Das Schicksal der Salome • Gaito Gasdanow

Holding a book by Gaito Gazdanov in your hands is always a joy. You already know before reading it that it will be a literary delight. This time it is a newly published collection of short stories—ten tales translated into German for the first time. Anyone who reads these stories, immerses themselves in them, and listens to Gazdanov’s wonderful narrative voice—anyone who gives in to this flow of reading—will be richly rewarded. What you hold in your hands here is world literature of the highest order. If you love special and hard-to-find literature, then you must read this post. You won’t find a better book recommendation.

I have already reviewed numerous books by Gazdanov on this blog. He is one of those authors I can never get enough of. I simply find too much of my own thinking reflected in his texts. It’s his detached way of looking at the people around him, the subtle observation of the smallest emotional sensations, which he evokes in the reader with a melodic voice. And so I often find myself, on a quiet evening, leafing through one of his books and reading individual episodes or stories by him.

Several of Gazdanov’s well-known books were published by Hanser Verlag. For a long time, nothing new could be found—until suddenly one of his novels appeared from BoD Verlag. As it turned out, they were translated entirely independently by Jürgen Barck, who, with great care and dedication, rendered Gazdanov’s previously untranslated texts into German. Several more novels from his early and late works followed. And now he has published this book, The Fate of Salome, and I had the great fortune and honor to hold it in my hands even before its release. I read the stories and was completely thrilled by what I found. These are not just any stories—this is world literature at its finest, at such a high level that it seems impossible these texts had remained undiscovered for so long.

Nearly all the stories are extraordinary, romantic, and captivating love stories. It is the unconventional female characters, set in the atmospheric Paris of the 1930s to 1960s, that give these tales their unique charm. Written in Gazdanov’s poignant voice, from the perspective of a narrator who is not quite part of society—who radiates a certain loneliness and alienation—and who wraps these very real yet flawed and deeply alluring women in a delicate aura of the impossible. You don’t often find this kind of mood in literature, and I remain fascinated by these long, artful sentences that follow a train of thought always accompanied by emotion in me—and that awaken a longing for that indefinable something, which Gazdanov himself only vaguely captures, but which undoubtedly exists, even if it can never be fully put into words.

My favorite story was The Scar. It’s worth buying the book for this one story alone. Natasha, the protagonist, is simply fascinating, and the plot that unfolds around her is incredibly gripping. With Gazdanov’s delicate language, it is pure reading pleasure. I have read the story several times, and it never loses its charm. The Fate of Salome is another story that is close to my heart and that I devoured just as eagerly. It tells of an artist and a very capricious woman. Here too, both the story and its ending have a particular depth that lingered with me long after reading. Olga likewise portrays a fascinating woman and reflects Gazdanov’s own restlessness and homelessness. That is precisely the central theme of this book: love stories between truly unusual people. In The Water Prison, Mademoiselle Tito and her artistic salon take center stage. But of course, the book also includes short stories with other subjects. The Letters of Ivanov, for example, is a tale with a truly beautiful and surprising twist. The Disappearance of Ricardi I also found quite remarkable.

I devoured all ten stories—some of them more than once. Linguistically, everything here is just perfect, as we know it from Gazdanov, and once again you find yourself drawn into that irresistible reading flow. Jürgen Barck’s translations are of outstanding quality, and you can sense, while reading, the care with which these stories were rendered into German. Especially because Gazdanov’s typical style is instantly recognizable—a remarkable achievement to carry that over into another language.

I actually had the honor of writing the foreword for this book. A heartfelt thank-you to Jürgen Barck once again. It wasn’t difficult for me, because the stories are pure reading pleasure, and getting into the right mood for them was easy.

The book’s design is also very well done. The cover image, in particular, fits perfectly—it’s just wonderfully chosen. That’s exactly how I imagine a Natasha or an Olga: always traveling, restless, with that faraway look in her eyes. With the red ribbon bookmark and the matching cover color, it looks very elegant. Of course, it doesn’t reach the level of deluxe editions, but overall it’s a beautiful book—one you enjoy holding in your hands.

To me, it’s still incomprehensible why no publisher has yet added these books to their catalog. Granted, Gazdanov remains something of a niche author, but his stories are of such high quality—they are full of depth, told with such sensitivity, and feature such authentic and fascinating characters—that they would undoubtedly enrich any publisher’s list. Especially since the translation is of the finest quality, which becomes clear when you look more closely at the often complex sentences or perceive the melody of the language—something you also find in other translations. It’s truly a great gift that Jürgen Barck is doing this work and thus making these wonderful texts accessible to German readers for the first time.

Conclusion: The Fate of Salome is a magnificent collection of Gazdanov’s stories. With its fascinating female characters, its wonderfully fine and fluid language, its often surprising twists, and its unique atmosphere, this book is simply world-class literature. It’s ideal for getting to know Gazdanov and perfect for anyone who already appreciates his work. Both the translation and the book’s design reflect great care and dedication, and the result is a harmonious volume that also makes an excellent gift. An absolute must-read—not only because the foreword was written by me.

Book information: Das Schicksal der Salome • Gaito Gazdanov • BoD Verlag • Translator: Jürgen Barck • 260 pages • ISBN 9783758367373 • Sample