Alexander Arkhangelsky Shortlisted For ‘The Big Book’ Literary Award
Tenured Professor at the Higher School of Economics, Alexander Arkhangelsky, has been named one of eight finalists in the national literary award ‘The Big Book’.
The novel ‘Verification Bureau’ (Ru: Бюро проверки) has been selected as a finalist from ‘a long list’ of entries, which, according to TASS data, consisted of 41 books and one manuscript.
Seven other writers made the list of finalists along with Professor Arkhangelsky: Oleg Ermakov (‘Rainbow and Heather’), Alexei Vinokurov (‘People of the Black Dragon’), Dmitry Bykov (‘June’), Olga Slavnikova (‘Long Jump’), Maria Stepanova (‘Memory of Memory’), Evgeny Grishkovets (‘Desperate Theater, Desperate Theater’) and Andrei Filimonov (‘Recipes for the Creation of the World’).
‘Many authors have already written book reviews about the fact that this novel is set in Moscow in the summer of 1980 and about the mysterious incidents that occur in the life of the main character and the dangerous twists of fate. For me, the most important thing in the novel is the idea of choice: the choice that young people have as to which path they take in life. This choice is incredibly complex. There is also the search for religion and attempts to understand what true love is, as well as what price you may pay for what is important to you. This is a novel about personal responsibility for one's destiny -responsibility that cannot be shifted to parents, priests, or university professors. I think the novel will be very interesting for students. Yes, life has changed a lot since 1980. But the tests and emotional turmoil which the hero experiences (graduate student and philosopher, Alexei Nogovitsin) are challenges that fate throws at people who have the strength to be honest with themselves and with others,’ said Professor Anna Novikova from the Faculty of Communications, Media, and Design.
The national literary award ‘The Big Book’ was founded in 2005 by the ‘Centre for Russian Literature’ and this year was held for the thirteenth time. Past winners include Leonid Yuzefovich and Lyudmila Ulitskaya.