Yuri Trifonov, The House on the Embankment (1976)

This book is in many ways the "moral portrait" of a particular group within Soviet society in the years just before and after WWII. At the heart of the story are the interwoven lives of Glebov ("Vadim," "Dima," "French Bread"), the Ganchuk family (Sonya, the Professor, Yulia Mikhailovna) and Lev Shulepa.

John Updike's introduction to this edition (which you should read!) provides brief and insightful comments on Tirfonov's life and career, and his position within the Russian/Soviet "literary intelligentsia." Given below are some of the questions we'll address when we discuss the novella next Tuesday.

What are the central features of this "moral portrait"? What values and ambitions guide people in their lives?

How does Trifonov characterize each of the major characters? What kind of boy - and then young man - is Glebov? Do you consider him immoral? amoral?

Are any of the characters in this work particularly virtuous or good?

What is the role of the childhood scenes in the story? Do they affect your perception of and attitude toward Glebov? Why do you think Trifonov includes the childhood scenes? Why does he handle time the way he does in the novella?

Many aspects of this book have parallels in U.S. society (some of Updike's preface seems to suggest this; Updike himself writes primarily about middle-class, white-collar U.S. families). How do the moral and emotional dilemmas of this world seem unique to Russia? Where do they have parallels in your experience of the U.S.?