What a treat!.... I've recently discovered Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884-1937) as the author of "We" - a dystopian gem - and have been curious about him ever since. When I searched and found this little book of three novellas, I didn't know what to expect. And he blew me away again - but on another level. Not only it's completely different from "We" in style, it's seems utterly untranslatable into English, on maybe only remotely translatable - so much so that I was happy I ended up with the original Russian version.

He makes up his own words and phrases at times - words that describe a situation or a person so much more precisely than existing words, and that was an eye-opener too. He seems to thrive on satire and irony and is so clever and fresh and good at it as hardly any author I have encountered. His power of observation of a Russian soul, Russian identity is unparalleled, his adherence to detail in his descriptions is superb.

The first two novellas take place in Russia, the third - in England. And he shifts from East to West with incredible ease - pinpointing, in the outrageously descriptive, hilarious (and at times morbidly sarcastic and/or melodramatic) way everything that stands out in each nationality. But at the same time, he doesn't stereotype (well, he does - with a masterful touch - and he doesn't!) - his characters are made of their own individual traits, often very unusual in a compellingly good way, and often - so exaggeratedly off-putting that it takes you by surprise; but it makes them no less real. ( )