The Man Who Couldn't Die

In the chaos of early-1990s Russia, the wife and stepdaughter of a paralyzed veteran conceal the Soviet Unions collapse from him in order to keep himand his pensionalive until it turns out the tough old man has other plans. Olga Slavnikovas The Man Who Couldnt Die tells the story of how two women try to prolong a lifeand the means and meaning of their own livesby creating a world that doesnt change, a Soviet Union that never crumbled. After her stepfathers stroke, Marina hangs Brezhnevs portrait on the wall, edits the Pravda articles read to him, and uses her media connections to cobble together entire newscasts of events that never happened. Meanwhile, her mother, Nina Alexandrovna, can barely navigate the bewildering new world outside, especially in comparison to the blunt reality of her uncommunicative husband. As Marina is caught up in a local election campaign that gets out of hand, Nina discovers that her husband is conspiring as wellto kill himself and put an end to the charade. Masterfully translated by Marian Schwartz, The Man Who Couldnt Die is a darkly playful vision of the lost Soviet past and the madness of the post-Soviet world that uses Russias modern history as a backdrop for an inquiry into larger metaphysical questions.