Monumental Propaganda (43 page)

Laughing at myself and my nocturnal ravings, I glanced back with the stupid intention of confirming yet again that everything looked the way it should. The pedestal was still visible. Its lower section was wreathed in mist, so that the top appeared to be separated from the ground and floating above it. And then above the pedestal, fashioned out of the foggy vapor and my no-doubt-fevered imagination, a figure took shape. Something human in form. It watched me as I drove away, grinning and waving with its raised right hand.

A NOTE ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Andrew Bromfield studied Russian at Sussex University and has taught it at university level. He has lived in Russia for long periods, where he cofounded (with Natasha Perova) the journal
Gla.
He is best known for his acclaimed translations of Victor Pelevin and Boris Akunin and now lives in Surrey, England.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vladimir Voinovich is the author of
Pretender to the Throne: The
Further Adventures of Private Chonkin, The Fur Hat, Moscow 2042,
The Anti-Soviet Soviet Union, The Ivankiad
and
In Plain Russian:
Stories.
He lives in Munich.

ALSO BY VLADIMIR VOINOVICH

The Fur Hat
1989
Moscow 2042
1987
The Anti-Soviet Soviet Union
1985
The Ivankiad: or, the Tale of the Writer Voinovich's
Installation in his New Apartment
1982
In Plain Russian: Stories
1980
Pretender to the Throne: The Further Adventures of
Private Ivan Chonkin
1979
The Life & Extraordinary Adventures
of Private Ivan Chonkin
1979

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK

PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

Translation copyright © 2004 Alfred A. Knopf

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.
www.aaknopf.com

 

Originally published in Russia as
Monymehtajibhar Nponarahia
by Izographus Eksmo, Moscow, in 2002. Copyright © 2002 by V. Voinovich. Copyright © 2002 by Izographus.

 

Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Voinovich, Vladimir, [date]
 [Monumental'naia propaganda. English]
Monumental propaganda / Vladimir Voinovich;
translated by Andrew Bromfield.—1st ed.
p. cm.
I. Bromfield, Andrew. II. Title.
PG3489.4.I53M6313 2004
891.73'44—dc22 2003060476

 

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