I’ve been having such terrible hay fever problems this
spring that it seemed especially fitting to find news late last week about a special NOSE Award competition from the Prokhorov Foundation: Inspector NOSE. Inspector NOSE aims to inventory and assess
Russian-language detective novels written since 1991, looking at how authors
use the genre within and outside its usual norms, and examining the detectives
themselves, with an eye on whether they can stand alongside classics like
Holmes, Maigret, Brown, or Marple.
The Inspector NOSE longlist contains 32 books, of which I’ve
read a grand total of four, though those four certainly attest to variety in NOSE’s
list: Leonid Yuzefovich’s Казароза (Kazaroza) (previous
post), Boris
Akunin’s Азазель (The Winter Queen),
Margarita Khemlin’s Дознаватель (The Investigator) (previous
post), and Polina Dashkova’s Легкие
шаги безумия (Madness Treads Lightly).
Of those four, the only book that’s been translated into English is the Akunin:
Andrew Bromfield has, in fact, translated a whole slew of books from Akunin’s
series featuring Erast Fandorin. I think Akunin’s first nine books starring Fandorin
are particularly fun. Though it’s not on this list, I want to mention that Marian
Schwartz translated Yuzefovich’s Костюм
Арлекина (Harlequin’s Costume) (previous
post), the first of a historical detective novel trilogy featuring Ivan
Dmitrievich Putilin, a character based on an actual Saint Petersburg police
inspector. I enjoyed the first two books in the Putilin trilogy though felt
even more affinity for Kazaroza
because Yuzefovich brings elements including Civil War, Esperanto, and
Lermontov.
But I do digress: the Inspector NOSE long list includes 28
other books, many by writers I’ve never heard of, though I’ve read books,
albeit not the books on the NOSE list, by two others: Sergei Kuznetsov
was listed for Шкурка бабочки (Butterfly Skin) and Alexandra Marinina, a blockbuster name in the
Russian detective genre, is on the list for Стечение
обстоятельств (Confluence of
Circumstances), which, according to Wikipedia, was
translated into English and published in Soviet
& Post-Soviet Review, vol. 29, 2002. I’ve read short stories in the Moscow Noir (previous
post) and Petersburg Noir (previous
post) anthologies by several other writers on the list: Anton Chizh, listed
for Божественный яд (Divine Poison/Venom); Andrei Kivinov, listed for Кошмар на улице стачек (Nightmare
on Strike Street), and Master
Chen, listed for Любимая мартышка
дома Тан (Pet Monkey of the House of
Tang). Master Chen’s book is one-third of a trilogy that includes Любимый ястреб дома Аббаса, available
from Russian Life as The Pet Hawk
of the House of Abbas, translated by Liv Bliss.
Beyond that there are a few other familiar names, some more
familiar than others: Lev Gurskii and his Перемена
мест (maybe Changed Places?); Arsen Revazov with Одиночество -12 (Solitude 12), which I have but have not read; Alexander Bushkov, a
huge bestseller, for Танец Бешеной (Mad/Crazy Woman’s Dance); and Sergei
Kostin, author of the espionage thriller Пако
Аррайя. В Париж на выходные (Paris Weekend, translated by Todd
Bludeau). The rest of the books on the longlist are, as they say, terra
incognita for me. Meaning I haven’t a clue. As a reader who enjoys the
detective genre in lots of different forms, I’m looking forward to reading more
about the debate, shortlist, and winner on June 3… and maybe even watching the
proceedings over the Internet.
Disclaimers: The usual.
I’m very happy to be working on two translations funded by Transcript program grants
from the Prokhorov Foundation and am look forward to visiting the Prokhorov
booth during BookExpo America this week.
Up Next: I’m
hoping that my head will be together enough one of these days to finish my post
about Yuri Mamleyev’s The Sublimes,
though sometimes I think this dazed and altered state induced by pollen and Allegra might
be the best way to write about such a crazy book! There will also be award news
galore: NatsBest, the Big Book shortlist (very soon!), Read Russia Award, and
Inspector NOSE results. Not to mention a BookExpo America trip report. And other books...
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