Thirst, Andrei Gelasimov
Thirst, Andrei Gelasimov
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Thirst

Author: Andrei Gelasimov, Marian Schwartz

Narrator: Luke Daniels

Unabridged: 2 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/15/2012

Synopsis

Masterfully translated from the original Russian by award-winning translator Marian Schwartz, Thirst tells the story of 20-year-old Chechen War veteran Kostya. Maimed beyond recognition by a tank explosion, he spends weeks on end locked inside his apartment, his sole companions the vodka bottles spilling from the refrigerator. But soon Kostya’s comfortable if dysfunctional cocoon is torn open when he receives a visit from his army buddies who are mobilized to locate a missing comrade. Through this search for his missing friend, Kostya is able to find himself.

About Andrei Gelasimov

Andrei Gelasimov studied foreign languages at Yakutsk State University and directing at the Moscow Theater Institute. He became an overnight literary sensation in Russia in 2001 when his story “A Tender Age,” which he published online, won critical acclaim as best debut and went on to garner the Apollon-Grigoriev and the Booker Student Prizes, as well as a nomination for the Belkin Prize. Thirst is Gelasimov’s first book published in English. His novel The Gods of the Steppes, forthcoming from AmazonCrossing in 2012, won the 2009 Russian National Bestseller literary award.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on January 13, 2012

I had never heard of Andrei Gelasimov before undertaking his short novel Thirst, the story of a mutilated veteran of the war in Chechnya named Kostya who looks at his life, past and present, and tries to make some sense out of it. Why did he join the military in the first place? He came from a broke......more

Goodreads review by Electra on January 16, 2022

Un livre acheté parce que je cherchais des livres d'auteurs russes contemporains et parce que j'ai trouvé la couverture magnifique et la 4C intrigante. Et puis la découverte d'un style, et je l'ai dévoré! Une très belle surprise en ce début d'année. I've bought this book because I want to read conte......more

Goodreads review by Jim on June 28, 2014

Thirst, like most words, doesn’t always mean dry-mouthed. Men with ‘a thirst on’ will drink long beyond the point of rehydration. This is clearly the goal of this novel’s protagonist as he fills his fridge with vodka and stacks the remaining bottles wherever he can find space. He's planning a bender......more

Goodreads review by J. on June 14, 2023

Andrei Gelasimov is a nice guy, and this is a quick and simple read. My 2nd favorite book about an emotionally unavailable man with a facial difference. (I can fix him.)......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on April 08, 2024

An author I’d not come across before, but well worth reading. Translated from the original Russian. A disfigured veteran from the Chechen war coping with vodka. The author really gets the feeling of Russian mentality, where life is awful, bleak and then gets worse. He’s writing is sparse, focused an......more

Quotes

“Gelasimov’s narrator stumbles through the rubble of a life unlived, its often-harsh language full of elegiac mourning. Gelasimov never wastes a word—Thirst brings forth an entirely new toughness, clarity, and elegance.” —Der Spiegel“Each and every episode is very well executed, highly expressive, realistic and to the point.” —Beauty is a Sleeping Cat“Andrei Gelasimov’s vivid, concise, penetrating stories are…full of the anguish, longing and pain of the world. Yet also pierced by hope and insight. And humanity.” —Russian Life

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