Diary of the End of the World
Essay by Natalya Klucharyova
ENGLISH SAMPLE AVAILABLE
Essay by Natalya Klucharyova
ORIGINAL TITLE: Дневник конца света
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: Suhrkamp, 2023
160 PAGES
RIGHTS SOLD: Italian (Stilo Editrice), Portuguese for Brazil (Kinoruss), Russian (Ivan Limbakh)
ENGLISH SAMPLE AVAILABLE
“A girl in my oldest daughter’s class said, “Raise your hand if you’re for the war.” Everyone raised their hand, but my daughter said, “I don’t know, my mom doesn’t tell me anything about it.” Despite the fact that we talk about it every evening. The fact that the girl’s mother works for the police gave added piquancy to the situation. Such a sweet lady, with a tattoo on her arm - something in Spanish about happiness. Whenever I get ready to go to a protest I imagine her searching me with her beautiful white hands while I, out of habit, try to make out what her tattoo says about happiness, like at parent-teacher meetings, but the second half of the phrase is hidden under her sleeve.”
A unique insight into contemporary Russian society.
The morning of February 24, 2022, begins for Natalya like any other day. Before, at the school gate, she sees her children's teacher cry. Since the start of the war on Ukraine, Natalya keeps a diary, noting what is happening within her and around her: how paralyzing fear, shame, and horror spread within her, while life continues around her as if nothing has changed. How people continue to take to the streets despite the threat of terrible punishments. How the suffering of Ukraine is perceived (or not). And how language and conversation come under pressure - how can one still talk and communicate in a country that prohibits the use of more and more words?
With a keen ear, Klucharyova maps the sphere of the unofficial in Russia. Diary of the End of the World is a courageous testimony that gives insight into a society that has become increasingly closed off.
The morning of February 24, 2022, begins for Natalya like any other day. Before, at the school gate, she sees her children's teacher cry. Since the start of the war on Ukraine, Natalya keeps a diary, noting what is happening within her and around her: how paralyzing fear, shame, and horror spread within her, while life continues around her as if nothing has changed. How people continue to take to the streets despite the threat of terrible punishments. How the suffering of Ukraine is perceived (or not). And how language and conversation come under pressure - how can one still talk and communicate in a country that prohibits the use of more and more words?
With a keen ear, Klucharyova maps the sphere of the unofficial in Russia. Diary of the End of the World is a courageous testimony that gives insight into a society that has become increasingly closed off.
Diary of the End of the World thrives on the intensity of the awareness to which the author pushes herself. As oppressive as the facts it records, it is also an attempt at consolation, interwoven with delicate literary threads.
— Der Tagesspiegel
Klucharyova writes about how a society becomes accustomed to a state of emergency, how the fog of indoctrination by state media envelops it. The author's struggle for words contrasts with the indifference of her surroundings. This book is an important document.
— Berliner Zeitung
An important literary testimony about life in Russia in 2023.
— SWR2