Boris Akunin

Boris Akunin (Russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili (Russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили; Georgian: გრიგოლ ჩხარტიშვილი) (born May 20, 1956), a Russian writer. He is an essayist, literary translator and writer of detective fiction.

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Life and career

Chkhartishvili was born in Zestafoni[1] to a Georgian father and Jewish mother[1], and since 1958 has lived in Moscow.[1] Influenced by Japanese Kabuki theatre, he joined the historical-philological branch of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University as an expert on Japan. He worked as assistant to the editor-in-chief of the magazine Foreign Literature,[1] but left in October 2000 to pursue a career as a fiction writer.[1]

Under his given name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, he serves as editor-in-chief of the 20-volume Anthology of Japanese Literature,[1] chairman of the board of a large "Pushkin Library " (Soros Fund),[1] and is the author of the book The Writer and Suicide (Moscow, The New Literary Review, 1999). He has also contributed literary criticism and translations from Japanese, American and English literature under his own name.[1]

Boris Akunin

Under the pseudonym Boris Akunin, he has written many works of fiction, mainly novels and stories in the series The Adventures of Erast Fandorin, The Adventures of Sister Pelagia, The Adventures of the Master (following Nicholas Fandorin, Erast's grandson), all published in Russia by Zakharov Books, and the Roman-Kino ("Novel-Film") series set during World War I. Akunin's specialty is historical mysteries set in Imperial Russia. It was only after the first books of the Fandorin series were published to critical acclaim that the identity of B. Akunin (i.e., Chkhartishvili) was revealed.

Chkhartishvili "prefers to work with historical material" and has been called the "undisputed champion" of Russian crime fiction given that as Boris Akunin he "has written more than a dozen crime novels and has been widely appreciated by discerning readers . . . and has been translated into many languages."[2]

"Akunin" (悪人) is a Japanese word that translates loosely to "villain". In his novel The Diamond Chariot, the author redefines an "akunin" as one who creates his own rules.[1] The pseudonym "B. Akunin" may also allude to the anarchist Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin and to Akuna, the home name of poet Anna Akhmatova.

Awards and honors

In 2000 Akunin was nominated for the Smirnoff-Booker Prize. In September 2000, Akunin was named Russian Writer of the Year and won the "Antibooker" prize in 2000 for his Erast Fandorin novel Coronation, or the last of the Romanovs.

In 2003 the British Crime Writers' Association placed Akunin's novel The Winter Queen on the short list for the Dagger Award in Fiction.

Adaptations

Three Fandorin novels, The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit and The State Counsellor, were made into big-budget Russian movies.

An English remake of The Winter Queen is currently in production, set to be released in 2012. It was set to start filming in 2007, but the leading actress, Milla Jovovich, became pregnant.

Additionally, Pelagia and the White Bulldog was made into a TV mini-series in 2009, while The Spy Novel came out in a 2011 theatrical release as The Spy.

List of Works

  1. The Winter Queen, original title Azazel / Азазель (1876). A conspiracy mystery. The 20-year old Fandorin begins his career by accidentally stumbling over a plot for world domination. [2]
  2. The Turkish Gambit / Турецкий гамбит (1877) [3]. A spy mystery. The story is set before the backdrop of the Russo-Turkish War, in particular the Siege of Plevna.
  3. Murder on the Leviathan / Левиафан (1878) [4]. A closed set-up mystery. The third novel in the series, but the second released in English. Set on a steamship headed from England to India.
  4. The Death of Achilles / Смерть Ахиллеса (1882) [5]. A hired assassin mystery. The story unwinds from the death of Mikhail Skobelev (called Sobolev in the novel) in a Moscow hotel.
  5. The Jack of Spades / Пиковый валет (1886) [6]. A novella about confidence men. Fandorin hunts down a clever gang of swindlers.
  6. The Decorator / Декоратор (1889) [7]. A novella about a maniac. After ending his string of murders in England, Jack the Ripper surfaces in Moscow.
  7. The State Counsellor / Статский советник (1891). A political mystery. Revolutionary terrorism in late 19th-century Russia takes center stage.
  8. The Coronation / original title Coronation, or the Last of the Romanovs (Коронация, или Последний из Романов) (1896). A high society mystery. The plot surrounds the ascension of Tsar Nicholas II.
  9. She Lover of Death / Любовница смерти (1900). A decadent mystery. A decadent suicide society causes a stir in Moscow.
  10. He Lover of Death / Любовник Смерти (1900). A Dickensian mystery. Set in the slums of Khitrovka, Moscow.
  11. The Diamond Chariot / Алмазная колесница (1905 / 1878). An ethnographic mystery. Events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 set against a flashback to Fandorin's diplomatic service in Yokohama.
  12. The Jade Rosary / Нефритовые четки (a collection of short stories and novellas set in the 19th century): Some of the "holes" in the canon are filled, including Fandorin's service in Japan, his investigations in the 1880s while a Deputy for Special Assignments in the Moscow city administration and his adventures in America.
  13. All the World's a Stage / Весь мир театр (1911). A theatrical mystery. The 55-year-old Fandorin has his life turned upside-down when investigating strange incidents in a fashionable Moscow theater.

Note: (The Jack of Spades and The Decorator were published together in a single volume, Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin / Особые поручения.)

  1. Pelagia and the White Bulldog (US title: Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog) / Пелагия и белый бульдог [8]
  2. Pelagia and the Black Monk (US title: Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk) / Пелагия и черный монах
  3. Pelagia and the Red Rooster (US title: Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel) / Пелагия и красный петух
  1. Altyn Tolobas / Алтын-толобас [9]: Nicholas visits Russia in 1995 while a story of his 17th-century ancestor is told in alternating chapters.
  2. Extracurricular Reading/ Внеклассное чтение: Nicholas' adventures in Moscow in 2001 are told together with a story of yet another ancestor, this one set in the end of Catherine the Great's reign.
  3. F.M.: Nicholas is looking for a lost Dostoevsky manuscript.
  4. The Falcon and the Swallow / Сокол и Ласточка: A book within a book, based on a Treasure Island-like adventure taking place in 1702 and 2009.
  1. Children's Book / Детская книга: Erast Fandorin Jr. (Nicholas' ten-year-old son) goes on a time-travelling adventure.
  2. Spy Novel / Шпионский роман: Set in 1941, just before Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union.
  3. Science Fiction / Фантастика: Two young men cope with their mysteriously acquired superpowers in the Soviet Union's dying days.
  4. Quest / Квест: In 1930, an Indiana Jones-like American scientist and two of his colleagues go to Moscow in an attempt to disrupt Soviet eugenics experiments. The novel imitates a computer game. The second part of the narrative, called Codes to the Novel is set in 1812, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
  1. The Infant and the Devil / Младенец и черт. Comedy. July 1914. A German ace of espionage is trying to steal the plans of Russian military operations, as a young St. Petersburg student unexpectedly interferes.
  2. The Torment of a Broken Heart / Мука разбитого сердца. Melodrama. November 1914. Junior sergeant Alexei Romanov, sent away from the front after being wounded, takes part in an operation in Switzerland, where Russian intelligence is attempting to neutralize a "dealer in secrets."
  3. The Flying Elephant / Летающий слон. Aeronautic adventures. April 1915. Captain von Theofels infiltrates Russia's Special Aviation Corps in order to sabotage the development of the world's first heavy bomber, the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.
  4. Children of the Moon / Дети Луны. A decadent étude: August 1915. Ensign Romanov, fresh after completing the Russian General Staff's counter-intelligence course, goes undercover into a Petrograd society of young decadents. One of the members is about to transfer a copy of secret military documents to a German spy.
  5. The Wandering Man / Странный человек. Mystical. December 1915. Major von Theofels is trying to discredit the head of Russian military intelligence. To achieve his goal he is trying to get close to a mysterious "Wanderer" who greatly resembles the historical Grigory Rasputin. The Russian title plays with the double meaning of the word "странный": wandering (archaic meaning) and strange, weird.
  6. Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble! / Гром победы, раздавайся! Front-line sketch. April 1916. Junior lieutenant Romanov's adventures at Russia's South-Western Front, as he is trying to ensure the secrecy of the plans for the impending Brusilov Offensive.
  7. Mariya, Maria... / "Мария", Мария... A true tale of the sea. October 1916. Major von Theofels has a new assignment, to sabotage the Russian battleship Imperatritsa Mariya.
  8. Nothing Sacred / Ничего святого. A hellish scheme of the Germans. November 1916. Von Theofels and his nemesis Alexei Romanov are about to meet again as the German spy is preparing an assassination of Czar Nicholas II. This time, Romanov, now a lieutenant, is a much more worthy opponent.
  9. Operation Transit / Операция "Транзит". Preapocalyptic. April 1917. With Russia facing political turmoil after the February Revolution, the Germans hope to further the collapse by helping the Bolshevik leader V. I. Lenin return to the country. Major von Theofels' new assignment is to ensure his safe passage.
  10. The Angels Battalion / Батальон ангелов. Apocalyptic. Summer 1917. With Russia's ability to sustain the war at an end and the army demoralized, the Russian Provisional Government creates the Women's Battalion of Death in order to boost the soldiers' morale. Stabskapitän Alexei Romanov joins the strange outfit as an instructor.
  1. The Seagull / Чайка, Комедия в двух действиях: a reworking of Anton Chekhov's Seagull as a mystery [10]
  2. Comedy/Tragedy (the Tragedy is also known as "Hamlet, by B. Akunin," with "Mirror of Saint Germain" being the alternate name for the Comedy.)
  3. Yin and Yang/Инь и Ян (a play about Erast Fandorin, set in 1882).
  4. Fairy Tales for Idiots / Сказки для Идиотов [11] (a collection of short stories, not related to any of the series).

Future plans

As Akunin has indicated in interviews, the Sister Pelagia series is finished (only three books were ever planned) and so, in all likelihood, is the Nicholas Fandorin series. The Alexei Romanov/Sepp von Theofels series, planned for 10 novellas, was completed in 2011. The other two projects will continue. In particular, Akunin plans to write at least two more Erast Fandorin books, including one more novel (which will probably take place in Baku, Azerbaijan[12]) and another collection of short stories and novellas, similar in structure to The Jade Rosary and taking place entirely during the 20th century[13].

The Genres project will continue as well. Besides exploring new genres, Akunin plans to write sequels to The Children's Book and The Spy Novel, possibly co-authored with other Russian writers[14].

As of September 2011, Akunin was reported to be working on a book about the Crimean War, though it was still unclear whether it would be a stand-alone novel or a part of a series.[15]

Anatoly Brusnikin

In November 2007, AST, one of the publishing houses with which Akunin is affiliated, came out with a historical mystery novel by a new author, Anatoly Brusnikin, called Девятный спас (Devyatny Spas, The Ninth Savior). Despite the fact that Brusnikin was a complete unknown, AST spent lavishly on an advertising campaign for the book, which almost immediately resulted in rumors that Brusnikin might actually be Akunin in a new disguise.

The novel is set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (in the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great) and centers on three young Russians, a nobleman, a priest's son, and a peasant, who get involved in an investigation of a regicidal plot. Despite Akunin's denials, some readers have concluded that the literary devices used by the author and the language of the novel give reason to believe that he may have been involved in its creation. Others, however, feel that the novel is written and plotted poorly, and could not have been authored by Akunin.

The rumors about the authorship of Devyatny Spas have also been fueled by the total secrecy surrounding the person of the author and the fact that his name, A. O. Brusnikin, is an exact anagram of Boris Akunin. AST has also released a photograph of Brusnikin, which appears to be either of a young Chkhartishvili or a computer-generated composite of several portraits, including Chkhartishvili's.[16]

In 2010, the second Brusnikin novel was published in Russian. It is called Герой иного времени (A Hero From A Different Time) and is set in the 1840s in the Caucasus. The theme of the novel prompted further speculation on the possibility of Akunin's involvement. This is due to the fact that both of Brusnikin's books deal with the subjects that Akunin had planned to write about but later abandoned - Peter the Great and the Caucasus War.

Anna Borisova

It has also been rumored that another mysterious writer (and one also under contract with AST), Anna Borisova, is in fact Akunin. The speculation stems from the same facts as with Brusnikin. Namely, the last name Borisova which means "that of Boris", the secrecy around the supposedly female writer and the style and themes of the author's novels, of which to date have been three, Там (Tam, There), Креативщик (Kreativshchik, The Idea-Man) and Vremena Goda (Seasons), released in 2008, 2009, and 2011, respectively. Borisova's works are not genre fiction as all three novels explore philosophical dilemmas, mostly involving human mortality. Her literary style, however, as well as certain ideas voiced in the books, closely resemble Akunin's.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Чхартишвили, Григорий" (in Russian). Collection of materials by Lenta.ru. http://www.lenta.ru/lib/14183665/. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  2. ^ The Case Of The Missing Russian Crime Novel. Igor Pomerantsev. Radio Free Europe. NEWS STORIES AND DOCUMENTS. July 31, 2009.

External links