The Big Green Tent

You could say there's a style to the big Russian classics, and The Big Green Tent definitely has that same style and grandeur. It's family, tradition, revolutions, politics, love, tragedy and the relations between a rich cast of characters, that weave in and out of each other's lives, spanning decades. Ulitskaya's book pulls us into the life of artists, academics and political dissidents during the 1950ies to 1970ies in Moscow. And like all Russian epics, at its essence it's a book about the soul of Russia and the love&hate relationship Russians have with their country. At the center are three childhood friends - Ilya, Mikha and Sanya - who bond over being outsiders, and who are thirsty for knowledge and art. They develop a love for literature, music and photography, but when they grow up and have to confront their motherland's oppressive political reality, their passions lead some of them towards the dissident movement. The love of literature that's present in all the pages - treasured books are handed from person to person, forbidden books are copied onto onion skin paper, early manuscripts are received from local writers - is very infectious. I think it's time I finally read [b:Doctor Zhivago 130440 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385508725l/130440.SY75.jpg 3288400], maybe this winter... I thought it was very interesting that Ulitskaya started the prologue of the book with 3 girls, 3 friends, and their individual experiences of hearing the announcements of Stalin's looming demise. We do meet these girls again later, as they become part of the tapestry of interconnected fates. But their presence in the prologue makes you question if there maybe could have been a version of this book that has female protagonists at the center, and that maybe the featured period of time wasn't the right time yet.