Klotsvog

Klotsvog is a novel by Margarita Khemlin that explores the historical trauma of World War II and the petty dramas of one vain woman, Maya Abramovna Klotsvog. Through the first-person narrator, Khemlin retells the Soviet Jewish experience, integrating the personal and historical into Maya's vivid inner and outer lives. The war looms over the story, and the trauma runs deep, as do the ambiguities and ambivalences of Jewish identity. Lisa Haydens masterful translation brings this gripping character study to an English-speaking audience.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 27 August 2019
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Klotsvog is a novel that delves into the experiences of being Jewish in the Soviet Union during World War II, while also exploring the personal dramas and demons of a remarkably vain woman named Maya Abramovna Klotsvog. Maya has led a remarkable life, and she eagerly shares every detail with the reader. She is portrayed as self-centered, garrulous, and thoroughly entertaining, revealing her origins, relationships with those she did not get along with, and the fate of her husbands and lovers.

In Klotsvog, Margarita Khemlin crafts a first-person narrator who is both captivating and deeply self-absorbed. Through Maya's eyes, Khemlin weaves a retelling of the Soviet Jewish experience, seamlessly integrating the historical and the personal into her protagonist's vividly portrayed inner and outer lives. Maya's life story unfolds as a lengthy monologue, delivered in a straightforward yet rich language filled with Khemlin's masterful manipulation of Soviet clichés and matter-of-fact descriptions of Soviet life.

Born in a center of Jewish culture in Ukraine, Maya spent the war years in evacuation in Kazakhstan. Despite having few friends, she has had several husbands, and her relationships with her relatives are often strained. The shadow of war looms large over Klotsvog, and the trauma runs deep, alongside the complexities and ambiguities of Jewish identity.

Lisa Haydens masterful translation brings this gripping character study to an English-speaking audience, offering a fresh perspective on Jewish heritage and survival. Through Maya's captivating narrative, readers are invited to explore the complexities of a society that sought to erase Jewish identity, while also witnessing the resilience and determination of individuals who refused to be silenced. Klotsvog is a testament to the power of storytelling and the enduring impact of history on the lives of individuals.

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 141 x 216 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231182379