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The Bickford Fuse
Catch-22 meets The Brothers Karamazov in the last great satire of the Soviet Era
The Great Patriotic War is stumbling to a close, but a new darkness has fallen over Soviet Russia. And for a disparate, disconnected clutch of wanderers - many thousands of miles apart but linked by a common goal - four parallel journeys are just beginning.
Gorych and his driver, rolling through water, sand and snow on an empty petrol tank; the occupant of a black airship, looking down benevolently as he floats above his Fatherland; young Andrey, who leaves his religious community in search of a new life; and Kharitonov, who trudges from the Sea of Japan to Leningrad, carrying a fuse that, when lit, could blow all and sundry to smithereens.
Written in the final years of Communism, The Bickford Fuse is a satirical epic of the Soviet soul, exploring the origins and dead-ends of the Russian mentality from the end of World War Two to the Union's collapse. Blending allegory and fable with real events, and as deliriously absurd as anything Kurkov has written, it is both an elegy for lost years and a song of hope for a future not yet set in stone.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
36 people are currently reading
299 people want to read
About the author
Andrey Kurkov
77 books816 followersAndrey Kurkov is a Russian and Ukrainian writer who writes in Russian (fiction) and Ukrainian (non-fiction).
Kurkov was born in the small town of Budogoszcz, Russia, on April 23, 1961. When he was young, his family moved to Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1983 Kurkov graduated from the Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages and later also completed a training in Japanese translation.
Among Kurkov's most famous Russian novels are 'Smert postoronnego' (1996, translated into English in 2001 under the title 'Death and the Penguin') and 'Zakon ulitki' (2002, translated into English in 2005 as 'Penguin lost)'. Kurkov's only Ukrainian non-fiction book is 'Ruh "Emanus": istoriya solidarnosti' (2017).
Kurkov was born in the small town of Budogoszcz, Russia, on April 23, 1961. When he was young, his family moved to Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1983 Kurkov graduated from the Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages and later also completed a training in Japanese translation.
Among Kurkov's most famous Russian novels are 'Smert postoronnego' (1996, translated into English in 2001 under the title 'Death and the Penguin') and 'Zakon ulitki' (2002, translated into English in 2005 as 'Penguin lost)'. Kurkov's only Ukrainian non-fiction book is 'Ruh "Emanus": istoriya solidarnosti' (2017).
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 1, 2017
Eventually decided after leaving it half-finished on the side for a month or so that I just can’t bring myself to care what happens. Yes it’s very mystical and poetic and mysterious and allusive and la la la and it’s very nicely written but ... Kurkov just isn’t holding me any more. And I know that it’s an early work, and it took him years, and I feel kinda bad about that - but not bad enough to keep pushing on. It’s not just a Kurkov-period thing, either - after loving the penguins and the President and the General and the Matter of Death and Life, I battled through the early gecko one, then the really recent milkman one was a real struggle, and now this, and honestly I just can’t face it. It’s pretty and oblique and still waters run deep and on and on, but I just can’t make myself care about the story or any of the characters. They seem to be only representatives of trains of thought or history anyway so they’re not going to be too upset. I dig abstract and I dig conceptual - Pelevin’s Yellow Arrow being a case in point - but I do need some kind of drive to keep picking the thing up and this just isn’t giving me it. A really long piece of fuse? Nope. Of course I realise that’s probably another subtle metaphor, even apart from the obvious ones, but I’m just not motivated to follow it. Maybe one day when I’m completely at leisure I’ll pick it up again and get to the end, hopefully to achieve some moment of clarity or even just enjoyment, but for now: you are released, Bickford. See you later.
August 21, 2023
Keista knyga. Sunku iki galo suvokti paliktą įspūdį.
December 21, 2017
Among the most beautiful translations of contemporary prose I've ever read.
May 23, 2017
KURKOW, Andrej: „Die Welt des Herrn Bickford“, Innsbruck Wien 2017
Das neueste Buch von Andrej Kurkow ist nur neu was das Erscheinungsdatum sagt. Es war einer seiner ersten Romane und ich denke auch sein bester. Auch der Autor sieht das so. „Für mich ist es das wichtigste und wertvollste Werk.“ (Seite 6) Vier Jahre hat er daran geschrieben.
Ein Märchen für Erwachsene; viel Phantasie hinter der viel Wahrheit, Realität und Kritik steht.
Ein Schiff strandet während des Krieges an der Ostküste der Sowjetunion. Der Matrose des Schiffs, das mit Sprengstoff beladen ist wandert quer durch das riesige Land und erlebt unreale Dinge, deren Hintergrund aber real ist. Die Figuren des Romans träumen immer wieder dazwischen, wobei der Traum auch wieder reale Dinge behandelt.
Der Held des Buches kommt im Westen in Leningrad an, wird für zwei Jahre ins Gefängnis geworfen und dann anerkennend freigelassen. Die Geschichte endet am Hafen der Stadt. Aus einem großen Atomschiff werden Menschen verschiedenster Berufsgruppen und Maschinen feierlich entladen. Einer Arche Noah gleich werden die wichtigsten Einrichtungen der Sowjetunion an Land gebracht bevor das Wasser stieg und auch der Matrose, der den langen Weg hinter sich hatte kann nur mehr schwimmen. Ein Double von ihm ist aber am Schiff und überlebt so.
400 Seiten Wunderwelt mit versteckter Gesellschaftskritik. Das zentrale Anliegen Kukows war es, mit diesem Buch den „Sowjetmenschen“ zu beschreiben, ohne ihn aber zu bewerten. Weder positiv noch negativ.
Hier nur einige schöne Formulierungen:
„… denn ein Gespräch im Dunkeln war wie ein Telefonat, bei dem zwei Personen sprachen und unzählige lauschten.“ (Seite 23)
„Er fand, dass Stille auf dieser Welt überflüssig war. Wahrscheinlich hat es sie schon gegeben, bevor Gott die Welt erschuf.“ (Seite 80)
„Wenn du einem Schössling das Sonnenlicht nimmst und ihn in den Schatten setzt, geht er ein. Er kehrt in die Erde zurück. Wie alles Lebendige in die Erde zurückkehrt, wenn es ausgebrannt und erschöpft ist.“ (Seite 81)
„Die Aprikosenkerne, die die Wärme der Erde spürten, schwollen an und füllten sich mit Saft für das zukünftige Leben.“ (Seite 387)
Als er mit einem zweiten Mann eine Hütte aus Kisten voll mit Sprengstoff baut reagiert er auf den Einwand „Aber das kann explodieren!“ mit dem Satz „Macht nichts, explodieren kann alles, auch die Erde hier. Die Menschen pfeifen drauf, sie leben trotzdem.“ (Seite 391)
Das neueste Buch von Andrej Kurkow ist nur neu was das Erscheinungsdatum sagt. Es war einer seiner ersten Romane und ich denke auch sein bester. Auch der Autor sieht das so. „Für mich ist es das wichtigste und wertvollste Werk.“ (Seite 6) Vier Jahre hat er daran geschrieben.
Ein Märchen für Erwachsene; viel Phantasie hinter der viel Wahrheit, Realität und Kritik steht.
Ein Schiff strandet während des Krieges an der Ostküste der Sowjetunion. Der Matrose des Schiffs, das mit Sprengstoff beladen ist wandert quer durch das riesige Land und erlebt unreale Dinge, deren Hintergrund aber real ist. Die Figuren des Romans träumen immer wieder dazwischen, wobei der Traum auch wieder reale Dinge behandelt.
Der Held des Buches kommt im Westen in Leningrad an, wird für zwei Jahre ins Gefängnis geworfen und dann anerkennend freigelassen. Die Geschichte endet am Hafen der Stadt. Aus einem großen Atomschiff werden Menschen verschiedenster Berufsgruppen und Maschinen feierlich entladen. Einer Arche Noah gleich werden die wichtigsten Einrichtungen der Sowjetunion an Land gebracht bevor das Wasser stieg und auch der Matrose, der den langen Weg hinter sich hatte kann nur mehr schwimmen. Ein Double von ihm ist aber am Schiff und überlebt so.
400 Seiten Wunderwelt mit versteckter Gesellschaftskritik. Das zentrale Anliegen Kukows war es, mit diesem Buch den „Sowjetmenschen“ zu beschreiben, ohne ihn aber zu bewerten. Weder positiv noch negativ.
Hier nur einige schöne Formulierungen:
„… denn ein Gespräch im Dunkeln war wie ein Telefonat, bei dem zwei Personen sprachen und unzählige lauschten.“ (Seite 23)
„Er fand, dass Stille auf dieser Welt überflüssig war. Wahrscheinlich hat es sie schon gegeben, bevor Gott die Welt erschuf.“ (Seite 80)
„Wenn du einem Schössling das Sonnenlicht nimmst und ihn in den Schatten setzt, geht er ein. Er kehrt in die Erde zurück. Wie alles Lebendige in die Erde zurückkehrt, wenn es ausgebrannt und erschöpft ist.“ (Seite 81)
„Die Aprikosenkerne, die die Wärme der Erde spürten, schwollen an und füllten sich mit Saft für das zukünftige Leben.“ (Seite 387)
Als er mit einem zweiten Mann eine Hütte aus Kisten voll mit Sprengstoff baut reagiert er auf den Einwand „Aber das kann explodieren!“ mit dem Satz „Macht nichts, explodieren kann alles, auch die Erde hier. Die Menschen pfeifen drauf, sie leben trotzdem.“ (Seite 391)
May 25, 2023
Розвиток, безглуздість, темрява і смерть совка. Без особливих деталей, перспектив і світла в кінці тунелю, а яке ж світло було тоді, в кінці 80х?
Автору вдалось врешті-решт звести до купи розрізнені лінії, привести їх до логічного завершення, провівши через найрізноманітніші виверти.
Автору вдалось врешті-решт звести до купи розрізнені лінії, привести їх до логічного завершення, провівши через найрізноманітніші виверти.
Read
June 9, 2022Historical Russian satire makes me sleepy. Some of it was enjoyable. I wasn't the right audience.
May 5, 2021
This was an amazing surrealistic book. It captures the futility and isolation of life in the Soviet era. Nonetheless, the characters retain an admirable personal sense of mission. Each one struggles in the strictures they are slotted into and in which they persevere, even as the insanity becomes evident. In the music gulag ("mulag") performers live in an audience-free vacuum, but never lose their love of music and desire to perform.
The writing was poetic--no clumsiness in Dralyuk's translation. I mentally pair this book with Vassily Grossman's Forever Flowing. Each character exists in the survivalist isolation of the Soviet Socialist machine.
The writing was poetic--no clumsiness in Dralyuk's translation. I mentally pair this book with Vassily Grossman's Forever Flowing. Each character exists in the survivalist isolation of the Soviet Socialist machine.
July 14, 2019
I’m not sure I know entirely what happened in this book, but I don’t think it matters. I truly went on a journey while reading this, one where I was constantly asking questions only to have them never answered while reading. It wasn’t until days or weeks had passed that I started finding my answers. This book deserves to be read more than once, although I still think the answers will arrive days later. The Bickford Fuse will clearly stay with me for the rest of my life. Kurkov is both a genius and a poet.
September 20, 2022
Whenever I hear a book described as ‘of its time’ it seems to less than subtle put down: ‘it worked then, but not now….’; ‘it made sense in a place and time, but that’s long gone….’ The Bickford Fuse is utterly of its time, and more so about its time. Writing in the final years of the Soviet Union, Kurkov took the opportunity to explore the essence of the Russian soul. It works, well.
It’s a common theme in Russian literature – think Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Gogol, or less obviously because less well know, there’s Lydia Chukovskaya – while historians have grappled with the question time and again (it’s a recurrent theme for conservatives such as Orlando Figes). Satire comes to mind less obviously when we (or I) think of Russian literature, except Bulgakov – although many of the classics might also work as satire – unless the absurdism of Andrei Platonov fits the bill. Yet, here we have a late Soviet satire on the Russian soul – unpicking what keeps Russians going: the of and about its time is not hard to spot.
Kurkov build four distinct stories of absurdity, of persistence in the face of rationality. In the final stages of the Great Patriotic War (as it’s known in the former Soviet Union) Kharitonov’s armaments barge breaks down and finally runs aground in the Sea of Japan – so he heads out to find someone by walking west, towards Leningrad (as it was). Elsewhere, a community of Old Believers is down to its last few – a man and his sons, but the youngest wants to explore the world, so heads out. Two men, Gorych and a driver, with a search light on the back of their lorry, head away from their home town. And all the while a senior Party official drifts in an airship to carry the message to the world.
The stories might take place in the same time, but any announcements of time suggest that it is concurrently different days, months, years between 1946 and the mid 1950s in different cities and regions. The narratives might meet up, but if they do the action is always off-stage and never do our four central figures encounter each other. And being as it’s an explosives barge, Kharitonov traces his path by unrolling a Bickford Fuse – from the Sea of Japan endlessly….
Along the way they meet soldiers fighting an unknown enemy in an unknown war; partisan factions feuding with each other, musicians in detention, a soldier on an endless mission to deliver radios to the nation and more.
Absurd it might be, but it all weaves together into one giant shaggy dog story – a ridiculous set of circumstances through which our characters and many whom they meet persist. And that’s the whole point. A late Soviet novel of persistence, of carrying on because that’s what we do – a novel of and about its time, and fabulously, enjoyably, ridiculously frustrating for it, like much of Kurkov’s body of work.
It’s a common theme in Russian literature – think Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Gogol, or less obviously because less well know, there’s Lydia Chukovskaya – while historians have grappled with the question time and again (it’s a recurrent theme for conservatives such as Orlando Figes). Satire comes to mind less obviously when we (or I) think of Russian literature, except Bulgakov – although many of the classics might also work as satire – unless the absurdism of Andrei Platonov fits the bill. Yet, here we have a late Soviet satire on the Russian soul – unpicking what keeps Russians going: the of and about its time is not hard to spot.
Kurkov build four distinct stories of absurdity, of persistence in the face of rationality. In the final stages of the Great Patriotic War (as it’s known in the former Soviet Union) Kharitonov’s armaments barge breaks down and finally runs aground in the Sea of Japan – so he heads out to find someone by walking west, towards Leningrad (as it was). Elsewhere, a community of Old Believers is down to its last few – a man and his sons, but the youngest wants to explore the world, so heads out. Two men, Gorych and a driver, with a search light on the back of their lorry, head away from their home town. And all the while a senior Party official drifts in an airship to carry the message to the world.
The stories might take place in the same time, but any announcements of time suggest that it is concurrently different days, months, years between 1946 and the mid 1950s in different cities and regions. The narratives might meet up, but if they do the action is always off-stage and never do our four central figures encounter each other. And being as it’s an explosives barge, Kharitonov traces his path by unrolling a Bickford Fuse – from the Sea of Japan endlessly….
Along the way they meet soldiers fighting an unknown enemy in an unknown war; partisan factions feuding with each other, musicians in detention, a soldier on an endless mission to deliver radios to the nation and more.
Absurd it might be, but it all weaves together into one giant shaggy dog story – a ridiculous set of circumstances through which our characters and many whom they meet persist. And that’s the whole point. A late Soviet novel of persistence, of carrying on because that’s what we do – a novel of and about its time, and fabulously, enjoyably, ridiculously frustrating for it, like much of Kurkov’s body of work.
July 1, 2021
There is a lot going on in this novel. The reader is introduced to a world they think they may know, if dimly, which becomes distorted and twisted through a surreal fog. It is a collection of journeys through the Soviet Union taking in a gulag for musicians, a macabre memorial orchard, a Monotown fabricating straitjackets, a bell that sounds without a clapper, a monument to all the dead and a truck that keeps running without fuel, amongst many other trials and deviations. Characters appear, struggle and die without ceremony. The normal sustenance of life becomes unnecessary, nothing behaves as it perhaps should. Radio broadcasts ring out across and through time. A Bickford fuse trails behind one of the main protagonists, who is closely pursued by a rat.
I have read most of Kurkov's available translated work and really enjoyed everything else I have read by him. I thought this one worked incredibly well in places. Sometimes this book feels like a collection of short stories, dubiously held together by a length of Bickford fuse. Some of the stories, which almost stand alone, I found really gripping, yet the glue holding them together left me unconvinced. I'm not sure if something might have been lost in translation but I was not entirely satisfied with this book. Still well worth reading though and I should probably give it another go.
I have read most of Kurkov's available translated work and really enjoyed everything else I have read by him. I thought this one worked incredibly well in places. Sometimes this book feels like a collection of short stories, dubiously held together by a length of Bickford fuse. Some of the stories, which almost stand alone, I found really gripping, yet the glue holding them together left me unconvinced. I'm not sure if something might have been lost in translation but I was not entirely satisfied with this book. Still well worth reading though and I should probably give it another go.
September 15, 2023
Ukrainian Kurkov’s view of Soviet Man is interesting, illuminating, and certainly depressing. Yet even depression is undermined as this mega tale evolves. The whole concept sucks one into a quagmire of hope, glimpses of love, stained by the usual human cruelty... yet these instigators of cruelty as almost blameless, because they simply do what they are told to do, what they are supposed to do. And I am left with an even bleaker vision of mankind than before I read this book. Hopelessly inadequate, we journey on, perhaps oblivious to those few who possess a Bickford fuse and aim to use it. And even that aim is not pondered upon, but slight, almost whimsical. I begin to think that the end will come in this way, almost as an afterthought. Even the little comrade rat might not have overthought when he vanished into the sinking ship. “My anger evaporated. I realised that this was my fate: I had been alone down there, and I remained alone here. In spite of my desire to assist fire, other people harbour the opposite desire, perhaps even need: to extinguish anything that might ignite, or simply anything that burns. Reconciling myself to powerlessness in both worlds, I helped friends remove the candles from the cake.”
June 23, 2018
I used to look forward to the next Kurkov translation coming available but the last couple have been disappointments. Sadly, for different reasons, this is also not his best.
Principally, the fault is with me and my ignorance, or more accurately my failure to have lived in the closing days of Soviet Communism. This was written at that time and is a series of allegories for the live of ordinary people (men mainly) under that regime. As I wasn't there, I struggled to understand what was being satirised and what the different journeys - there are four - were meant to symbolise. It isn't a realistic novel - many of the events are impossible and time is a fluid concept - and that wouldn't be a problem if the reader knows what it is really about.
A more contemporary satire on what has happened since, with the rise of oligarchs and a democracy that looks like a one party state, would be more understandable.
It is a 2.5 star read, all these years after the fall of communism, but I've been generous.
Principally, the fault is with me and my ignorance, or more accurately my failure to have lived in the closing days of Soviet Communism. This was written at that time and is a series of allegories for the live of ordinary people (men mainly) under that regime. As I wasn't there, I struggled to understand what was being satirised and what the different journeys - there are four - were meant to symbolise. It isn't a realistic novel - many of the events are impossible and time is a fluid concept - and that wouldn't be a problem if the reader knows what it is really about.
A more contemporary satire on what has happened since, with the rise of oligarchs and a democracy that looks like a one party state, would be more understandable.
It is a 2.5 star read, all these years after the fall of communism, but I've been generous.
September 2, 2020
This is the fourth of this mad bastard's books that I've read in the last twelve months and I've said before that this bugger must write in a haze of methamphetamine, wodka and magic mushrooms. The premise for each book has been totally outlandish but the execution has been uniformly brilliant with this one, a satire on the bound to fail post-WWI Soviet Union making me put it down, shake my head and go and stare off the deck with a cup of tea for a while.
I'm glad I took a chance on a writer outside my usual domain, making up for the growing disappointment in my other absurdist hope, Tibor Fischer. Kurkov's books often cripple me with laughter, make me feel lucky to be alive and constantly leave me in wonder that we've made it as far as we have as a species when we really don't deserve to.
I'm glad I took a chance on a writer outside my usual domain, making up for the growing disappointment in my other absurdist hope, Tibor Fischer. Kurkov's books often cripple me with laughter, make me feel lucky to be alive and constantly leave me in wonder that we've made it as far as we have as a species when we really don't deserve to.
December 2, 2022
A strange book, but probably describes the mind of "The Russian Man" quite well. After several generations worth of false state propaganda first citizens of the Soviet Union, and later of Russia, seems totally brainwashed, disillusioned and mostly in lack of a total inability to think or act o their own behalf. Depressing, but explains a lot why it is that a big part of the Russian population seems to support the war against Ukraine. The willingness to "blow up the whole world" if true Communism can't be achieved echoes disturbingly with the fear we have today that this is exactly what Putin might consider. Well, he has in fact told us so much "Who would like to live in a world without a Great Russia?".
If you are new to Andrey Kurkov I suggest you start with some of his later books, for example "Grey Bees", which is more accessible.
If you are new to Andrey Kurkov I suggest you start with some of his later books, for example "Grey Bees", which is more accessible.
May 10, 2022
Of the books I have read by Andrey Kurkov this is the most complicated but nevertheless it was enjoyable.The book is a satrirical look about Russia and its future through the eyes of four of its citizens exploring both the thoughts and experiences, particularly loneliness, of each as tghey pursue their travels.
A surreal story - the author's introduction helps to put the story into context. As a final thought the story is very reminiscent of the writings of Mikhail Bulgakov.Well worth a read but the novel needs commitment
A surreal story - the author's introduction helps to put the story into context. As a final thought the story is very reminiscent of the writings of Mikhail Bulgakov.Well worth a read but the novel needs commitment
February 15, 2019
This was a very good, but very strange book.
Unlike the other works by Kurkov I've read, this one is not a literal tale but is instead filled with dreams and metaphors, much closer to something like Night on the Galactic Railroad or The Others. Much more difficult to follow since I am guessing some level of cultural knowledge is needed, but I still enjoyed it.
Unlike the other works by Kurkov I've read, this one is not a literal tale but is instead filled with dreams and metaphors, much closer to something like Night on the Galactic Railroad or The Others. Much more difficult to follow since I am guessing some level of cultural knowledge is needed, but I still enjoyed it.
June 20, 2022
It's a Russian Novel
Set in the aftermath of Russia's second world war, it shows the unconnectedness of people forgotten at the end of the war in far flung parts of the Soviet Union, and the almost hopeless life for those inside or forgotten by the Soviet system.
Set in the aftermath of Russia's second world war, it shows the unconnectedness of people forgotten at the end of the war in far flung parts of the Soviet Union, and the almost hopeless life for those inside or forgotten by the Soviet system.
January 22, 2023
Kurkov tends to tell a simple story featuring a main character. This one is a wild broth that boils over with realism simmering in fantasy. The peek into the thinking of Russians is welcome; the odd timeline is not.
June 13, 2024
I love Kurkov’s books and although entertaining this was, by his own admission, a little harder to read and a bit more metaphorical. Worth reading though, but I wouldn’t suggest starting your Kurkov journey with the one.
October 2, 2017
Great book .. captivating reading .. about journey and struggle and discovery, with interconnected stories!
June 4, 2021
A cross between 'Catch 22' and 'Heart of Darkness'!
July 11, 2021
Love Kurkov but hate this book with a passion. Tedious and not all that
June 28, 2022
Odd book. Beautifully written but I just didn't get it. I suspect this is very much on me, rather than the author.
June 4, 2025
Certainly his favourite and undoubtedly one of Kurkov's best works. Satire expertly interwoven with humour, despair and allegory. Fantastic!
February 8, 2017
I was getting to a point where I was considering giving up on reading Kurkov's books, but The Bickford Fuse has restored my faith in him (although yes, I know, it's not strictly a "new" book.) Funny, poignant, and eminently engaging.
July 17, 2016
The subplots did not feel well connected. Long sentence structures were also very distracting and I didn't really feel like I got the central theme of it.
June 2, 2016
I hate to give Kurkov two stars, but it was a very puzzling book.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews