A difficult question
A Russian edition of A Book of Noises?
Why write a book? One of the reasons for me is that it helps me pay attention and expand my sense of what it is to be alive. Another is that it may bring joy, insight or other benefits to others. A richer and deeper conversation can become possible, with tiny ripple effects for the good. Other factors play a role, including ego. The money is terrible.
To state the obvious, one writes with the hope of being read, and when people who speak other languages show an interest it’s lovely for the writer. There are going to be editions of A Book of Noises in Chinese, French, Italian and Spanish. There may be one in German too. Fantastic.
Today I learned that is interest from a publisher Russia.
Following Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, many UK literary agencies and publishers refuse to licence rights of the works they manage to publishers based in Russia, and will not acquire English language rights for Russian books from them. But the door is not necessarily always closed, and I have been asked what I think in the case of A Book of Noises.
If the Russian publisher in question were an arm of the Russian regime, or aligned or allied to it, I would have no doubt. But what if it’s not, and no benefit flows to the regime, or the picture is murky and complex?
I think we owe a duty of solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Russia who oppose the horrific actions of their government. See for example this article and this short film about Dmitri Muratov, “the Noble Peace Prize laureate who won’t be silenced by Putin.”
I also think we should support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are fighting the cruel and monstrous Russian regime. And I can readily understand why, in the present circumstances, many and perhaps most Ukrainians want to boycott Russian culture almost entirely. See for example this article by Timothy Garton Ash on the ‘canceling’ of Pushkin in Kyiv. (As Rebecca Abrams writes in this review of two recent books on Ukrainian history, “at some point, hopefully, nuance will return to Ukraine’s self-narrative. For now, the urgent struggle for survival continues.”)
As I write, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is being performed, beautifully, at the BBC Proms (with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich conducted by Paavo Järvi, and Augustin Hadelich as soloist). Works by Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and other Russian composers are among the highlights of other concerts in the series.
There is a reference in A Book of Noises to ‘acoustic terror’ deployed by the Russian military in Ukraine.
What do you think?
Image: Ukrainian library destroyed by Russian bombing, posted on Twitter (X) by Oleksandra Matviichuk on April 15, 2022