SiberiaIn 2000, Nikolaï Maslov, a night watchman and self-taught artist, asked Emmanuel Durand, a French book salesman in Moscow, to look at three panels from a graphic novel he had drawn. Stunned by the intensity of the work, Durand offered Maslov a modest advance to quit his job and finish the book. The result is this extraordinary visual portrayal of Russian life and spirit. Awash in alcohol from the first pages to the last, Siberia charts Maslov’s bleak path through the labyrinths of the Soviet system, from the desolate Siberian countryside, to military service with the Red Army in Mongolia, to the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after his brother’s death. Drawn entirely in pencil on paper, the book’s nuanced gray tones document with unremitting clarity and delicate nuance the austere Siberian landscape, the bad vodka, the daily brawls, the cynicism and violence of life in Siberia, but also the perseverance and hope of those in this often neglected but fascinating part of the world. |
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1817 LIBRARIES ANDREI ANIMAL FRIENDS ASTONISHED autobiography BACK BEAUTIFUL Blake Ferris BOAK BOOK BOOZE BOTTLE BOYS brawls BROTHER BUDDY C'MON COLORS DO PARISIANS COMRADES COUN DIMANCHE DOGS IN MONTMARTRE DRAWINGS DRINK Emmanuel Durand ERSITY UNIVERS FATHER FEED THEIR ANIMAL France FRENCH FEED FUCK graphic novel HEY GUYS hipster HOMEBOY Hungarian soldier ISBN KIND kitchens KNEW KNOW KOLIA KOLKHOZ Kotelnitch LENIN LITTLE LIVE LONG LOOK MAMA Manu and Irina's MASLOV Translated MICHIGAN military service MONGOL Moscow NEVER nightclub Nikolai Maslov OLEG panels Pangloss PARTY PASHA pencil Petrovich PICASSO POLITICAL INSTRUCTOR psychiatric hospital published PULL REAL ULTRAMARINE RECRUITS RIGHT Russian SERIOGA service in Mongolia SHIT SHOW THE ADVANTAGES SIBERIA SOCIALIST ARTIST'S CALLING Soft Skull Press SOMETIMES SOUL Soviet STARTED WORKING CONSTRUCTION STUFF TANK RANGE tell the story THING TODAY TONS TRACTOR train Translated by Blake TRIP VILLAGE VODKA WAITING WALKING THEIR DOGS WANT WHAT'S YEAH ВОДИ ВОДИ МАМА МИРА