New
Titles from The Birchbark Press of Karacharovo
Hogtown:
a Gothic Tale About Political Correctness and Other Virtues... as Told by
Gabriel Choreb. This is an
English translation of Gavriil Khorev's Master
i Marmeladov (Karacharovo, 1998). A creative spinoff from Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, the tale presents
a Russian view of American academe. The amazing Woland comes to a small college
in Hogtown, U.S.A., where the faculty must compete for a pay raise in an
extravagant popularity contest. Yuri Marmeladov, an eccentric old Russian
émigré, claims that he has made a major discovery in the works of
Dostoevsky. His claim is dismissed as madness. Woland’s arrival unleashes a
chain of cataclysmic events. The first novel of its kind to emerge from post-Gorbachev
Russia, Hogtown (The Master and Marmeladov) resurrects the satirical spirit of
Mikhail Bulgakov and the surreal worlds of Gogol and Dostoevsky. ISBN 0-936041-11-0 [paper] $14.95
“Choreb
introduces the reader to an academic world plagued by political and moral
corruption, low standards, power-hungry professors and administrators, and
backbiting colleagues jockeying for valued positions. ...To everyone who has
been critical of the American educational system, or has been victimized by it,
enjoy, enjoy!” --Bonnie Marshall (World Literature Today)
Solomon Gromyko, ed., Russian Stories: a new anthology of
Russian classics in precise English translation: Queen of Spades, “Taman,” The
Nose, First Love, Dream of a Ridiculous Man, Death of Ivan Ilyich, “Vanka” and “Sleep…”
(Chekhov), Babel’s “Pan Apolek” and “The King,” The Gentleman from San Francisco. Commentary by Solomon Gromyko
with bibliographical references. ISBN 0-938618-00-8 [paper] $15.95
Ivan Ivanovich Bomzh, Tiazhelo-zvonkoe skakanie. Zapiski Bomzha (o
Mastere i Margarite): reprint of the Russian edition, with
remarkable illustrations by St. Petersburg artist Aleksandr Tiumerov. Amazing graphic method of highlighting
nuances of Bulgakov's craft. It turns out that Bulgakov's Ivan Bezdomny (Ivan
Homeless) was not simply a fictional character. This tale recounts the
adventures of his son, Ivan Ivanovich Bomzh, as he attempts to weave his way
through the corridors of the Soviet academic bureaucracy. A satirical
commentary on the apparatchiki of science and learning, this zany tale and its
fantastic drawings show us how Bulgakov refashioned Pushkin's image of the
Bronze Horseman to create an apocalyptic leitmotif running through The Master and Margarita. ISBN 0-938618-07-5 [paper, large format]
$21.95
Vasily Shukshin, Kalina krasnaia: the only edition containing the actual filmscript (the actual text of the movie, created by cutting up the kinopovest' and piecing it together with penned alterations). Only 1000 copies printed. A stressed reader designed to assist students in viewing the film version of Kalina krasnaia. This edition also includes the kinopovest' and a detailed commentary on both the script and the kinopovest'. An introductory essay explains religious and folkloric features of the story, including the symbolic link between Yegor Prokudin and St. George. ISBN 5-7921-0010-1 [hard cover] $14.95
Iu. I. Marmeladov, Tainyi kod Dostoevskogo, this Academy of Sciences edition was
printed in only 1000 hardbound copies (St. Petersburg, 1992). It traces the leitmotif of Elijah the
Prophet throughout the major fiction of Dostoevsky, with three chapters devoted
to Bunin, Goncharov and Ostrovskii. This is probably the biggest discovery of
the twentieth century in the study of Dostoevsky. Among the book's many new
findings: Raskolnikov's confession to Il'ya Petrovich is timed to coincide with
the holiday of Elijah the Prophet; Il'ya Murin, the gruff old man in The Landlady, is an emanation of Elijah
the Prophet; the thunderstorms in The
Eternal Husband, The Humiliated and
Injured, and The Idiot are drawn
with an eye to the thunder of Elijah the Prophet; Dmitry Karamazov's surrender
at Mokroye during a rainstorm is
associated with Elijah as enforcer of divine justice; The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants is the primary
work in which Dostoevsky's Elijah theme comes out into the open, when thunder
strikes at the story's climax and all cry out, "Elijah the Prophet!"
The discoveries presented in this book will force scholars to reevaluate Dostoevsky's
Christian themes, especially in the early fiction of the 1840's. ISBN 5-8460-0005-3 [hard cover] $15.95
F. M. Dostoevsky, The Landlady: new translation with new commentary based on the
recent discoveries of Yuri Marmeladov. Marmeladov shows that the enigmatic Ilya
Murin is an emanation of the fiery prophet Elijah. (The Birchbark Press,
Karacharovo, 2002). ISBN 0-938618-01-6 [paper] $12.95
F.M. Dostoevskii, Polnoe sobranie sochinenii (kanonicheskie teksty), vols. 1-4, Petrozavodsk State University, V. N. Zakharov, ed. This new edition of Dostoevsky’s fiction, with new commentaries, corrects errors and restores the punctuation and orthography that was intended by the author. (Soviet editions standardize spelling and punctuation according to norms that were foreign to Dostoevsky.) The complete fiction will occupy 13 volumes. Volumes 5 and 7 are scheduled for printing in December, 2002. See Professor Zakharov’s online concordance to the complete fiction of Dostoevsky: http://www.karelia.ru/~Dostoevsky/dostconc/alpha_e.htm [hard cover, high-quality paper and binding] $19.95 per volume
Andrei Belyi, Peterburg, reprint of the 1922 Berlin edition with extensive new
commentary, illustrations. The 1922 edition includes Christian and other mystical
motifs that were removed for the Soviet editions. Hardbound edition for the
2003 St. Petersburg 300-year jubilee. Graphics by Alexander Tiumerov. In press.
$38.95
R. Mann, The Dionysian Art of Isaac Babel: a recent study of Babel’s use of classical mythology and Nietzsche’s theory of Apollo and Dionysus. ISBN 0-936041-08-0 [paper] $15.95
Jay MacPherson et al., The Brothers Karamazov… an Unorthodox Guide: a new commentary on The Brothers Karamazov incorporating the latest scholarship, including the Elijah leitmotif recently discovered by IU. I. Marmeladov. ISBN 0-93618-02-4 [paper] $15.95.
Vladimir
Eisner, Zhili-byli sem' Simeonov, documentary
about the Ovechkins, a family Dixieland jazz group from Irkutsk who attempted
to hijack a plane to the West in 1988. After security forces boarded the plane
outside of Leningrad, most of the family were killed along with several
innocent victims, and the plane was totally destroyed. Eisner's documentary
follows the Ovechkin children at the apex of their fame and at the trial
following the disaster. The film is a sensitive commentary on the moral and
spiritual crisis of the Soviet system. VHS (NTSC for American TV). $58.00
Klavdiia Perepelkina, Imaginary Friend: a new investigation of the authenticity of the Igor Tale with a new hypothesis for the authorship of the tale. Pamphlet reprint of the author's samizdat publication. $9.95
P. A. Lavrov, Uchenaia deiatel'nost' Iosifa Dobrovskogo, pamphlet reprint of Lavrov's 1929 survey of Dobrovsky's life (ca. 100 pages) $10.00
Piatoe koleso: a video program about Russian folk and religious beliefs reflected in the fiction of Dostoevsky. Focusses on the recent discoveries of Yuri Marmeladov and the reopening of the restored Church of Elijah the Prophet in Leningrad. Features Natalya Antonova and Yuri Marmeladov. Aired by Leningrad Television in 1991. NTSC (American system) $40.00
Telekur’er: videotaped productions by the popular Leningrad TV journal featuring Natasha Antonova and music by Sergei Samoilov. Zany, creative reports from the last years of Perestroika, a boom period in Russian TV journalism. NTSC $40.00
Clemens Starck, Studying Russian on Company Time: a poetry anthology, mostly in English, by the gifted West Coast poet, author of Journeyman’s Wages (awarded the Oregon Book Prize). Clem Starck’s poetry is replete with humor, irony and creative twists. ISBN 1-878851-13-6 [paper] $9.95
Robert Mann, The Igor Tales: Mann shows that the Igor Tale was an oral epic song that was written down in the 13th century – about 25 years later than scholars have generally believed. He introduces a wealth of new parallels in various sources, including the Skazanie o Mamaevom poboishche and folk incantations, and he solves the puzzles presented by the opening lines of the Igor Tale. $28.95
Shipping in USA: $4.00 first title plus $.50 for each additional title.
Make checks payable to Anna Dranova.
Anna Dranova, 6221 Dania Street, Jupiter, FL 33458.
Telephone: 561-748-4333
E-mail: [email protected]