"One of the best books to come out of Russia in the last decade..."
— Neue Zuricher Zeitung
The 1998 winner of the Anti-Booker Prize and the 2001 winner of the State Prize for Literature, Hurramabad describes the bloody national strife and the eviction of Russians from Tajikistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The title is the name of the mythical city of joy and happiness where there is always plenty of fresh water and shade. When civil war erupts in Tajikistan, many Russians are reluctant to leave at first. But normal life gradually vanishes, replaced by atrocity and death. This shifting world is the setting of Volos's powerful novel. He masterfully creates vivid pictures from street scenes, snatches of conversations at the bazaar, comments by wise old men and life stories of simple people, Russians and Tajiks alike
— Neue Zuricher Zeitung
The 1998 winner of the Anti-Booker Prize and the 2001 winner of the State Prize for Literature, Hurramabad describes the bloody national strife and the eviction of Russians from Tajikistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The title is the name of the mythical city of joy and happiness where there is always plenty of fresh water and shade. When civil war erupts in Tajikistan, many Russians are reluctant to leave at first. But normal life gradually vanishes, replaced by atrocity and death. This shifting world is the setting of Volos's powerful novel. He masterfully creates vivid pictures from street scenes, snatches of conversations at the bazaar, comments by wise old men and life stories of simple people, Russians and Tajiks alike