Between Dog and Wolf

__Between Dog and Wolf__, written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. Language rather than plot motivates the story—the novel is often compared to James Joyce's __Finnegans Wake__—and time, characters, and death all prove unstable. The one constant is the Russian landscape. Sasha Sokolov is one of few writers to have been praised by Vladimir Nabokov, who called his first novel, A School for Fools, “an enchanting, tragic, and touching book.” Sokolov’s second novel, Between Dog and Wolf, written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. This “intricate and rewarding” novel by the renowned author of A School for Fools is “a Russian Finnegan’s Wake ” finally available in English translation ( Vanity Fair ). One of contemporary Russia’s greatest novelists, Sasha Sokolov is celebrated for his experimental, verbally playful prose. Written in 1980, his novel Between Dog and Wolf has long been considered impossible to translate because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. But in this acclaimed translation, Alexander Boguslawski has achieved “a masterful feat...remarkably faithful to the subtleties of Sokolov's language” (Olga Matich, University of California, Berkeley). Alternating between the voices of an old, one-legged knife-sharpener, a game warden who writes poetry, and Sokolov himself, this language-driven novel unfolds a story of life on the upper Volga River, in which time, characters, and death all prove unstable. The one constant is the Russian landscape, where the Volga is a more-crossable River Styx, especially when it freezes in winter. Sasha Sokolov is one of few writers to have been praised by Vladimir Nabokov, who called his first novel, A School for Fools, "an enchanting, tragic, and touching book." Sokolov's second novel, Between Dog and Wolf, written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. Language rather than plot motivates the story--the novel is often compared to James Joyce's Finnegans Wake--and time, characters, and death all prove unstable. The one constant is the Russian landscape, where the Volga is a more-crossable River Styx, especially when it freezes in winter. Sokolov's fiction has hugely influenced contemporary Russian writers. Now, thanks to Alexander Boguslawski's bold and superb translation, English readers can access what many consider to be his best work Between Dog and Wolf , written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. Language rather than plot motivates the story—the novel is often compared to James Joyce's Finnegans Wake —and time, characters, and death all prove unstable. The one constant is the Russian landscape. Sasha Sokolov is one of few writers to have been praised by Vladimir Nabokov, who called his first novel, A School for Fools, “an enchanting, tragic, and touching book.” Sokolov’s second novel, Between Dog and Wolf, written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, and neologisms. Contents Introduction 1. Discords Beyond the Itil 2. The Trapper’s Tale 3. Notes of a Binging Hunter 4. Dzyndzyrela’s Discords Beyond the Itil 5. The Trapper’s Tale or Pictures from an Exhibition 6. Accordin to Ilya Petrikeich 7. Notes of a Hunter 8. Discords Beyond the Itil 9. Pictures from an Exhibition 10. Dzynzyrella’s 11. Again the Notes 12. Discords Beyond the Itil 13. Pictures from an Exhibition 14. Accordin to Ilya Petrikeich 15. The Binger’s Journal 16. The Trapper’s Tale 17. The Last Remarks 18. The Note, Sent in a Separate Bottle Annotations