ABSTRACT
Quite different from Trifonov is Andrei Bitov, another cerebral urban writer who is drawn to serpentine syntax to convey subtleties of mood and emotion. Bitov mostly uses shorter forms, but the novel Pushkinskii dom (1978; Pushkin House) is a work of great historical and cultural depth' that uses a variety of modernist devices to celebrate the riches of classical Russian literature in a witty and seemingly light-hearted vein, with a plot centered on the official vandalism of Russia's most famous literary museum. Complete with an alternative ending and many episodes in different genres, some of them repeated, as well as several subplots, this 400-page book is a kaleidoscopic compendium of Russian culture as it existed in the 1960s. An imperfect but entertaining work, it recalls Vladimir Nabokov's more sophisticated Dar (published in part 1937-38, in its entirety 1952; The Gift) in its close engagement with Russian literature. In the bleak context of Brezhnev's reign, it marked a refreshing new development, even though it could not be published at that time.
