The Goose Fritz
by Sergei Lebedev
Translated by
Antonina W. Bouis
New Vessel Press
March 19, 2019
Genre: Literary fiction
322 pages

Goodreads

***

Having very much appreciated Oblivion, by Lebedev, I decided to read his latest novel, The Goose Fritz, which actually tackles some similar themes.

Indeed, from the very opening of the book, the theme of memory appears to be as central as in Oblivion: Kirill, living in Moscow, remembers elements of its childhood that lead him to write a book and revisit his family past. He discovers it is actually a mix of both Russian and German relatives, a dramatic and possibly dangerous discovery that obsessively pushes him to visit cemeteries, places, and documents to better understand how all this happened.

He now saw it as a mixture of bloods carrying different inheritances, different possible destinies.

I enjoyed the theme of memory, and of looking for one’s deep identity, as a person, as a family, and as a country and culture.
There were also some fascinating colorful characters.

As if he sensed his “in-between” position, being German by blood and Russian by birth, Andreas loved railroads, the state they produced of being in transit, of not belonging to a specific place.

…how a man who does not know his fateful ancestry lives his life –and how fate treats one who does not know. Different from the ones who do know?

However, The Goose Fritz does not have the lyrical prose that made Oblivion unforgettable for me.

VERDICT:  Revisiting your past, discovering your deep identity. Not always a comfortable journey.