Ludmila Ulitskaya’s latest collection of stories is wide-ranging, thought-provoking and frequently moving. She’s never afraid to tackle difficult subjects and does so with empathy and insight. Now 81, her writing has lost none of its power. In this collection women are centre-stage, with all the tragedy, bleakness and difficulties of their lives. The book is in two parts. The first half consists of four stories, focussing on the relationship between women, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, women who often act outside societal expectations. The first story, Girlfriends, I found particularly interesting as it features the lesbian relationship between an Armenian and an Azerbaijani woman, with all the cultural problems that this entails. I also very much enjoyed Alisa Buys Death, in which an independent ageing woman is suddenly faced with her own mortality and realises that her life choices means she will have no one to look after her at the end. Mother and daughter relationships feature prominently in all these stories. The stories in the second half are shorter and more episodic, with less plotting and character development, but still poignant and relatable. Some fantasy and magic realism creeps in, which made some of them less personally relatable to me. However, the book as a whole is a great read, and each story has much to offer.

The body of the soul is brilliant collection of short stories written by Ludmila Ulitskaya and translated from Russian to English by artfully by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Yes the Anna Karenina translators. The best translation of Anna Karenina is said to be by these two. That was one of the reason that I requested this book.

I finished this book a long time back and yet I kept musing over what should I really write in the review because this might be one of the most difficult books to review but I will try my best to bring Justine to the book.

Ulitskaya in this book maps the edges of our lives, tracing a delicate geography of the soul as per the blurb but what does it mean really? These short stories explore such vast and unexplored and infinitely out of one's mind's reach topics. Some are so marvellous that I had to take a break to process my thoughts.

You have to be a very patient reader when reading this book. When I started I thought of quitting so many times. I couldn't understand what was happening. And the translation felt fractured and like I always say that something is lost in translation (of course not at the expense or fault of translators) but there are some words which exist only in one language but can not in other. I understand this being an Indian so obviously I'm a multilingual. So either keep your mind open to be blown or just don't pick up this book.

The book has two parts, each starts with a beautiful poem - Girlfriends (4 stories) and the body of the soul (7 stories) compiling total 11 short stories.

Girlfriends

*Thedragon and the Phoenix - "It is impossible to tell who in it is the warrior, who the sorcerer, who is evil and who is good, because they are bound forever into one immobile and indissoluble ring." A lesbian couple , one is strong but dying, and another who is dependent is praying for her life, not wanting to live without other. Armenian vs Azerbaijani. And then there's priestess who can do soul transfers? So many questions unanswered.
Ludmila has left all stories open to interpretation by her readers and that's what makes these stories even more intriguing. Rating-4/5

*Alisa Buys death - Hers was not a burdensome asceticism, but one of rare, insignifi cant aff airs that put her on a par with her peers in life experience. Alisa has been independent whole her life especially after seeing her mother's transgressions following one man after the other ending up in suicide. But one day after experiencing something terrifying she decides what to do with her life. "Alisa was sixty- four. She was in good health, except for the fainting fi t that had unexpectedly reminded her of the finiteness of life." She already had decided not to give any man a chance but then there comes a person in her life who is worthy of it all. What will happen though? Fate is in favour of Alisa or not? One of my favourite stories from collection. Rating -5/5

*Aforeigner -Another good story of a headstrong girl Lilya who marries a foreigner Salikh and has a daughter but life takes a turn for the worst. All that's ends well though. Rating- 4/5

*Blessed Are Those Who - two estranged daughters attending funeral of their mom and somehow in the end they are closer than they ever had been. A death can bring people together. Rating 3/5


The body of the soul

*Slaughtered Souls - Zhenya has to visit a meat factory. "The American moccasins were ruined, their joyful color of pine bark never returned, even af-ter prolonged cleaning; they turned a dull brown." This reminded me of one time when I went to buy meat and saw butcher in action in front of me. I couldn't eat meat for a long time after that.
Rating -4/5

*Aqua Allegoria - "There was no sign at all of any Kafkian insects." A retelling of Kafka's metamorphosis but it doesn't have to be ugly every time, does it? Rating- 4/5

*Two Together - an old man reminiscing times with his wife. Rating 3/5

*A Man in a Mountainous Landscape - A story of a young boy and his mother. "The orphanage where she had lived till the age of sixteen, Valentina had learned how to survive, but had not learned how to love." Valentina showed great patience. She had it where others
have love. Tolik, too, knew little about love, but gratitude."
Tolik isn't bright in school but is bright at something else. But he becomes sick with an illness. The ending of this one was one of the best. Rating: 4.5/5


*Woof- Woof - A story of how a belief can turn even an literate an educated person blind to their faith.

*Autopsy - There was not the slightest trace of mysticism in what was happening. A convincing reality . . . A story of faith and following.
Rating-4/5

*A Serpentine road-This was just an okay one. Rating 2.5/5



Thank you Netgalley and Yale University press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

The writing was lyrical and beautiful, but felt ungrounded in a sense. I wasn't entirely engaged with the narrative or the emotion behind the words. Not necessarily "bad" by any means, I just didn't feel connected to the train of thought left by the author.

I really enjoyed this collection of beautifully written short stories. Divided into two sections, ‘Girlfriends’ and ‘The Body of the Soul’ the stories cover many themes of life and death, and particularly ageing. There’s some transformations in the latter section (‘Aqua Allegoria’, ‘Woof-Woof’ and ‘The Autopsy’) but my favourite was the second story ‘Alisa Buys Death’ because I found the ending so unexpected.

I found myself deeply charmed and intrigued by this collection of short stories. I had vague recollections of the writing of Sayaka Murata, whose work I feel occupies a similar space in literature. These stories remain altogether more grounded however.

THE BODY OF THE SOUL by Ludmila Ulitskaya was unlike any other book I've ever read. A deftly woven net of poetry and prose, simple and elemental language, characters who live such thoughtful, conscious lives, her collection drew me into another world, sometimes fantastical and other times down-to earth riotous and frank celebration of our here and now. Her keen intelligence and powerful narrative kept me reading way too late into the night. I look forward to reading more of her work. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Two forms of short stories contained within one book, seems about serious control & death & suicide. The first collection 'Girlfriends' is a set of insights of diversity womens experiences. The second 'The body of Soul' is more fanciful & surreal.
Don't usually enjoy short stories but liked the writing style.

A perfect collection of short stories! All of the stories were good, but the shorter ones had the most impact on me. Almost every narrative contains significant themes regarding control, death, and transformation. They reminded me of the stages of ripeness, overripeness, rotting, and dust. Aqua Allegoria and A Serpentine Road were my two favorite stories. Ulitslaya's final subversion of their disintegration was thought stimulating, with one woman's quest for control completely altering her and the other's gradual loss of control concluding in an expansion of who she is and her reality. I really enjoyed the suggestion of the unknown and bizarre at the end of both pieces.

These are solitary novellas with an invisible common atmosphere - after reading them, you must linger and reflect on life.

Since I cannot understand Russian, I cannot judge the quality of Pevear and Volokhonsky's translations, nor am I sure if the words I read were representative of Ulitskaya's original stories. What I can say, however, is that I greatly enjoyed this particular translation of "The Body of the Soul."

The collection is divided into two parts, "Girlfriends" and "The Body of the Soul," each part introduced by a poem.

I love love loved "Girlfriends." "Alisa Buys death" and "A Foreigner" were especially captivating in their complex female characters. The stories in "The Body of the Soul" had more fantastical elements, which isn't really my thing. But throughout the collection, I greatly enjoyed the connecting theme of the elevation of the human soul.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yale University Press for the eARC. All thoughts were my own.

DNF'd @ 20%

Couldn't really connect with these poems but not sure if my brain was just out of it because I would just read a few in a row and nothing would stick. Not too captivated to continue reading.

I'm a big fan of Ulitskaya's novels and normally not an avid short story reader, yet I dare say that this collection was the best writing I've read from her.

I felt a very personal connection with the first half of the book, maybe because the main characters here are dominantly women, hence the title Girlfriends.

These are standalone novellas but have an intangible common vibe - having read them you must linger on and think about life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for an Advance Review Copy.

Very touching, and each story really brings something out in you. I can definitely see myself reading this over and over again.

A great collection by a very talented author. Different themes throughout with each story, sure to touch everyone .

The Body of the Soul is a book of short stories that is divided into two parts. The first is called Girlfriends, beginning with a poem celebrating all the women the author has known in their different moods and diversities. The stories themselves are rather serious, generally slice of life in format, and dealing with issues like death and suicide. The second part is rather different. Called The Body of the Soul, this second part also begins with a poem. These stories though tend more towards transformative situations, and some take a far more fanciful turn.

This collection explores relationships with stories that progressively transition from ordinary to fantastic. Each of them has a spiritual quality to it and portrays the metamorphosis of the soul of its protagonists to a higher level. This is achieved either by taking control or giving it up in their relationships, with others whom they love, with the surroundings where they live, or with themselves. When the transformation or transition of an entity happens, it implies the presence of a body, either physical or abstract. So, I believe the title refers to this quality of the soul that transforms itself.

A fitting short story collection for a fall release. .

All of the stories were solid, but the shorter stories were more impactful for me. There are strong themes about control, death, and transformation in nearly every story. They reminded me of the progression from ripe to overripe, then to rotting and dust. My favorite 2 stories were Aqua Allegoria and A Serpentine Road. The way Ulitslaya subverts their decay at the last moment was thought provoking, with one woman desire for control transforming her entirely and the other’s slow loss of control culminating in an expansion of who she is and her reality. I really liked the hint of the unknown and the surreal at the end of both stories as well.

This is a solid 3.75, but I’m gonna round it up to 4 just for those 2 stories.