The Funeral Party –
Lyudmila Ulitskaya
Alik is dying of a paralysis that
started in his limbs and will suffocate him to death when it reaches his
diaphragm. He emigrated from the USSR to New York in the early Seventies and
made kind of a living as a painter, as in art, not houses. 1991 finds him on
his deathbed, but surrounded by his wife, ex-lovers and friends. His wife Nina
is an alcoholic who thinks Alik’s conversion from non-observant Judaism to
Orthodox Christianity will help make medicinal potions effective. Valentina is
an ex-lover as is Irina who has a fifteen-year-old daughter nicknamed Teeshirt.
The appeal of this short readable
novel is that Ulitskaya creates thumbnail sketches of the characters. The
reader can tell she likes to give details about her characters’ stories. But
she never gives too many details. Nor does she dig into their heads much. The
stories in this novel give a sense of the diversity of the Russian emigrant
experience in New York City.
Granted, there’s a certain amount of
stereotypical Russian large than life big-heartedness. But that never gets
tedious. One plus for variety is that Ulitskaya introduces a group of Guaraní speakers from Paraguay. They provide diverting laughter and
music.
I would start this book slowly in order to keep the
names and relationships straight.
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