The Year of the Comet, Sergei Lebedev
The Year of the Comet, Sergei Lebedev
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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The Year of the Comet

Author: Sergei Lebedev, Antonina W. Bouis

Narrator: Daniel Gamburg

Unabridged: 8 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/18/2017

Synopsis

An idyllic childhood takes a sinister turn. Rumors of a serial killer haunt the neighborhood, families pack up and leave town without a word of warning, and the country begins to unravel. Policemen stand by as protesters overtake the streets, knowing that the once awe-inspiring symbols of power they wear on their helmets have become devoid of meaning. Lebedev depicts a vast empire coming apart at the seams, transforming a very public moment into something tender and personal, and writes with stunning beauty and shattering insight about childhood and the growing consciousness of a boy in the world.

About Sergei Lebedev

Sergei Lebedev, a poet, essayist, and journalist, is one of Russia’s most lauded young writers. He was born in Moscow in 1981 and worked for seven years on geological expeditions in Asia and northern Russia.

About Antonina W. Bouis

Antonina W. Bouis is one of the leading translators of Russian literature working today. She has translated more than eighty works from authors such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Sakharov, Sergei Dovlatov, and Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. She was born in West Germany and educated in the United States, where she earned degrees from Barnard College and Columbia University. Bouis, previously executive director of the Soros Foundation in the former USSR, now lives in New York City.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alexander on April 29, 2019

I don’t think I can stress enough the importance of actually getting to the heart of your story in your synopsis. If that little summary on the back of your book sets people up for the wrong expectations, it can really affect the amount of enjoyment readers glean from your story. The Year of the Com......more

Goodreads review by Yuri on September 12, 2019

The comet is Halley’s (harbinger of catastrophe) and the year is 1986, the year of the star Chernobyl. The protagonist of Lebedev’s novel is eleven or so in that year, which is the central hinge of his narrative. The years that follow, especially 1987-88, are sketched in, but the events of the colla......more

Goodreads review by Sara on January 02, 2020

The Year of the Comet tells the story of a Russian boy growing up in the 80s and 90s in Moscow. Most of the story is internal - all of the deep thoughts and reactions/actions of a young boy trying to make his way in the world and understand what is in the silences, those spaces outside of the daily......more

Goodreads review by Barry on July 11, 2019

Coming of age as an Empire falls. This is the story of a boy growing up in Moscow in the last years of the Soviet Union. Both his parents are scientists so he spends his time with his Grandmothers. His Grandfathers are both dead as a result of World War II, but these women are a part of the Soviet Gr......more

Goodreads review by Old Man on September 23, 2018

Written in beautiful lyrical prose this is the story of a young boy growing up in the last years of the Soviet Union. The first half of the book is nothing short of amazing. It opens a window into life in the Soviet Union through the eyes of a young boy and is written so beautifully that you can alm......more

Quotes

“Examines the psychological trauma Stalinism continues to unleash—even on those who never lived during his reign…Antonina W. Bouis has translated the best of Soviet and post-Soviet writings…and the ease with which she renders Mr. Lebedev’s prose creates the illusion that both his novels were originally written in English.” Wall Street Journal

“Depicts objects in a stunningly, almost freakishly precise way, coaxing the metaphysical to express itself through the material.” Times Literary Supplement (London)

“Gorgeously written…leaves readers with a new insight into a towering moment in modern history.” Winnipeg Free Press

“One of the best novels to come out of Russia in a generation.” Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Absorbing…A seamlessly written child’s-eye view that conveys an adult understanding of history’s burdens.” Library Journal (starred review)

“You read and reread Lebedev’s lyrical, cutting prose with equal amounts of awe and enjoyment…Gorgeously written, unsettling.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A remarkable bildungsroman, set against the decline of the Soviet Union…A smart, convincing, and affecting novel.” Publishers Weekly

Awards

  • World Literature Today Pick
  • Shelf Awareness Best Book
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