Vladimir Sharov

Oliver Ready's translation of Vladimir Sharov's novel 'The Rehearsals' has won the Read Russian Prize 2018 for the best translation into any language of a work of Russian literature published since 1990.

Wow! Recommendation indeed!

I'm dying to read Sharov; he sounds like an amazing writer.

From Dedalus Press , isn’t it? They’ve just sent me an interesting sounding anthology, Slav Sisters.

Yes it is from Dedalus Press, it should be delivered today, I will write more when I get it. I will look up Slav Sisters.

The Rehearsals, a review from Rachel Polonsky; "the clarity and directness of Sharov's prose are disconcerting, almost hallucinatory. His writing is at times funny, at times so piercingly moving, so brimful of unassuaged sorrow....."

Just finished this yesterday. Hallucinatory is a good word for it. I read Before and During a few years ago and at this point I'm not sure if Sharov is just not so much for me (I liked The Rehearsals more that Before and During) or if the translator isn't for me. Or, very possibly, if Sharov just hits points in Russian history that I don't have the best grasp on and so I miss out on things in the text. Or some combination of all of the above.

Here's a detailed review of his later novel, Return to Egypt (Возвращение в Египет):

https://theuntranslated.wordpress.com/2018/12/02/return-to-egypt-%d0%b2%d0%be%d0...

(If you're not familiar with The Untranslated, it's a great blog that reviews untranslated books, like it says on the tin.)

I finally read The Rehearsals; this is my post:

https://languagehat.com/sharovs-rehearsals/