Wrapping My Head Around Alexey Salnikov's Petrov Series

Hello there, fellow reader!

I'll be honest, my daughter was the first to read this book, and she gave it a pretty lukewarm review.

After that, I watched the movie adaptation, and then I dove into everything Alexey Salnikov has ever written, including poetry, short stories, and essays.

I started reading the novel out of curiosity and ended up following in my daughter's footsteps.

So, let's get started:

Alexey Salnikov: The Petrovs in the Grip of Flu.

The Petrovs in the Grip of FluA bit about the publication.

This novel was published in 2018 by "Classical Reading".

The price varies between 550-600 rubles, depending on sales and discounts.

You can find it in major bookstores or on my blog.

Genre-wise, it's modern flu-themed literature with a hint of Grishkovets.

I don't have the paperback, but I've seen its design, and I think it's pretty bland.

Book thickness and estimated reading time.

The e-book has 440 pages, and I devoured it in two days.

Book summary:

Book Annotation Alexei Salnikov was born in 1978 in Tartu. He's published in the almanac 'Vavilon', and journals 'Vozdukh', 'Ural', and 'Volga'. He's the author of three poetry collections. A laureate of the 'LiteraturaRrentgen' prize (2005), and a finalist for 'Bolshaya Kniga' and 'Nos'. He lives in Yekaterinburg. 'Salnikov writes like no one else today - fresh as the first day of creation. With every step, he knocks the reader off their feet, shaking their vestibular apparatus, trained by years of reading 'normal' books. All random signs, encountered by the Petros in their feverish delirium, come together in a well-structured construction without a single unnecessary detail. From all the cracks, a joyful, hellish, and infernal feeling starts to seep out, making Mamliev and Gorchev dance with joy, and Gogol and Bulgakov applaud. This is a remarkable, one-of-a-kind language, grounded in the material world and a truly magical, shimmering ambiguity (whether everything happening in the novel is the Petros' feverish hallucinations or if the true, magical underside of the world has been revealed for a moment) - no matter how you look at it, this is a standout text and a true reader's delight.'

My take:

The novel tells the story of the Petrov family, who fall ill with the flu.

In this fragile state, the father, Petrov, goes out with a friend to get drunk.

As they reminisce about their childhood, they dig up their old skeletons and engage in some unknown activity.

The delirium of the modern world is joined by the delirium of 'Soviet lampshade childhood' - à la Grishkovets in his prime.

Then the rest of the family falls ill and starts delirating, digging up their own skeletons and letting them get some fresh air...

The whole story wraps up in under three days, which is a bit ironic, given that it takes place on the eve of New Year's.

Text

I think this novel will really appeal to fans of all things drama in everyday life.The way the flu is described in the book is just brilliant.The book is full of nostalgia for the Soviet Union, and memories of Soviet childhood are just everywhere.There's humor, and it's the subtle kind.

I thought this was a debut novel, because the plot has some gaping holes and dead-end branches.There are some off-putting moments that are more characteristic of Soviet-era cinema.

I still can't figure out the 'magic' of this book!

How did the author manage to describe a miserable, flu-ridden state that literally makes you want to get sick?

How did they describe a grey and dismal winter city in such a way that you want to pack your bags and move there, right away, to a Soviet-era morning after a hangover Christmas Eve with Grandfather Frost?

Petrov.

A regular mechanic. He can't get over his divorce, loves to drink heavily.

Petrova.

His wife... hmm. A strange woman with an enormous collection of famous skeletons in the closet.

Petrov Jr.

A typical schoolkid. Loves cartoons and comics.

I noticed that the characters are so deliberately average, as if they've been 'pruned' with a pair of hair clippers.

At first glance, it seems like the book has no meaning whatsoever.

But then, something intangible starts to emerge in the novel...

I think this book is about the abysses and voids that lie beneath the surface of an ordinary, middle-class post-Soviet person.

I loved it, and I devoured everything the author wrote!

Four stars and I'd definitely recommend it!

You can check out my other book reviews here.