Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook215 pages3 hours
The Zone: A Prison Camp Guard's Story
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
From the exiled Russian author of The Suitcase. “Reading Dovlatov is a joyous, thrilling, usually hilarious experience” (The New Yorker).
Written in Sergei Dovlatov’s unique voice and unmatched style, The Zone is a satirical novelization of Dovlatov’s time as a prison guard for the Soviet Army in the early 1960s. Snapshots of the prison are juxtaposed with the narrator’s letters to Igor Markovich of Hermitage Press in which he urges Igor to publish the very book we’re reading. As Igor receives portions of the prison camp manuscript, so too does the reader.
Arguably Dovlatov’s most significant work, The Zone illuminates the twisted absurdity of the life of a prison guard: “Almost any prisoner would have been suited to the role of a guard. Almost any guard deserved a prison term.” Full of Dovlatov’s trademark dark humor and dry wit, The Zone’s narrator is an extension of his author, and the book fittingly begins with the following disclaimer: “The names, events, and dates given here are all real. I invented only those details that were not essential. Therefore, any resemblance between the characters in this book and living people is intentional and malicious. And all fictionalizing was unexpected and accidental.” What follows is a complex novel that captures two sides of Dovlatov: the writer and the man.
“One wishes that he’d lived longer, been published sooner, given us more.” —Francine Prose, New York Times bestselling author
Written in Sergei Dovlatov’s unique voice and unmatched style, The Zone is a satirical novelization of Dovlatov’s time as a prison guard for the Soviet Army in the early 1960s. Snapshots of the prison are juxtaposed with the narrator’s letters to Igor Markovich of Hermitage Press in which he urges Igor to publish the very book we’re reading. As Igor receives portions of the prison camp manuscript, so too does the reader.
Arguably Dovlatov’s most significant work, The Zone illuminates the twisted absurdity of the life of a prison guard: “Almost any prisoner would have been suited to the role of a guard. Almost any guard deserved a prison term.” Full of Dovlatov’s trademark dark humor and dry wit, The Zone’s narrator is an extension of his author, and the book fittingly begins with the following disclaimer: “The names, events, and dates given here are all real. I invented only those details that were not essential. Therefore, any resemblance between the characters in this book and living people is intentional and malicious. And all fictionalizing was unexpected and accidental.” What follows is a complex novel that captures two sides of Dovlatov: the writer and the man.
“One wishes that he’d lived longer, been published sooner, given us more.” —Francine Prose, New York Times bestselling author
Unavailable
Related to The Zone
Related ebooks
Smashed in the USSR: Fear, Loathing and Vodka on the Steppes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Long Song of Tchaikovsky Street: a Russian adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLike Ants Under the Door Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Anonymous Novel: Sensing the Future Torments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMe Too: Volume V of The Bandy Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeasts, Men and Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moscow Exile: A Joe Wilderness Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Warsaw Chronicle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Curse of the Seuso Treasures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarlequin’s Costume Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stone Bridge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of Stephen Leacock Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBerezina: On Three Wheels from Moscow to Paris Chasing Napoleon's Epic Fail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Tea: Shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Award 2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes from Underground Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sunflowers Beneath the Snow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Journey into Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctor Zhivago Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Top 10 Short Stories - The 1870's - The Men: The top ten short stories written in the 1870s by male authors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHard to Be a God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death of a Doll Maker: Akitada Mysteries, #11 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deconstruction of Professor Thrub Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKonovalov Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFuneral in Berlin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Auschwitz Violinist: Adam Lapid Mysteries, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ellie Foreman Boxed Set: The Ellie Foreman Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Red Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Book Without Photographs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ipcress File Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Dark Humor For You
Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dog's Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Fang: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Laws of the Skies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Post Office: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death with Interruptions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hippopotamus: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moose Paradox Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Woods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dice Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five People You Meet in Hell: An Unauthorized Parody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snobs: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Factotum Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorrow and Bliss: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5P.S. Your Cat Is Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Company: A Novel of the CIA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trout Fishing in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After the Revolution: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Supermarket Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just by Looking at Him: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barbara Isn’t Dying: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Captain is Out to Lunch Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Zone
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5it is good the best very good beautiful nice good