Group Read: The Good Life Elsewhere by Vladimir Lorchenkov

[Amalie]

For discussing The Good Life Elsewhere. Please post any comments and questions on the book here. Be aware that spoilers may be posted here.

[Amalie]

Found this:

A Conversation with Vladimir Lorchenkov

[dely]

I want to read this, it seems very interesting. I've found a second hand edition but it will arrive only in a few days.

[Anne]

Oh yes!

I've got a copy of the book, but I'm in Moscow and the book is at home. I'll get stuck in as soon as I'm back!

[Mary]

I am about halfway through. It is definitely a quick read.

[dely]

I received the book today but have still a couple of books to finish. Hope to start it soon.

[Trinity]

Looks interesting. Will join in once I find a copy.

[Anne]

Getting near the end myself. (Can only read in snatches, unfortunately!)

[dely]

I started it today (finished chapter 13) and I'm really enjoying it. It is funny but it is a sad irony. I live in Italy and I know that for a lot of poor countries (above all from the East, Middle-East and Africa) Italy is like a new Eldorado: they think that here there's a lot of work for everyone, there is richness and that as soon as they arrive they are able to find a job. Unfortunately it doesn't work this way and a lot of people die during the trip, others are found and expelled from Italy, others do "black work" it means they haven't an employment contract so they are exploited and underpaid, women and young girls are involved in exploitation of prostitution and so on. They don't find a happy life in Italy if they come as illegal immigrants. It is also sad to know that these people must pay a lot of money to fraudsters for something they won't find.
So, some parts are funny but it is also sad because I know all the sad things are true.

edit: the situation isn't that easy. I didn't mean to say that immigrants come to Italy only for a job and for money because they see it as a new Eldorado; unfortunately there are also people who need help because life in their countries is unbearable, they run away from wars and Italy helps them.

[dely]

I have finished the book. Behind the irony there is the sad condition of Moldavia but also other countries that are poor and look for a better life (in the book are mentioned also the wars in Albania, Kosovo and in the former Yugoslavia).
There is a lot in this book: issues about illegal immigration, desperation of some people, countries who decide to make a war without a reason, sale of organs...
Lorchenkov was really able to talk about these problems with humor.

Someone else is reading the book?

[Anne]

I'm reading it, dely. Not finished yet, but I agree with the things you're saying. The situations Lorchenkov describes are often merely exaggerated glosses on real events: for instance, the village where people were selling their kidneys. People really were selling their kidneys. I lived in Moldova for a few years in the 90s and I remember all the adverts in the paper - huge numbers of adverts - looking for "girls without complexes" who would like to join a dance troupe and make really good money abroad. Anyway, I'll join in more once I've finished.

[Dan]

I'm reminded of the films of the Hungarian director Béla Tarr while reading this, only this is also very funny. His 8 hour film Sátántangó comes most to mind because in that film too the villagers are led about to God-knows where, only it's the Devil himself doing the leading (an actual tango) and not an earnest young man who might be able to speak Italian learned from old books.

Are things really this bad in Moldova? In Tarr's films he presents Hungary as a bleak, oppressed, cruel landscape where nothing can grow, it rains all day long, everyone is poor and miserable, and even the horses want to die. Yet people I know from Hungary don't describe their country as being nearly that bad. So could Moldova be Tarr's model of misery?

So far I'm really enjoying this book. I never would have heard about it if it hand't been for this group (which I've been lurking for a long time) but I'm glad to contribute finally.

[Dan]

By the way, the beginning of this book reminds me of the final scene of Steinbeck's "Pastures of Heaven' where the bus pulls over to let the tourists out so they can take a look down into the valley of that beautiful little town where hope and opportunity might await. That was a very Moses-like scene and here the idea of that Biblical hope is subverted wonderfully.

[dely]

Dan wrote: "I'm reminded of the films of the Hungarian director Béla Tarr while reading this, only this is also very funny. His 8 hour film Sátántangó comes most to mind because in that film too the villagers ..."

Have your read the interview that posted Amalie in the second message? You will find it interesting, the author writes also about some connections with other books and about life in Moldova.

[Dan]

dely wrote: "Dan wrote: "I'm reminded of the films of the Hungarian director Béla Tarr while reading this, only this is also very funny. His 8 hour film Sátántangó comes most to mind because in that film too th..."

Great article. I love that the author is trying to leave the country too. His opinion of his country is humorous and I'm sure given his previous job he's seen some bizarre people. Still, it's sad things are so bad there; fascinating that the fall of the USSR 25 years ago still has such deep implications.

[dely]

Dan wrote: "fascinating that the fall of the USSR 25 years ago still has such deep implications"

A lot of countries are still paying the consequences of both the domination and then the fall of the URSS. I found very interesting Goodnight, Mr. Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire.

[Dan]

Is anyone else reminded of how of often the book dips into magic realism? Granted, a lot of what he's doing is being used towards comedic effect unlike in a book like, say, Pedro Páramo which is much more 'serious' in tone and whose images seem to have very deep cultural roots. I guess what I'm asking is does anyone else think this book could qualify as magic realism?

[[deleted user]]

I have finished the book and having read all of the preceding excellent comments,I do agree with everyone. If I might add: sometimes the grass is greener on the other side.If the residents had used the tax money they were given wisely,life might be better for them. Many people dream of being somewhere else,while wasting the opportunities they have right before them. A precious life is spent foolishly.
Thank you...

[dely]

Gwennyth wrote: "I have finished the book and having read all of the preceding excellent comments,I do agree with everyone. If I might add: sometimes the grass is greener on the other side.If the residents had used..."

I don't think the solution is so easy. In such countries the whole political system is broken. They depended from URSS for a lot of years and suddenly everything collapses. I had read that in these countries governance and accountability jobs were given only to real Russians and they turned to their homeland after the fall of the Soviet Empire leaving the country in a difficult situation. The countries had to start everything from the beginning and without being an economical power. It isn't easy. Perhaps the Moldovians are also lazy people and prefer to don't work to change things (like written in the book and explained in the interview) because looking for a better life elsewhere sounds easier but I don't think it's only a problem of their character.
Also in Italy we don't have a wonderful economical situation and a lot of young people are emigrating abroad because they know they won't have a future here, there is no job. They aren't too blame, they can't do anything to change the situation.

Only 2 stars? Why didn't you like it?

[[deleted user]]

Even though the book was written by a Russian author,I did find it's characterizations a bit offensive at times. Considering my grandfather came from Poland,which for years has been the butt of many jokes,I do not find the book funny,except in a bitter way.
The story started out quite nicely,then went into flashbacks which tended to be not only annoying,but a bit boring.
I am sorry but that is my opinion.

[dely]

Gwennyth wrote: "Even though the book was written by a Russian author,I did find it's characterizations a bit offensive at times. Considering my grandfather came from Poland,which for years has been the butt of man..."

Yes, I think a Moldovian who reads this book needs a bit of self-irony. The characterizations were taken to the extreme but this is why we can laugh about a sad situation.
Don't worry, I respect the opinion of everybody. I was just curious ;-)

[Dan]

I'm curious as to what everyone thought about the replica airplane scene. I kept getting the feeling that there was more to this chapter than just an absurd and slightly cynical sketch of a family vs. communism but since I don't live there I was probably missing out on a lot of nuance, especially the reasoning behind the final bit where after Koval dies he is honored by the government.

Does anyone have insight into this chapter they'd like to share?

[dely]

Dan wrote: "I'm curious as to what everyone thought about the replica airplane scene. I kept getting the feeling that there was more to this chapter than just an absurd and slightly cynical sketch of a family ..."

I think it was to attack the whole Bolshevik regime and the evil it has done and that people don't forget and don't forgive.
Like in most countries, it happens that politicians are praised after death hiding the wrong things they have done. There are a lot of such politicians everywhere and the government never says all the truth about them; they tell us only what they want, what is good for them.