Makine
2015 Shortlist

Brief Loves that Live Forever

Translated from the French by Geoffrey Strachan
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

In Soviet Russia the desire for freedom is also a desire for the freedom to love. Lovers live as outlaws, traitors to the collective spirit, and love is more intense when it feels like an act of resistance.

Now entering middle age, an orphan recalls the fleeting moments that have never left him – a scorching day in a blossoming orchard with a woman who loves another; a furtive, desperate affair in a Black Sea resort; the bunch of snowdrops a crippled childhood friend gave him to give to his lover.

As the dreary Brezhnev era gives way to Perestroika and the fall of Communism, the orphan uncovers the truth behind the life of Dmitri Ress, whose tragic fate embodies the unbreakable bond between love and freedom.

Judges’ Comments

A grand narrative by Russian-born Makine, of Soviet Russian life and loves surviving under the intolerable burdens of state supervision, horrible intolerance, and conveniently mongered public lies. Whole spans of Soviet history finely refracted through the jotted-in life of dissident poet Dmitri Ress. A powerfully angry piece of modern historiography compressed in a fine series of memories and encounters. Magically miniaturist story-telling done in exquisitely pointilliste prose. Always touchingly insistent on how love and humanity and poetry get to survive in a terribly cold political climate.

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Andreï
Makine

Andreï Makine was born in Siberia, but writes his novels in French. Le Testament Français was the winner of the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medici, and the first novel to win both of these prestigious awards.

Andreï Makine was born in Siberia, but writes his novels in French. Le Testament Français was the winner of the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medici, and the first novel to win both of these prestigious awards.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Geoffrey
Strachan

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Eight pictures full of charm and emotion. A sober and powerful style of history and love stories from the Soviet time to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Prose of big sensibility, quiet in suggestion. A novel which touches, is powerful and intelligent, transcribes the mysterious symphony of the loving moments of grace, far from the brutal clamors of our world. A sweet bitterness and a stabbing sadness.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
04/08/2014
Country
France
Original Language
French
Publisher
MacLehose
Translator
Geoffrey Strachan
Translation
Translated from the French by Geoffrey Strachan

RELATED FEATURES

News January 15 2025

2025 Longlist Revealed

Novels by seven Irish authors are among the 71 books nominated by 83 libraries around the world!
News November 19 2024

2025 Dublin Literary Award Judges Announced

Meet our judging panel for 2025 Dublin Literary Award
Video November 1 2024

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony announcement live-streamed from the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Audio June 11 2024

All About Books Podcast Features the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Dublin City FM podcaster Katy Conneely spotlights the award.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.