BOOK

A dictator calls : the mystery of the Stalin-Pasternak telephone call

Kadare, Ismail, author, Hodgson, John (Translator), translator

2024

Overview

'A Dictator Calls' is inspired by three minutes in June 1934 when Joseph Stalin allegedly telephoned Boris Pasternak. A gripping meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism and literature, featuring a host of fascinating writers and historical figures. **LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024**'Comrade Stalin wishes to speak with you.'A fascinating exploration of the relationship between writers and tyranny, from the winner of the first Man Booker International Prize.In June 1934, Joseph Stalin allegedly telephoned the famous novelist and poet Boris Pasternak to discuss the arrest of fellow Soviet poet Osip Mandelstam. In a fascinating combination of dreams and dossier facts, Ismail Kadare reconstructs the three minutes they spoke and the aftershocks of this tense, mysterious moment in modern history.Weaving together the accounts of witnesses, reporters and writers such as Isaiah Berlin and Anna Akhmatova, Kadare tells a gripping story of power and political structures, of the relationship between writers and tyranny. The telling brings to light uncanny parallels with Kadare's experience writing under dictatorship, when he received an unexpected phone call of his own.Translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson`One of Europe's most decorated authors... Seasoned fans [of Kadare] will be enthralled' Sunday Times.

• Publisher: Vintage
• Subject: Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953 Fiction. / Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich, 1890-1960 Fiction. / Soviet Union History 1917-1936 Fiction. / URSS Histoire 1917-1936 Romans, nouvelles, etc.
• ISBN: 9781529920574, 1529920574

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
PG9621.K3 D5 2024	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE