The Suitcase (Russian: Чемодан, romanized: Chemodan) is a novel by Sergei Dovlatov, published in Russian in 1986 and in English translation by Antonina W. Bouis in 1990. Although loosely connected into a novel, The Suitcase is a collection of eight stories of life in the Soviet Union based on eight items brought in the author's suitcase from the USSR to exile in the United States in 1978.
References
- Karbo, Karen (September 2, 1990), "Known by the Clothes He Wears – or Steals", The New York Times,
Like his previous works, The Suitcase verges on the autobiographical ... these stories are as much about love and friendship gone awry, about aborted dreams and helplessness, as they are about hats and shirts and belts
- Schoettler, Carl (February 27, 1991), "'The Suitcase' is filled with irony about life in Soviet Union", Baltimore Evening Sun,
The suitcase contains an old-fashioned double-breasted suit, crepe socks, half boots, an officer's belt, a worn satin jacket once worn by the French artist Fernand Léger, a poplin shirt, a winter hat, driving gloves – and half a lifetime of memories.
- Hilary J. Teplitz (2003), Exile in America Russian emigration, 1925-1999, Stanford University, Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures, page 159: "In his novel, The Suitcase, which came out in Russian first in 1986 and then in English in 1990, Sergei Dovlatov uses the very deformation of relics to characterize his past."
- Choice, American Library Association, 1990: "Although called a novel, The Suitcase is a collection of loosely connected vignettes inspired by the eight items of apparel in the author's suitcase brought from the USSR in 1978"
- Jekaterina Young (2009), Sergei Dovlatov and His Narrative Masks, ISBN 0810125978, page 157: "For Dovlatov in The Suitcase, the ownership of a thing is reduced to a trivial and absurd event. It is testimony to the narrator's personal history and not to the history of the revolution. Dovlatov turns the value of ownership upside down; he uses elements of parody and irony in his stories in order to repudiate the value of owning the objects that were coveted in the Soviet Union"
- Marina Balina and Mark Lipovetsky (2004), Russian Writers Since 1980, volume 285, page 57: "The novel takes its name from a battered old suitcase that the narrator, an Emigre, brought with him upon leaving the Soviet Union. He comes across the dust-covered object in his closet, and rummaging through its contents provides him with..."
- Mozur, Jr., Joseph P. (Spring 1991), "Review: The Suitcase by Sergei Dovlatov", World Literature Today, 65 (2): 318–319, doi:10.2307/40147224, JSTOR 40147224,
The Suitcase is the author's farewell to the ghosts of his Soviet experience.
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| Novels by Sergei Dovlatov | |
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