Rapture

[An] absolutely peculiar world that engulfs the reader from the first line.--Boris Poplavsky
A closely guarded secret of Russian literature, the prose of Ilia Zdanevich, better known by his artistic pseudonym Iliazd, has never left the narrow coterie of literary connoisseurs. Censored in the USSR, thanks to the author's dissidence from the official Soviet ideology and aesthetic, and spurned by Russian émigrés because of his leftist politics and unapologetic stylistic and narrative experimentalism, Iliazd's work has been rediscovered only recently, challenging received wisdom about twentieth-century Russian literature and its place in transnational modernism. Now, for the first time, this rapturously narrated parable mythologizing the life of the Russian avant-garde is available to Anglophone readers. This tale of murder, kidnapping, passion, betrayal, treasure hunt, and political terrorism is set against the backdrop of a fantastic land inspired by the author's native Caucasus. The novelistic repertory of modernism grows richer and more diverse as Rapture joins contemporary French, Italian, and Anglo-American experiments pushing the limits of the genre.--Leonid Livak, University of Toronto
A fast-paced, mordantly funny yarn that borrows from (and subverts) the adventure genre. . . . while this novel has taken a long time to find a new audience, there's nothing musty about Thomas J. Kitson's excellent translation, which makes the prose of the book seem fresh.--Nick Holdstock "Open Letters Monthly"
Rapture is both traditional regional adventure tale--adapted for and reflecting its times--and experimental fiction, Iliazd taking liberties with story, style, and language. In upending--in a variety of ways, no less--readers' expectations, Iliazd's variation on this kind of tale offers very different satisfactions. A vivid, often comic, and always harsh story it veers between exciting pulp and much more ambitious mythifying near-poetry; it's also almost surprisingly accessible--and a fun, if twisted, read.--M.A. Orthofer "The Complete Review"
Iliazd's (birth name Ilia Zdanevich) rediscovered and newly translated work is a gem. . . . There are many levels and layers in this remarkable, short novel. And all of them deserve a close look.--Paul E. Richardson "Russian Life"
Thomas J. Kitson has come up with a fascinating translation of Iliazd's first novel, Rapture, an eccentric volume that will hopefully bring some welcome attention to this obscure literary figure.--Lucas Spiro "The Arts Fuse"
The interweaving themes and overlapping plotlines are rich with folklore, allegory, and autobiography, to which Kitson's expansive essay is an erudite, insightful guide. He identifies mythic and literary sources that Iliazd pillaged (from the Bible through Ovid to Dostoevsky and Jarry), summarizes the still meager critical literature in Russian, and comments on details of the text that only a translator could elucidate. The translation reads fluently, and the cover design, by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich, is top notch.--M. Kasper "Rain Taxi Review"
Although futuristic in its style (from abandoning punctuation to including unprintable words), the novel's pagan narrative has the same hypnotizing effect on the reader as Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Kitson does not put a foot wrong, in a translation so accurate and sensitive that it is unlikely to be superseded.-- "2018 Read Russia Prize, special mention, jury remarks"
American Slavists should be grateful to Kitson and to the Russian Library series of Columbia University Press for bringing this novel to light in English.--Elizabeth Klosty Beaujour "Slavic and East European Journal"
A provocative, often parodic, synthesis of currents in Russian and European literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. . . . In brief, the publication of this novel in such a handy, well-executed form is welcome as an important addition to twentieth century Russian literature in English.--Jeff Love "The Russian Review"
Translator Kitson provides an excellent introduction which discusses Iliazd's life, as well as putting this book into the context of his times and surroundings, whilst discussing its deeper meanings. . . . [Rapture] is an adventurous, experimental and thought-provoking novel which most definitely deserves more attention than it's received over the years.--Karen Langley "Shiny New Books"
Magical... like a wizard's spell.--Aleksandr Goldshtein "Nezavisimaia Gazeta"
A pathbreaking contribution to the canon of Modernist literature.-- "Public Seminar"
A poetic homage to and elegy for the Russian avant-garde in novel form.--Katherine Bowers "Literature and Translation"