Russka (Edward Rutherfurd)

Originally published in 1991, Russka is Edward Rutherfurd's second novel. Spanning from the year 180 A.D. to 1992, it tells the story of Russia through the lives of a loosely connected cast of characters. Rutherfurd's novels are famously long. Russka clocks in at a total of 945 pages.

While most of the characters and a few of the towns/cities mentioned are fictional, the novel does a fine job of outlining basic historical facts and events. Some of my favourite sections in the book are set during the eras of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

I was disappointed, however, at the briefness with which Rutherfurd treats the 20th century. After the Russian Revolution of  1917, he spends a few pages on the twenties, thirties and forties, but then jumps right to 1992, as if nothing happened in Russia during the skipped time period. Of course I understand that Rutherfurd had a long time period to cover and perhaps he wanted to avoid a strong focus on more recent Russian history since it has often been the sole focus of other writers. Still, I feel like there's a hole in the novel.

At first glance, it looks as though Rutherfurd became tired or realized he was running out of pages and decided to just end the novel. After contemplating the gap, I realize there is another way to look at it. I'm no expert on Russia, but I do know that the history of the USSR is obscured--to even modern scholars--because of past censorship and official revision. Perhaps Rutherfurd skipped over most of the Soviet period to emphasize everything that was--and still is--lost and uncertain.

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Russka and look forward to reading more Rutherfurd in the future.