Customer Reviews

The Man with the Black Coat: Russia's Literature of the Absurd

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The key to understanding this book, I think, lies in starting with the subtitle: "Russia's Literature of the Absurd." Kharms and Vvedensky are pen names of Russian/Soviet writers who are known in their home country for their children's books. This is because their more serious and creative writings did not agree with the Stalinist conception of proper art. Hence it was almost impossible for them to publish what they wanted. The editor George Gibian compiled in this volume the stories of Kharms and Vvedensky that have been preserved by their friends or simply lovers of literature. Some of my favorites in this volume are "Cashier" and "Power." I also enjoyed Kharms' poem about melancholy, which is printed in English in the Introduction and in its original Russian at the end of the book.

All stories are short, many less than a page long. They can finally take their proper place among important works of Russian literature. I cannot say that I was captivated or dazzled by this book, but it has interesting moments that will be appreciated by anyone interested in Russian literature or the literature of the absurd.

I advise against reading this book in public, as your hysterical laughter could lead to suspicious glances at best, being carted off in a straightjacket at worst.

I don't know how effective Kharms was at making a points about Stalinist Russia, about art in the postmodern world or even about great literature. While you can certainly detect those elements in his short-short stories and his plays, they're more fun to read simply because they're so CRAZY FUN! Perhaps I'm taking some of the more serious portions having to do with death, rape, etc. too lightly, but at the very least you will be always surprised and captivated by these works. Try them out. Besides, when a story's only two paragraphs long (as many of them are) what do you have to lose?

This book is absolutely worth reading. Most of it is devoted to Kharms' short stories, which are not only often hilarious, but well written. Of course, on a more intellectual level, absurdism is suggesting the futility and humor of typical life. So the book can be enjoyed as an introduction to absurdism, a funny read, and a collection of philosophic short stories. I really can't reccomend this highly enough, particularly to readers who've never experienced absurdism.