The Competent Authority

By: Iegor Gran

Write A Review

Hardcover | 26 October 2023 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
224 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.3 x 14.4 x 2.8

Hardcover

$59.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $15.00 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

Darkly comic but timely, The Competent Authority is about the KGB's hunt for a dissident writer they could not for years track down. A true and satirical story written by the son of protagonist Andrei Sinyavsky.

'Great is the Soviet Union, vast its territories, warm its entrails...'

1959. Whispers of dissidence are spreading in the U.S.S.R. Texts published in the West are circulating in samizdat, tormenting the secret police. Lieutenant Ivanov of the K.G.B, under pressure from his enraged superiors, is handed the case.

Leads emerge, flare up, vanish. Years pass. 'Abram Tertz' publishes another short story, a new novel, mocking the competent authority. Shielded by his fierce wife Maria Vasilyevna Rozanova, Andrei Sinyavsky, one of the Soviet Union's most renowned and brilliant figures of resistance, waits in his wired apartment, drinking, sure his days as a free man are numbered.

But as Rozanova continues to taunt Ivanov with her cheerful intransigence, a crisis of confidence opens up within the regime's resolve, causing the young lieutenant to wonder, 'are we actually as competent as we claim to be?''

With the unique insight afforded by his mother, Rozanova, Gran pays remarkable homage to Andrei Sinyavsky, his father, reimagining the six long years leading up to his infamous arrest, trial and conviction. Framed within a riveting cat-and-mouse dynamic; irreverent and darkly comic, Gran balances a satirical lightness with deeper meditations on dogma and freedom of expression, state control and creative resistance, the ghosts of which, at a time when political criticism is being crushed once again, are as present today as ever before.

Industry Reviews

''A masterpiece'' - Le Monde

''A funny and touching novel'' - Temps

''Iegor Gran recounts this paper chase with a sarcastic tone, ridiculing the actions and words of a regime that promises happiness, but offers terror ... A remarkable portrait of the Soviet Union'' - Elle

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $0.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.