The Flight (Pushkin Collection)
Description
While summering on the French Riviera, the young Seryozha secretly becomes the lover of the much older Liza - who is also his father's mistress. As autumn approaches, they reluctantly part: Liza to return to Paris, Seryozha to take up his studies at university in London. When he finds out about their affair, Seryozha's father attempts to convince Liza to leave his son, for the sake of the boy's own happiness. She finally gives in - but a sudden, fatal catastrophe changes everything...
Gazdanov's second novel is proof of his wide-ranging talents: written before his celebrated noir experiments The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha's Return, The Flight is a lyrical 'chamber play' in prose. Mixing psychological drama, illicit romance and moments of both comedy and pathos, it is a modernist take on the traditional Russian nineteenth-century realist novel epitomised by Tolstoy - with distinct echoes of Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
Praise for The Flight (Pushkin Collection)
"Gazdanov has his own utterly distinctive voice... Pushkin Press is to be congratulated on reviving an author who is as relevant now as ever." — Spectator
"The Gazdanov revival... is nothing short of a literary event... Gazdanov's thrillers offer a truly original vision, distinguished by profound existential and metaphysical concerns, a peculiar sense of humour, and enchanting prose, which Bryan Karetnyk has once again reproduced with impeccable grace." —Times Literary Supplement
"A fascinating writer." — Irish Times
"His writing has been described as 'if Nabokov wrote thrillers'. I’m hooked." — Charlotte Mendelson, The Guardian Best Books of 2016
(Praise for The Buddha's Return) "An excellent novel by any standard, and especially remarkable for joining the philosophical underpinnings of the Russians with the intrigue of a French thriller." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
(Praise for The Spectre of Alexander Wolf) "A compulsive read, playful yet sinister, meandering yet impressively trim, old-world and modern. It is to Pushkin Press's great credit that this gorgeously restored relic... has been revived from untimely oblivion." — Daniel Levine, The Millions
(Praise for The Spectre of Alexander Wolf) "Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war, and sex... Bryan Karetnyk's new translation makes you believe in the power of the original." — Lorin Stein, Paris Review
(Praise for The Spectre of Alexander Wolf) "Splendidly translated... a mini-masterpiece." — Star Tribune
