Die Suche nach der letzten Zahl

by Yuri Rytkheu

Im Jahre 1918 landet Roald Amundsen, unterwegs zum Nordpol, vor der tschuktschischen Küste. Im Polarnebel zeichnen sich die Umrisse einer kleinen Siedlung ab. Wer sind die Bewohner, wie werden sie die Expedition empfangen? Der gemeinsame Winter verändert die Forscher ebenso wie die Einheimischen. Kagot, der Schamane, beginnt zu lesen, zu rechnen, die Maschinen zu öffnen; sein unstillbarer Erkenntnisdrang droht ihn aus der Bahn zu werfen. Amundsen findet in Kagot einen Bruder, mit dem er den Forschergeist teilt - aber auch eine tiefe Schuld.

Juri Rytchëu kennt nicht nur Amundsens Tagebücher, sondern auch die Überlieferungen seiner Vorfahren über die seltsamen Fremdlinge. Aus einer Episode der Wissenschaftsgeschichte macht er ein fesselndes Epos über die Begegnung von zwei Zivilisationen.

Genres: Historical Fiction

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

In Cyrillic: Юрий Рытхэу

Yuri Sergeyevich Rytkheu. He was a Chukchi writer, who wrote in both his native Chukchi and in Russian. He is considered to be the father of Chukchi literature.

Yuri Rytkheu was born on March 8, 1930 in the village of Uelen in the Far Eastern Territory (now the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) in the family of a hunter-St. John's wort. His grandfather was a shaman. At birth, the boy was given the name Rytkheu, which means "unknown" in Chukchi. Since the Soviet institutions did not recognize the Chukchi names, in the future, in order to obtain a passport, the future writer took a Russian name and patronymic, and the name "Rytkheu" became his last name.

Rytkheu graduated from a seven-year school in Uelen and wanted to continue his studies at the Institute of the Peoples of the North, but due to his age he was not among those who were seconded to this university. Therefore, he decided to independently go to Leningrad for training. This path stretched over several years. In order to earn money for travel and life, the future writer was hired for various jobs: he was a sailor, worked on a geological expedition, participated in the hunting game, was a loader at a hydro base.

Rytkheu studied at the literary faculty of Leningrad State University from 1949 to 1954. The writer was a little over 20 years old when his stories appeared in the almanac "Young Leningrad", and a little later in the magazines "Ogonyok", "Young World", "Far East", the youth newspaper "Smena" and other periodicals. In 1953, the publishing house "Young Guard" published his first collection of short stories in Russian "People of Our Coast" (translated from Chukotka by A. Smolyan). During his student days, Yuri Rytkheu was actively involved in translation activities, translated into Chukchi the tales of Alexander Pushkin, the stories of Leo Tolstoy, the works of Maxim Gorky and Tikhon Syomushkin. In 1954 Rytkheu was admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR. Two years later, in Magadan, his collection of stories "The Chukotka Saga" was published, which brought the writer recognition not only of Soviet, but also foreign readers.

Reviews

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yuri Rytkheu is one of my favorite authors of all time, hands down! My favorite books by him are his retellings of real historic events, from the viewpoint of the Chukchi. The Chukchi bible, reframing the Russian conquest of Chukotka, is a prime example and his best-known work, while his retelling of Norwegian explorer Amundsen visiting Chukotka is a very close second best of all time.
This story is so wholesome. It tells about the Bolsheviki establishing Soviets in the Russian Far East and Ryktheu clearly has no interest in making this about grand political upheavals. Young cadre Pereshin is sent to this remote Chukchi settlement to bring the revolution to the natives. I thought it was hilarious how the Chukchi treat him like a fun little storyteller and clearly have more important things going on right now, like the feud with shaman Kagot, our main character.
Kagot gets roped into working on Amundsen’s ship, learning to read and write (although the Chuckhi are very much opposed to that), while Pereshin falls in love with Umkeneu, a Chukchi girl that does her best to be a good little communist: We have to hide all of this wealth, so that Alexej won’t see it, she tells Kagot. Why? Because you are rich now! The Bolsheviki do not like rich people and take away all their possessions. - Umkeneu knows what’s up, I love her so much.
The blind Gaimissin was another favorite, protect him at all costs.
The history of Russian and Chuckhi relations is not the rosiest of tales, but I really appreciate what Ryktheu decides to do with it. He is very subversive and subtle in his criticism (but is very much still there) and intentionally decides on focusing on humanity and humor in his story.

[Kristýna Huclová · Rating 4 out of 5]

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