A review by vanjr
Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky

4.0

A collection of short stories that while easy to read, is actually quite dense. It seemed like reading this prose was like reading poetry. I was always working hard to find the reference that the author was making. (As a side note this is a great book to read to get ideas of other Russian authors to read outside of the big names everyone knows).

The short stories occasionally had some links-such as the "Ises and the Nots" but I had different levels of enjoyment. I will start off with "In the Pupil" is better than "Autobiography of a Corpse." The title song is not always the hit from a record (that phrase shows my non-streaming age.) My favorites were as above and Seams, The Unbitten Elbow and Thirty Pieces of Silver.

If I have not thoroughly confused you, I will finish with a short quote to give a feel for this eclectic book. From Postmark: Moscow-thirteen letters postmarked "Moscow" [aside thank you Mr. Putin for preventing me from ever using this short story as a way to see Moscow in real life]

From Letter Ten:

At first, crosses were for crucifying: They say that among the crucified an occasional god turned up. Later on, the blood on their cross-pieces gilded, crosses were hoisted up onto the tops of domes. To see them there, people had to raise their heads. At first they raised them, then they stopped: no time. Everyone knew those metal plus signs could not put anything together; they could not unite disparate lives into a single life. Love remained as disorganized and amateurish as ever.
Soon people, even those with a little cross tucked inside their shirtfront, learned to live near the cross, yet past it.