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A Week Like Any Other: Novellas and Stories
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About A Week Like Any Other: Novellas And Stories
From Library Journal For American readers, the title story of this collection--first published in the USSR in 1969 and two years later in the United States as "Alarmclock in the Cupboard" ( Redbook , March 1971)--will be just as topical in its new translation: it is an open-ended narrative of the conflicts a woman scientist and her female colleagues face in juggling careers, family responsibilities, and personal needs. Two other long stories--"The Petunin Affair," a funny account of the mess made by the ambitious editor of a provincial newspaper of an anti-alcohol campaign, and "Lubka," a sympathetic tale of a troubled teenaged girl's problems--have all-too-pat happy endings. The collection, rounded out by a few Chekhovian sketches, shows Baranskaya to be a light, perceptive chronicler of the frictions and rewards of daily life in the Soviet Union.-Mary F. Zirin, Altadena, Cal.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description One of Russia's finest short story writers makes her U.S. debut in this enthralling collection of fiction. Women's lives are the central preoccupation of Natalya Baranskaya: A scientist frantically juggles her professional life with her duties as wife and mother; a woman writer who regrets never marrying is finally glad of it; a delinquent girl is brought before the people's court for her "anti-social" behavior. With candor and satirical wit, Baranskaya captures perfectly everyday realities of family and society. From Publishers Weekly The gently satirical title piece of this American debut from the Soviet Union captures the essence of women's tensions about their roles at home and on the job. A happily married mother of two and a committed scientist narrates her daily schedule over the course of one week. It is impossible not to recognize and empathize with the relentless juggling of chores and deadlines in this novella, which could have for working mothers the galvanizing effect of The Feminine Mystique : "Sunday night is quiet and peaceful. The children play, Dima reads, and I do the laundry and make the supper. I keep repeating to myself: I mustn't forget to sew the hook on the waistband"; "I've lost seventy-eight days, almost a third of my whole working time, in sick days and certificates. And all because of the children. . . . I don't understand why I feel so awkward, even ashamed. . . . Why? I'm not guilty of anything." The other tales also focus on women's experience--a few offer penetrating vignettes of misunderstandings between the sexes; two are lengthier, but parochial, portraits, with less appeal. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review In the title story Olga, a scientific researcher and mother of two, is asked to fill out a questionnaire about how her time is spent during an average week. The novella follows her through her week as she mends clothing; leaps onto an overcrowded bus in an effort not to be late, again, for work; sweet-talks laboratory technicians into doing her tests; does the communal shopping for the other "mums" in the laboratory; tucks in her children; fights and makes love with her husband - and tries to find time to fill out the questionnaire. Hers is a "full" life, and this story provides a brilliant, even-handed description of an employed mother's life. There is frustration, love, and sheer exhaustion. Why - the questionnaire wonders - are Soviet women having fewer children? Following Olga's life, we learn both why they have children and why they might choose not to. Underlying it all is a condemnation of a system which expects women to be both comrades and baby-producers yet has done little to make it possible for these two roles to co-exist peacefully. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister About the Author Natalya Baranskaya was born in 1908. She began wri
