Two Great Writers

Two great modern Russian writers turn 65 in March: Vladimir Makanin celebrates his birthday on the 13th, Valentin Rasputin on the 15th.

Vladimir Makanin is a “physicist turned lyricist.” Upon graduation from secondary school, he enrolled at the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics at Moscow State University, from whence he worked for 10 years in the field of higher math. He made his literary debut in 1965 with the novel Direct Line, published in the literary journal Moskva. To become a full-fledged professional writer, Makanin graduated from the Higher Courses of Scriptwriters and Directors. The literary critic Lev Annensky called Makanin “a born realist.”

In the 1970s, Makanin published Bezotsovschina (“Without a Father”), Simple Line, and Klyucharev and Alimushkin. In the 1980s, he wrote the short novels The Blue and Red, The Precursor, The Lagging Behind, Bereavement and others. In the 1990s, Makanin’s talent came into full bloom and gained wide recognition.

Today it is hard to imagine contemporary Russian literature without Makanin. In 1991, his short novels and stories were collected under the title Laz and published in Novy Mir. In 1993, his book, Table Covered with Woolen Cloth with a Decanter in the Middle, received the Russian Booker. In 1999, his novel Underground, or a Hero of Our Time was short-listed for the Booker prize, but that year Mikhail Butov’s Liberty took the top honor (see Russian Life Jan/Feb 2002). The following year Underground received the State Prize. His latest book, A Successful Story about Love was published in 2001. Several of his books have been published in English.

Valentin Rasputin, one of the most talented and authoritative authors of contemporary Russian prose, expressed his personal credo through one of his heroines: “We are responsible for the Earth and we were only entrusted with it so that we might take good care of her and live off her.” Rasputin’s first short novel Money for Maria (1967) brought him nationwide fame. More talented works followed: Last Deadline (1970), Live and Remember (1974), and his poignant Farewell to Matyora (1976), in which Rasputin shares his pain over the ravishing of the Russian landscape. Longtime Novy Mir editor-in-chief Sergei Zalygin wrote that “Rasputin burst into our literature in strides, without any preparation, like a true master of the artistic word.”

Rasputin’s books are about love and life, death, goodness and clemency and a sense of duty. But his biggest concern has always been the moribund Russian countryside. In the 1990s, critics often labeled him a “reactionary” writer for decrying the loss of traditional Russian cultural values and plummeting moral standards.