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World Jewish News
Free Hunt by Yuliy Daniel
26.02.2009
In the International Memorial building, a presentation of the book "Free Hunt" by famous writer and poet, a political prisoner of Soviet times Yuliy Daniel, was held.
The presenter was Yuliy Daniel's son, Alexander Daniel. He gave the first floor to a writer and poet Yuriy Riashentsev, who shared his memories about Y. Daniel:
"He was characterized by tremendous goodwill. Like other people from the so-called generation of Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History, who lived in dreadful times, he kept the sense of humor. But he had one considerable difference from them – he was a very good listener."
"When we had Yulik (Yulik – a short, familiar version of Yuli. - Editor's note), it was a constant celebration. The celebration is not over, and it is great that we received this book, allowing us to continue communication with Yulik," summarized Y. Riashentsev.
Maxim Amelin, chief editor of OGI publishing house, which published the book, mentioned that on the outward the book resembles the "samizdat," the way that Daniel’s books were initially distributed in the USSR – unpretentious cover and precious content.
"I heard about Daniel when I was a child, but read his works only in the years 1989-1990. And when we decided to publish Daniel’s works, the question was whether our contemporaries will read them.
I think that he is a prominent prose writer, but his prose is too connected to the time period, and an extended commentary is needed, while a modern 20-year-old person does not understand most of the realities. However, Daniel's poetry is practically timeless and easily understood both then and now," emphasized Amelin
The critic Boris Roginsky analyzed Y. Daniel's works. Quoting the introduction to the book, written by Boris Shragin, he noticed that Yuliy Daniel is one of the few writers of the Soviet period who managed to maintain a positive vision.
Y. Daniel also had a "penmate" - similarly undeservedly forgotten Yuriy Dombrovsky. Their unpopularity was largely caused by the fact that they wrote about the guilt of each person for the horrors of the totalitarian regime, not only of Stalin and his surroundings.
They both considered evil to be something eternal, which a hero faces. For Daniel, evil was an eternal player, and for Dombrovsky - a timeless force, which has nowhere to rush either. Meanwhile, the hero had to fight the evil by himself - without the help of friends or higher powers.
Actor Alexander Filippenko read the story by Daniel called Hands about an executioner tricked by his friends, who loaded the pistol with blank cartridges.
And the bard Julius Kim performed a number of songs popular back in the Soviet period.
Semen Tcharny
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