The Funeral Party: A Novel [Paperback]

Ludmila Ulitskaya (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2002

August 1991. In a sweltering New York City apartment, a group of Russian émigrés gathers round the deathbed of an artist named Alik, a charismatic character beloved by them all, especially the women who take turns nursing him as he fades from this world. Their reminiscences of the dying man and of their lives in Russia are punctuated by debates and squabbles: Whom did Alik love most? Should he be baptized before he dies, as his alcoholic wife, Nina, desperately wishes, or be reconciled to the faith of his birth by a rabbi who happens to be on hand? And what will be the meaning for them of the Yeltsin putsch, which is happening across the world in their long-lost Moscow but also right before their eyes on CNN?

This marvelous group of individuals inhabits the first novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya to be published in English, a book that was shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize and has been praised wherever translated editions have appeared. Simultaneously funny and sad, lyrical in its Russian sorrow and devastatingly keen in its observation of character, The Funeral Party introduces to our shores a wonderful writer who captures, wryly and tenderly, our complex thoughts and emotions confronting life and death, love and loss, homeland and exile.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The oddly matched protagonists in this award-winning Russian author's lively American debut are connected through their love for the artist Alik, a Russian ?migr? keeling merrily toward death. Alik's loved ones gather at his cramped, stiflingly hot downtown Manhattan apartment, each trying to reconcile their memories with their moral obligations to the dying man. His neurotic wife, Nina, is desperate for Alik to be baptized; Maika, the 15-year-old daughter of his ex-lover, Irina, is upset that no one understands Alik's jokes now that the man is sick.Ulitskaya uses the loved ones' varying emigration experiences to underscore their attempts to respect one another's places in Alik's life and at his deathbed. One friend, for example, cannot get his impressive medical credentials certified in the U.S., while another not only passed his exams in record time but took advantage of advances in Western technology and found work in a cutting-edge field of medicineAstill, both live in poverty. Irina, a former circus acrobat, performed at night for "rich idiots," using her earnings to graduate from law school, while Nina, a former model, now finds nothing for herself to do in the U.S. besides tend to Alik and drink. Ulitskaya is adept at capturing the subtle nuances of thought and experience, expressing both human spirit and flaws without false sentimentality. Her characters are fully realized, rendered in extraordinary detail. (Jan. 17)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Beautiful, lyrical prose is the hallmark of this novel, which relates Alik's last days, spent in his stifling New York apartment. Like most of his friends, Alik is a Russian migr who loves America. To him, everyday life on the street is "living theater," and the subway system is a masterpiece. Opinions on love, religion, life, death, and homeland vs. exile flow among his friends, wife, and lovers, who always gather at his apartment. Alik is a charismatic, well-liked artist who is dying of a mysterious disease that makes his muscles useless. His death is peaceful, and the funeral is cathartic for all who attend. Russian author Ulitskaya (Sonechka and Other Stories) lives in Moscow but spends a good deal of time in New York City. Her short, eloquent novel is recommended for all larger libraries.DLisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Schocken (January 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805211322
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211320
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Death And Mourning Russian Style, June 24, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Funeral Party (Hardcover)

Ludmila Ulitskaya has written an insightful novel on human behavior, and an amusing tale as well. The title put me in mind of what many would first think of when it came to an Irish Wake. However these émigrés from Russia begin their reminiscing, their grieving, and their personal battles well before the death of the man who is the center of their attention.

Ms. Ulitskaya brings a wide range of characters to her tale, from a young girl who seems almost selectively Autistic, to the dying subject who has lead the life of a Greenwich Village Don Juan, to the woman who adore him and revile their challengers for his affection. If this is not enough the poor invalid is hounded to become a Christian, however he also wishes to see a Rabbi, and thus the Author begins a conflict between religious positions that are represented by men who will never agree and will eventually be usurped in their function. Their final comedy takes place graveside when competing methods for the burial of the dead ring the grave for prominence of voice and position.

The Author spent time on a subject that I wish occupied more of her writing. She explored the need of émigrés to constantly seek affirmation that their Mother Country that they left behind was indeed not worthy of their citizenship. They must constantly reassure each other and themselves, with current events in Moscow is possible, that they indeed did not run away but moved on to a better life.

The book is well written although there appear to be either some awkward translation or outright errors with a word on occasion. This is not truly detrimental to the story, however it does interrupt the cadence of the tale when a jarring word that clearly has no place makes an appearance.

Well worth the allocation of some of your reading time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, entertaining, irreverent fun, March 21, 2001

By 

Lynn Adler - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Funeral Party (Hardcover)

In a New York City loft on the eve of the second Russian revolution (1991), a group of friends, mostly former Russians, gather to watch over their friend, an artist named Alik, who is dying. If this sounds like a plot of gloom, you're wrong. As the title suggests, it's a celebration, during which the Russian emigre experience late 20th century style, is rehashed with equal doses of humor and pathos, and colorfully told in a way that only a Russian author could do justice to.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps it's lost in translation, September 29, 2004

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Funeral Party: A Novel (Paperback)

"The Funeral Party" is a delightful novella that offers readers an intimate look into the lives of a select few characters who are as different as night and day. All of these colorful characters are connected to one another for two reasons; they are immigrants from Russia and they have all known and loved a dying man by the name of Alik. In his last days of life in August of 1991, they gather to say their goodbyes, and reflect on their own lives.

The prospect of death is a natural occasion for people to analyze their life - its triumphs and mistakes. And that is exactly what Ulitskaya's characters do. They ponder over their pasts and presents, and we progressively learn what their connection to the dying man was. We discover their passions and their fears, their frustrations and their hopes, their dreams and their realities. All are beautifully written and played out by believable, vivid characters.

Yet "The Funeral Party" reads less as a novel than a series of character vignettes, exploring the inner-workings of each player in this sad, final saga of Alik's life. The connection between them is loose, but perhaps it is lost in the translation. However, overall Ulitskaya offers a wonderful and odd portrait of a wonderfully odd familiy of Russian immigrants.