Читать книгу Sasha Sokolov: The Life and Work of the Russian “Proet” - Martina Napolitano - Страница 5

A famous, deeply inspiring quote from the historian Carlo Ginzburg is “the risk of conducting a research lies in finding only what we seek.” What Ginzburg means by this is that the most productive discoveries often happen by accident, when we come across unexpected stimuli, what he calls ‘clues’, suggestions that give our research a different twist, or raise a question we had not explored before. I was redirected to the path of Sasha Sokolov thanks to ‘clues’. I came across this writer by chance when I was writing a master’s thesis on Venedikt Yerofeyev; of course, I had heard of him before, but it was only then, in the most famous bookstore in Moscow, that I ‘stumbled’ across his second novel, Between Dog and Wolf, which immediately fascinated me. So much so that, a few years later I wrote and defended a dissertation on his most recent book, Triptych. However, these ‘clues’ would not have led to such a solid foundation for the present book if I had not benefited from the invaluable help, advice, support and (constant!) revision of my supervisor at the University of Udine, Professor Raffaella Faggionato, to whom I offer my utmost gratitude.

I am infinitely grateful to Sasha Sokolov for his patience, understanding and openness and indebted to him for his help in writing this book. Our personal exchanges, as well as the opportunity to consult the letters preserved in the Sokolov Collection of the University of Santa Barbara in California allowed me to get closer to this writer on a personal level. I extend a special thanks to the Sokolov Collection staff. Together, these exchanges allowed me to glimpse the author’s lively personality, his irony and lightness, as well as his idiosyncratic use of language—and of the pencil: please take a look at Sasha’s drawing of the exquisite landscapes in Bezborodovo on the Volga, which he sent me on December 24, 2018 (on page 15).

For various reasons, I would like to express my gratitude to Artiom Skvortsov, Maksim Amelin, Tatiana Kasatkina, Mario Caramitti, Anna Giust, Elisa Baglioni, Noemi Albanese, José Vergara. The inspiring exchange of thoughts and ideas with them, which took place in many different venues over the past years, from conferences to informal outings and dinners (including a very special New Year’s Eve in Moscow: thank you Maksim!), has found its reflection in this book.

Special thanks to Professor Reinhard Ibler for appreciating my proposal and including the book in his Ibidem Verlag’s series “Literature and Culture in Middle and Eastern Europe”, and thanks to the editors for the excellent handling of the publication process.

Heartfelt thanks to Grace Sewell for the thorough proofreading of the manuscript and for her pertinent remarks and suggestions.

I dedicate this work to those who are here, and to those who are no longer, but always will be.