ABSTRACT
Literary space has always represented an ideal observatory of the material culture pertaining to a particular period. Literary works are not confined to simply mirroring certain components of that culture, but reveal the dynamics governing the interaction between those components and the characters that come into contact with them. For many of Lyudmila Ulitskaya's characters, reading is a metaphysical experience that allows them to transcend reality. Another recurrent significant place in Ulitskaya's literary universe is the corridor, which the writer often associates with distressing memories and a sense of guilt. In Ulitskaya's works there is a whole range of objects and places which play a crucial role thanks to their power to conjure up a complete atmosphere, thereby adding to the vividness of the representation of Soviet Russian reality. One may wonder whether this might be a case of nostalgic lingering over the fragments of a past, which, while recent, nevertheless belongs to a bygone age.
