“ Rain God ” is the debut novel of the Russian writer Maya Kucherskaya , in the center of which is a dramatic love story of a parishioner to her confessor .
| God of rain | |
|---|---|
| Genre | novel |
| Author | Maya Kucherskaya |
| Original language | Russian |
| Date of writing | 1996/2006 |
| Date of first publication | 2007 |
Published in 2007 by Vremya Publishing House, then reprinted several times. Awarded the Student Booker Award for 2007.
Content
History
In 1996, Maya Kucherskaya wrote the story “The Story of a Dating” about the parishioner's love for her confessor; the story was published in the journal Volga (1998. No. 10. P. 14-101). Subsequently, the writer returned to this plot and reworked the novel into a novel, completed in 2006 and released in 2007 . He became the second book of Kucherskaya's prose dedicated to Orthodox life (after the " Modern Patericon ", which received a great deal of resonance).
Maya Kucherskaya answered the following questions in an interview about the autobiographical nature of the novel [1] [2] :
| The experiences of the main character, her experience of joining the church - in many ways, although not in everything, are autobiographical. And the plot, characters, dialogs - this is already from the field of fiction, in which reality and fiction are mixed into indistinguishability. |
| It seems to me that any novel is autobiographical. All our letters are self-portraits of the soul. And not so much the heroes intersect, but time. Time is fixed, it seems to me, with documentary accuracy. The end of the 1980s - the beginning of the 1990s, that was exactly how it was, and so, then people of my circle lived - students of the philological faculty of Moscow State University. Someone went to sessions , hipped , drove along the highway, someone just studied diligently, someone was baptized and started a new church life, prayed, fasted like crazy, and some, by the way, tried to combine all this. And my heroine is one of those who want to live all their lives at once. |
In 2007, “The God of the Rain” entered the long list of the Russian Booker Prize [3] and received a student jury award - the Student Booker [4] [5] , and also entered the short list of the Book of the Year prize [6] .
In 2008, the novel entered the short list of the Yasnaya Polyana award [7] and the long list of the National Bestseller award [8] .
Story
Moscow , the end of the 1980s After graduating from school, Anya enters the Romano-Germanic department of the philological faculty of Moscow State University . By the beginning of the second year, she was disappointed in her studies, depressed and depressed, which intensifies after the death of her beloved teacher Zhuravsky. She goes to the country, sure that death will overtake her there, but at the moment of the greatest despair she feels the presence of God. Having believed and become interested in Orthodoxy , she soon accepts baptism (with the support of school friend Gleb, a deeply religious and church-minded). Hieromonk Anthony baptized her becomes her confessor .
Anya regularly confesses to Father Anthony, but she does not always have enough of his attention and his opinions on various issues. Nevertheless, by the third year, she significantly limits communication with friends and almost does not participate in student parties. She also gets acquainted with Petra (a girl from her own school, but older), who gathers a circle of Orthodox acquaintances. After visiting several newly opened monasteries, Anya is considering leaving her studies and moving to a monastery, but about. Anthony does not bless her.
Gradually, Anya becomes more and more psychological dependent on Fr. Anthony, they sometimes begin to see each other outside the church, and then often call up. Anya learns more about the past about. Anthony, as well as about his life outside the temple (he lives with an alcoholic neighbor, sometimes he drinks at home, is sometimes gloomy and harsh). It becomes difficult for her to perceive about. Anthony, both as a friend and as a confessor, and she stops going to the temple. Meanwhile, about. Anthony begins to disappear for a long time, not to be in the church and not answer by phone, which aggravates Ani's suffering. She feels she loves about. Anthony cannot live without him. Overcoming despair, she goes to confession to another priest, who advises her to break off all relations with Fr. Anthony and do not look for meetings with him.
After the fifth year, Anya and her parents leave for Canada . Two years later, she returns to visit friends and finds out that about. Anthony no longer serves in their temple. Having found Petra in the village, Anya realizes that Petra’s infant is from Fr. Anthony, with whom they now live together.
Reviews
- Elena Stepanyan [9] :
| “The god of rain” ... not even about the temptation of forbidden love, but about the chilliness and weakness of souls reaching for each other. The fragile souls who came to faith, and still remained fragile. The novel of the writer says that the unity of modern people, even in the Church, happens to be tangent to Christ. People now and then look only for people, that is, heat, not fire. ... Without insisting on anything, without proving anything unconditionally, Kucherskaya in her indisputable book talks about how he draws a person to other people, how he needs them - even those who have remained almost unnoticed on the path of life. |
- Elena Zinovieva [10] :
| ... you can read the book as a novel about the upbringing of feelings, about the complex spiritual formation of a person, about growing up. ... Actually, this novel is about the problems of the young: about a difficult and lengthy search for the meaning of life, ideal samples, a sensitive, all-understanding mentor. This is a very smart - and relevant - conversation about God, about the Church, about the Priest and Man, and it is all the more interesting because the author does not offer ready-made answers, but only gives the reader the opportunity to look at problems from all changing angles, sometimes unexpected, deep. Meaningful, beautiful word, clear, pure speech, exact syllable. Various forms in a relatively short space: author’s text, diary, dialogs, telephone conversations. A strong, tense plot: to follow the awakening of the soul, the metamorphoses of the heroine’s feelings, her struggle with despair and cold, which more than once neatly and slowly flooded her soul, is no less interesting than the events nearby. |
- Svetlana Shishkova-Shipunova [11] :
| So, two young people “born in the USSR” who do not have the necessary experience of spiritual life and the necessary (inculcated from childhood) skills of religion, are in the bosom of the Church. He is in the role of a priest, she is in the role of a parishioner. Both roles are difficult, each in its own way, unless, of course, performed seriously. They try to do it seriously, their intentions are pure, but ... their spirit is not enough, their burden is unbearable. ... In the end, after much hesitation, she leaves with her parents for Canada. He gives up serving and marries that very Peter, she gives birth to him a baby. Such, it turns out, is the result of their “churching." The attempt failed. ... He would rather have the subtitle “Reading for those who wish to become discouraged”. And despondency, as you know, is one of the grave sins, so not every reader, having closed the book, will say thanks to the author (except in the sense - save God). |
Notes
- ↑ Maya Kucherskaya: You need to write, guided by the love of what you write about ... (interview)
- ↑ Maya Kucherskaya: All our letters are self-portraits of the soul (interview)
- ↑ LONG LITERARY AWARD “RUSSIAN BOOKER” -2007 IN THE “LONG LIST” OF 33 WORKS
- ↑ Russian Booker - Literary Prize - Russian Booker
- ↑ "RUSSIAN BOOKER" ANSWERED THE "BIG BOOK"
- ↑ SHORT LIST OF THE NATIONAL CONTEST “BOOK OF THE YEAR”
- ↑ Three authors entered the shortlist of the Yasnaya Polyana Prize
- ↑ NATIONAL BEST SELLER ANNOUNCES A LONG LIST
- ↑ "It is we, Lord." About amateurs, professionals and the global cold // "Banner" 2010, No. 2
- ↑ Publication of Elena Zinovieva // Neva 2008, No. 6
- ↑ Return of the "priests" // "Banner" 2008, No. 2