The Story of a Strange Time

Five short stories about the "strange time" during and after World War II, when a Soviet citizen could only avoid trouble with the authorities by turning traditional moral values on their head and conniving at a system of betrayal, vengeance and dishonesty. The first four stories are taut accounts of pursuit and evasion, the avengers in effect pursuing their own self-purgation. The last is a parable about a miracle that does not attest religious conviction. All five stories, reflective, observant, probing, bear witness to Borodin's power and originality as a writer.