The ''Sad Detective'' (russian: Печальный Детектив) is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

by Russian author

Viktor Astafyev Viktor Petrovich Astafyev also spelled Astafiev or Astaf'ev (russian: Ви́ктор Петро́вич Аста́фьев; 1 May 1924 – 29 November 2001), was a Soviet and Russian writer, playwright and screenwriter. He was recognized with th ...

. It was firstly published in the January 1986 issue of Oktyabr magazine. The book tells the story of urban life during the era of stagnation in the Soviet Union as seen by the protagonist, Russian policeman Soshnin. The main topics of ''Sad Detective'' are criminality and deprivation of human beings. The setting is in two imaginary towns: Veysk and Khaylovsk. The work was written between 1982 and 1985, and published in 1986 at the beginning of

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

. Upon its release, the novella saw a mixed critical reception. Some critics praised Astafyev's piece for showing a realistic picture of urban life in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, while many accused the author of

anti-intellectualism Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, and science as impractical, politically mo ...

. The ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' characterises the novel as "a gruesome look at the alcoholism, violence, and animosity among Soviet people.″

References

External links

Original text

A short review in Russian

Russian detective novels Soviet novels 1986 Russian novels Novels set in the Soviet Union Soviet novellas {{1980s-crime-novel-stub