The Railway - Softcover

Ismailov, Hamid

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099466139 ISBN 13: 9780099466130

Publisher: Vintage, 2007

Synopsis

Set mainly in Uzbekistan between 1900 and 1980, The Railway introduces to us the inhabitants of the small town of Gilas on the ancient Silk Route. Among those whose stories we hear are Mefody-Jurisprudence, the town's alcoholic intellectual; Father Ioann, a Russian priest; Kara-Musayev the Younger, the chief of police; and Umarali-Moneybags, the old moneylender. Their colourful lives offer a unique and comic picture of a little-known land populated by outgoing Mullahs, incoming Bolsheviks, and a plethora of Uzbeks, Russians, Persians, Jews, Koreans, Tatars and Gypsies., At the heart of both the town and the novel stands the railway station - a source of income and influence, and a connection to the greater world beyond the town. Rich and picaresque, The Railway chronicles the dramatic changes felt throughout Central Asia in the early twentieth century.

About this title

Review:

"A wonderfully engaging novel" (Melissa McClements Financial Times)

"Imagine Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude on the empty plains of central Asia...The Railway is a bold and inventive, if damning, whirl through Central Asia's 20th-century history" (Charlotte Hobson Daily Telegraph)

"It is a work of rare beauty - an utterly readable, compelling book" (Craig Murray New Statesman)

"A poet's novel, full of memorable descriptive passages and heart-wrenching asides" (Independent)

"All picaresque exuberance, a jumble of influences from Persian to Soviet and beyond" (Catherine Lockerbie Sunday Herald)

From the Publisher:

"Hamid’s Ismailov scintillating novel...Ismailov weaves them into a rich, many-coloured tapestry where every strand shines... in turn ironic, hilarious, tender and full of ‘toska’, an ‘untranslatable word’ indicating melancholy and longing. The Railway is a poet’s novel, full of memorable descriptive passages and heart-wrenching asides. Robert Chandler’s translation admirable renders the exuberance, humour and richness of its language" Independent

"...skilled craftsman...brilliantly done...just drink in the novel. It is a work of rare beauty – an utterly readable, compelling book" New Statesman

"The Railway will appeal to those who like listening to the stories told by our parents and grandparents, because Ismailov has that same rare skill of bringing events to life" Big Issue

"extraordinary patchwork of a Russian novel" The Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0099466139
• ISBN 13: 9780099466130
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336