Hunger : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: An Original and Oddly Fascinating Read
Review: "It is not so uncommon for those near the end of their lives to run their mind's hand over the contours of those lives."

HUNGER, Elise Blackwell's first novel, begins with this sentence, elegant in its simple statement. And from there an anonymous scientist, the narrator, endeavors on his personal recollection of one of the most horrific periods in history.

The narrator lived through the "hunger winter" that began in 1941 in Leningrad. For 900 days, he witnessed the city fall around him and the deaths of the city folk at the hands of Nazis. Following a lifetime of exotic travel that took him to Mexico, Afghanistan and other welcoming places in search of rare seed and plant specimens, he now finds himself trapped with his colleagues protecting the botanical institute they've worked so hard to build. A pact is made --- the scientists will not eat their collections, no matter how desperate for food they may become; they will preserve their store for future generations, even if they perish in their attempts. Only our narrator cannot truly accept this agreement. Directed by his appetites, he watches his colleagues barter their bodies and their few material possessions for scraps, for tree bark to make soup, for a single potato. Ultimately they die, as he indulges in the institute's seed supply behind their frail backs.

Among his colleagues is Alena, his wife, a woman of great principle. He also watches her dwindle away to nothing, while he feeds his appetite. He tries to rationalize his secret meals by saying he must do anything to survive at any cost. But his explanations are selfish; he is an indulgent man whose every choice in life has been dictated by his wants, his desires. In recounting his memories we learn that he collected women the way he collected seeds --- for their variety, their beauty, even their danger --- and with little regard for his wife, whom he says he adores. He claims that with each affair, with each poor decision, regret was always instant, but his regret is less for the guilt of what he did and more for having "awakened the horrible hunger" again.

A brief book, Blackwell's writing is economical, replicating the very deprivation her book depicts. Her prose is spare, short passages and short memories. But to not remember might render the power to finally do the narrator in: "I told myself that pain was the price of life; its absence was the step into death."

In the end the narrator, like his long lost colleagues, saves seeds too. In a jar he has "reproduced each mouthful of food I stole during the winter of hunger ... I wonder if such a meager portion could have kept my Alena alive." Does he regret his choice, or hers?

The shelves are full of excellent books, fiction and non-fiction, about the travesties of World War II and the Holocaust. While the setting of HUNGER is unique, it is an all-too-recognizably-human story about the choice between one's own life and what one might leave for the next generation (in this case, the institute's collections). A true humanitarian would put the good of others before the good of the self --- but not Blackwell's narrator. He lacks redeeming qualities, and it is that lack that makes his personal story such an original and oddly fascinating read.

--- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

Rating:
Summary: intriguing historical biographical fiction
Review: In the 1930s and early 1940s biologist and geneticist Nikolai Vavilov traveled the world as a highly regarded scientist seeking rare plants. He worked out of an experimental Leningrad botanical "institute" when he wasn't searching the world for specimens. He cherished his wife, but enjoyed making love to other women too. In other words he enjoyed life.

In 1942, the Hitlerite Nazis surround the city leading to dramatic food shortages. Though starving and ailing, the scientists vow to protect their rare specimens of seed, grains, and tubers. While seemingly all adhere to the pact including Nikolai's wife Alena, he breaks the pledge. Nikolai nibbles at the specimens, which saves his life. Those who kept the pledge, including Alena, die. He wonders if cowardice saved his life or if he even should be classified a coward.

Readers will feel 1942 Stalingrad as the story line provides a powerful look at the impact of the siege as much as it furbishes depth to genetic botany. Nikolai is an interesting character when he admits he failed his peers. When he rationalizes his behavior, the novel loses some momentum towards fulfilling its basic theme of surviving at any cost. Still this is an intriguing historical biographical fiction.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: HUMANITY LAID BARE
Review: This is such a small book to contain so very much. Elise Blackwell has created something very special indeed with this, her first novel. With eloquence and empathy, she transports the reader back in time to Leningrad in 1941 - the German army approaches, and the people in the city prepare for the attack, but it comes in a form they do not expect. The Germans simply cut the city off from the outside world, and sit and wait for the inhabitants to starve to death.

Blackwell's narrator is an elderly Russian botanist living in America, looking back at his time in the blockaded city, remembering his wife and coworkers - remembering the choices that he and the others made in order to survive. Before and during the war, he traveled the world with his colleagues, collecting specimens of plants and seeds from every continent in order to study them and find ways to better feed people in need. The institute where he works - like every facet of Russian society at the time - is caught up in the political upheaval of a country being painfully reborn. The director of the institute, once widely revered and respected both as a scientist and a human being, falls out of favor with the authorities and is sentenced to die. Those who are left behind must choose to bend and survive or resist and perish - professionally, physically or both. Once the German blockade of the city begins, however, they realize that there are far more pressing choices to make. Do they open the storehouses of the institute and distribute the grain samples to the people, or do they preserve them in the name of science, for future generations? The scientists at the institute agree to preserve the samples, to starve before they touch them - but it's a difficult promise to keep.

All around them in Leningrad, people from all walks of life are facing similar decisions. As the blockade drags on - and it lasted for 900 days - desperation becomes more and more intense. Horses disappear - then family pets, even rats are killed for their meat. People begin to strip the bark from the trees to eat - lichen-covered stones are boiled for soup. Food becomes the currency of the city - and people are willing to do all sorts of things to obtain it.

More than simply a picture of a horrible time, when so many people died and suffered, Elise Blackwell's novel is an incredibly moving portrait of humanity itself, a picture of what it truly means to be human and to be forced to make unthinkable decisions based on the need to survive. The thoughts and memories of the narrator - and the words and actions of those around him - paint moving images in delicate but sure strokes. An incredible amount of not only research, but sheer thought and contemplation went into the conception and creation of this book. It would be a stunning accomplishment by a seasoned writer - as a debut, it shimmers. This is a writer of great talent, soul and promise.