FLESH-COLOURED DOMINOES
Zigmunds Skujiņš, trans. Kaija Straumanis (Arcadia Books)
Fans of Bulgakov will have much to admire in this charming, playful novel, first published in Latvia in 1999. Though its English publishers have dubbed the book ‘Surrealist’ with a capital S, this term is somewhat inaccurate — anachronistic even — and overlooks the author’s distinctive literary style. The dual narrative jumps between the sexual misadventures of the 18th-century Baltic aristocracy and the life of a small, occupied Latvian town during WWII, with a narrator raised by his grandfather after his parents ran away with the circus. Told with humour and pathos, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes is partly a carnivalesque romp, blending political allegory and magic realism to reveal the absurd nature of history. But it’s also about one man’s search for his national identity, as his country is ravaged by war.
Price: £9.99. Info: www.arcadiabooks.co.uk (SP)
