Review: The Body of the Soul by Ludmila Ulitskaya

Her latest book, The Body of the Soul, is a collection of 11 short stories translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (translators of the works of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Bulgakov, to name a few). The stories are varied: one is about a woman who believes that the best way to control her life is to control her death; another features a landscape photographer who wonders if the beauty he has witnessed can triumph over decay; a third is about a coroner confronted by a startling physical anomaly. Other stories include one about a lonely divorcée who experiences an extraordinary transformation and another about a librarian who finds words slipping away from her.

Remarkably, each story is equally powerful and is perfectly crafted to meet the reader’s expectations. This level of consistency and balance is a rare feat in collections where, usually, some stories take precedence over others.

Together, these works delve into the complexity of the human condition and the workings of fate in subtle yet profound ways. Many characters grapple with a range of complex emotions, including loss, melancholy, and a sense of disillusionment. In one, the reader meets a lonely single woman who has spent her life working hard and planning for her retirement. Having reached a point where she believes there is nothing left to live for, she decides to get some pills from the doctor and end her life. However, fate intervenes. She unexpectedly falls in love with the doctor, who is a widower. This unexpected turn of events leads her to re-evaluate her life and her choices, and she begins to see the world in a new light. The second story follows two sisters who travel to Italy after their mother’s death. There, they begin to realise how much they misunderstood their mother during her lifetime.

The first five stories are centred solely around women with the unifying theme being the examination of the opposing forces that confine and liberate them. The second part of the book focuses on the relationship between the body and soul:

“Daniil Andreyev was granted knowledge of the origin of souls. This question had never interested Sasha before; she had not even known about the existence of such a question. Daniil Andreyev opened her eyes. After an insistent appeal to the High Powers to reveal the origin of souls in our world – whether they had been created by the Lord God at the same time, and when were then sent down to our world as needed, or were being created constantly, along with each pregnancy, and descended to the earth as needed, as soon as new born body uttered a first peep.”

One of these stories is about a woman biologist engaged in the meticulous task of extracting pineal glands from the brains of pigs. In another, a coroner dissects corpses with great care and precision to reveal hidden tumours, all the while providing vivid and sensual descriptions of the post-mortem journey of the human soul.

The concept of the soul is elusive and difficult to define, despite our ability to perceive, understand, and examine the physical body. The characters in these stories ponder over profound questions – where does the soul begin and end? Is it inseparably linked with love? Is it even real, and if it is, does it outlast the body? Or is the soul and the body one and the same; are they intertwined inextricably? These stories explore intriguing questions and offer unique perspectives.

The Body of the Soul is a brilliant display of intellectual and emotional engagement that leaves a lasting impact.

Hritik Verma is an independent reviewer. He blogs at allayingart.wordpress.com. He is @Hritik38233434 on Twitter and @allayingart on Instagram

Ludmila Ulitskaya began her career as a scientist at the Institute of General Genetics in Moscow. In 1970, she was fired for reading and distributing western literature in samizdat (self-published) form. Today, she is one of the most significant writers in Russia. Her works have been translated into 47 languages and have won Russia’s most prestigious literary awards. Ulitskaya has been vocal in her opposition to the Russia-Ukraine war, and, as a result, had to flee Russia for Berlin, Germany, where she currently lives.

Her latest book, The Body of the Soul, is a collection of 11 short stories translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (translators of the works of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Bulgakov, to name a few). The stories are varied: one is about a woman who believes that the best way to control her life is to control her death; another features a landscape photographer who wonders if the beauty he has witnessed can triumph over decay; a third is about a coroner confronted by a startling physical anomaly. Other stories include one about a lonely divorcée who experiences an extraordinary transformation and another about a librarian who finds words slipping away from her.

Remarkably, each story is equally powerful and is perfectly crafted to meet the reader’s expectations. This level of consistency and balance is a rare feat in collections where, usually, some stories take precedence over others.

Together, these works delve into the complexity of the human condition and the workings of fate in subtle yet profound ways. Many characters grapple with a range of complex emotions, including loss, melancholy, and a sense of disillusionment. In one, the reader meets a lonely single woman who has spent her life working hard and planning for her retirement. Having reached a point where she believes there is nothing left to live for, she decides to get some pills from the doctor and end her life. However, fate intervenes. She unexpectedly falls in love with the doctor, who is a widower. This unexpected turn of events leads her to re-evaluate her life and her choices, and she begins to see the world in a new light. The second story follows two sisters who travel to Italy after their mother’s death. There, they begin to realise how much they misunderstood their mother during her lifetime.

The first five stories are centred solely around women with the unifying theme being the examination of the opposing forces that confine and liberate them. The second part of the book focuses on the relationship between the body and soul:

“Daniil Andreyev was granted knowledge of the origin of souls. This question had never interested Sasha before; she had not even known about the existence of such a question. Daniil Andreyev opened her eyes. After an insistent appeal to the High Powers to reveal the origin of souls in our world – whether they had been created by the Lord God at the same time, and when were then sent down to our world as needed, or were being created constantly, along with each pregnancy, and descended to the earth as needed, as soon as new born body uttered a first peep.”

One of these stories is about a woman biologist engaged in the meticulous task of extracting pineal glands from the brains of pigs. In another, a coroner dissects corpses with great care and precision to reveal hidden tumours, all the while providing vivid and sensual descriptions of the post-mortem journey of the human soul.

The concept of the soul is elusive and difficult to define, despite our ability to perceive, understand, and examine the physical body. The characters in these stories ponder over profound questions – where does the soul begin and end? Is it inseparably linked with love? Is it even real, and if it is, does it outlast the body? Or is the soul and the body one and the same; are they intertwined inextricably? These stories explore intriguing questions and offer unique perspectives.

The Body of the Soul is a brilliant display of intellectual and emotional engagement that leaves a lasting impact.

Hritik Verma is an independent reviewer. He blogs at allayingart.wordpress.com. He is @Hritik38233434 on Twitter and @allayingart on Instagram