Russian Book Club: Gazdanov. An evening at Claire, The spectre of Alexander Wolf and Night roads

Our book club is for anyone who is interested in Russian literature but is daunted by the prospect of reading a complete work in the original!

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

In this session we will talk about Gazdanov’s style and his life based on three novels An evening at Claire, The spectre of Alexander Wolf and Night roads. You don’t have to read all three for the session.

Gaito Gazdanov (1903–1971) was one of the greatest writers of the Russian émigré community. After the revolution, at just under sixteen years old, Gazdanov joined the White movement, and later was forced to leave Russia forever, sharing the fate of many Russian emigrants. He spent most of his life in Paris and worked for many years as a night taxi driver; from 1953, he was a correspondent, and later an editor, at RadioSvoboda.

In the eyes of his contemporaries Gazdanov’s talent was on par with that of Vladimir Nabokov, Marcel Proust and Ivan Bunin. However, in the writer’s homeland, the novel was published only after the author’s death, in 1990.