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The Archivist's Story

By: Travis Holland
Narrated by: Nick Rawlinson
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Summary

Moscow, 1939. In the recesses of the infamous Lubyanka prison is the writer Isaac Babel. The great author of Red Cavalry is spending his last days forbidden to write, his final works consigned to the archivist, Pavel Dubrov - who will ultimately be charged with destroying them.

Pavel, a former schoolmaster and lover of literature, a reluctant minion in Stalin's system, makes a reckless decision: he will save the last stories of the writer he admires, whatever the cost. Pavel's daring in the face of a vast bureaucracy of evil invigorates a life that had slowly lost its meaning, even as it guarantees his almost certain undoing.
©2007 Travis Holland (P)2008 Isis Publishing Ltd
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Quietly devastating....The book captures the stark chill of totalitarianism better than anything since 1984." (The Times)
"Quiet, understated....Pavel's story is told in uninflected prose, as if embellishing the harsh, despairing world the characters inhabit would somehow be morally false. The simple style makes its flashes of eloquence and somber imagery even more startling." (Time Out London)

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Profile Image for "jblsaw"

huge potential missed

Great idea which started well but really just didn't evolve. in the end, dull. readers accents annoying and incongruent.

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