A Flame Out at Sea - by Dmitry Novikov (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The protagonist of A Flame Out at Sea heads to the stores of the northern lakes and the White Sea in search of its present, which unexpectedly proves to be inseparable from its recent past. Against the backdrop of the powerful northern elements, the drama of a single individual in the here and now begins to seem tiny and insignificant but the tragedy of the nation irredeemably large. "The novel is a confession, a travelogue and a doorway into a great historical era."

A Flame Out at Sea is about going beyond the boundaries of the big city, about overcoming the fetters of one's private and family past, leaving aside one's resentment, squashing one's pride, unclenching one's fists and turning one's life around. It is about a journey to the origins of speech, personality, courage and love made by a modern man in the harsh, sacred, nourishing and draining circumstances of the Russian North. (Valeria Pustovaya, Literary critic)

Translated from the Russian by Christopher Culver.

Published with support of the Russian Booker Foundation.

Sponsored by GLOBEXBANK.

Publishers Maxim Hodak & Max Mendor.

Review Quotes

"The narration oscillates between the epic, the mystical, and the historiographical, with affecting descriptions of northern nature that read like exquisitely crafted prose poems. For an American reader, a parallel would be Jack London's stories and novels of the Great North, but refracted through a kaleidoscopic lens that gives the environments described, as well as their inhabitants, an otherworldly and even supernatural dimension." Richard Tempest, The Los Angeles Review of Books

"The peaceful, isolated life on the lakes and in the forests is in stark contrast to the cruelty to which the Russian North has so often been witness. The book is slow, measured and contemplative, and I found reading it an immersive experience." Mandy Jenkinson, Historical Novel Society

"A Flame out at Sea is variously seen as a confessional novel, a historical novel and even as a travelogue. It is probably more profitable to see it as an amalgam of all three, and more besides, just as Karelia is, and always has been, a fascinating ethnic, linguistic and cultural mix. Those whose knowledge of the place is restricted to Sibelius' music will find that knowledge considerably expanded by this very unusual and interesting novel." Michael Pursglove, East-West Review