10 /10 1 Votes10
5/5 Goodreads Translator Diane Nemec Ignashev Language English ISBN 9780810133488 | 5/5 Foreword Reviews Original title Казус Кукоцкого Country United States Publication date August 2016 Originally published 2000 Genre Novel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Kukotsky Enigma (Russian: Казус Кукоцкого) is a novel by acclaimed Russian novelist and public intellectual Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The Kukotsky Enigma won the 2001 Russian Booker Prize. With five, Ulitskaya holds the record for the most nominations for that prestigious award. In 2005, a television series based on the novel by director Yuri Grymov was aired in Russia. Critics suggest that the book's focus on abortion offers a new reading of Stalinism through the lens of family life and the female body.
Contents
Plot summary
The novel follows the life of the family of gynecologist Pavel Alekseevich Kukotsky. The story follows him from Stalin’s 1936 ban on abortions through the mid-1960s.
The novel consists of four parts. The first describes the life of the Kukotsky family members before the 1960s: his wife Helen, their adopted daughter Tatiana, a classmate Tanya, and a former nun living in Helen’s home. The second part is a dream Helen experiences while hovering between life and death. The third part covers the life of the family after 1960 and up to Tanya's death. The fourth part forms a brief epilogue.