Novel about events in Chechnya nominated for the main literary prize in Germany
Novel about events in Chechnya nominated for the main literary prize in Germany

Video: Novel about events in Chechnya nominated for the main literary prize in Germany

Video: Novel about events in Chechnya nominated for the main literary prize in Germany
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In Germany, the prestigious Deutscher Buchpreis award, which is analogous to the Booker, is being awarded. Only a novel in German can get it. Six books are nominated for this award this year. Among the applicants was the novel "The Cat and the General", written by the Georgian Nino Kharatishvili, who now lives in Germany.

Nino Kharatishvili was born in Tbilisi. At the age of 12, she moved to Germany with her mother, but later returned to her homeland, where she studied at the Tbilisi State Institute of Theater and Cinema. At the moment, the famous playwright, prose writer and director lives in Germany. Many plays, staged by Kharatishvili, are shown not only in Germany and Georgia, but also in Russia.

In her works, Nino often raises the topic of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to wars, conflicts, and a change in many human lives. The novel, called "The Cat and the General", is also one of the post-Soviet tragedies in which the writer tried to show what happens to people during the war.

The main character of the work is Alexander Orlov, who, under pressure from his mother, has to become a military man and go through the Chechen war. At that time he bears the nickname "Kid" and manages to make a lot of mistakes, which he wants to forget, to be forgiven for participating in the rape of a young Chechen woman named Nura, who died from torture.

In the life of the protagonist, cardinal changes are taking place. He meets with a young Georgian actress, nicknamed "Cat", who was forced to flee her home country due to the war and move to Germany. This actress became a double of the deceased Chechen woman Nura. The main character himself changes a lot, he did not want to build a military career, but is engaged in real estate, on which he manages to make good money and become one of the Russian oligarchs, as well as get a new nickname "General".

The novel "The Cat and the General" is a psychological thriller that has a rather impressive volume. It is written so fascinatingly that it reads, as they say in one breath. One of the foreign channels, since the middle of summer of this 2018, has decided to broadcast a play based on this work by Nino Kharatishvili, consisting of 39 programs. Whether this book will succeed in winning the Deutscher Buchpreis award and taking the main prize of 25 thousand euros, it will become known on October 10, on the opening day of the International Book Fair in Frankfurt.

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