lit͡sa (iz-za plecha fiktivnoĭ geroini) ost͡silliruet mezhdu biograficheskim narrativom i otkrovennym vymyslom. Zdesʹ t͡sarit dukh anakhronizma, a uznavaemye lit͡sa i situat͡sii perepletai͡utsi͡a s vydumannymi. Kniga sostavlena iz miniati͡ur: detstvo v Leningrade pi͡atidesi͡atykh, proshedshee pod znakom (chuzhoĭ) nostalʹgii, raznoobraznye moskovskie uchebnye zavedenii͡a i avangardnye predchuvstvii͡a shestidesi͡atykh, realii ėmigrat͡sii, vkraplenii͡a dokumentalʹnykh materialov vrode chuzhikh ustnykh memuarov ili gazetnykh obʺi͡avleniĭ i dazhe rassuzhdenii͡a, a podchas i parodii na literaturnye ili akademicheskie temy. Interes avtora sosredotochen na uskolʹzai͡ushchikh kulʹturnykh detali͡akh, kotorye pridai͡ut nezabyvaemyĭ vkus li͡uboĭ ėpokhe. Proza Eleny Tolstoĭ napominaet o modernistskoĭ ornamentalʹnosti, a paradoksalʹnoe ostroumie pomogaet sokhranitʹ opredelennui͡u distant͡sii͡u po otnoshenii͡u k tomu, chto kazhetsi͡a avtobiograficheskom opytom, i rassmotretʹ ego kriticheskim vzgli͡adom. No i͡azykovai͡a igra u nee ne stanovitsi͡a samot͡selʹi͡u: iskrenniĭ ton sokhrani͡aetsi͡a dazhe v samykh stilisticheski uslozhnennykh mestakh knigi. Elena Tolstai͡a - vnuchka pisateli͡a Aleksei͡a Tolstogo i poėtessy Natalʹi Krandievskoĭ, dochʹ arfistki Nadezhdy Tolstoĭ i kompozitora Dmitrii͡a Tolstogo. Avtor knig "Kli͡uchi schastʹi͡a: Alekseĭ Tolstoĭ i literaturnyĭ Peterburg", "Igra v klassiki" i sbornika rasskazov "Zapadno-vostochnyĭ divan-krovatʹ".

"The gathering of cranberries by Sikhs in Canada" can be considered as a kind of novel. The narrative from the third person (from behind the shoulder of the fictitious heroine) oscillates between the biographical narrative and outright fiction. The spirit of anachronism reigns here, and recognizable faces and situations are intertwined with fictional ones. The book is made up of miniatures: childhood in Leningrad in the fifties, passed under the sign of (alien) nostalgia, various Moscow educational institutions and avant-garde premonitions of the sixties, the realities of emigration, interspersed with documentary materials like someone else's oral memoirs or newspaper ads, and even arguments, and sometimes parodies of literary or academic topics. The author's interest is focused on the elusive cultural details that give an unforgettable taste to any era. Elena Tolstoy's prose is reminiscent of modernist ornamentation, and paradoxical wit helps to maintain a certain distance from what seems to be an autobiographical experience, and to consider it with a critical eye. But her language game does not become an end in itself: the sincere tone is preserved even in the most stylistically complicated parts of the book. Elena Tolstaya is the granddaughter of writer Alexei Tolstoy and poetess Natalia Krandievskaya, the daughter of harpist Nadezhda Tolstoy and composer Dmitry Tolstoy. Author of the books "Keys of Happiness: Alexey Tolstoy and literary Petersburg", "The Game of Classics" and the collection of short stories "West-East sofa bed".