Voinovich, Vladimir Nikolayevich

[BANNED IN THE USSR] Pretendent na prestol: Novye prikliucheniia soldata Ivana Chonkina [Pretender to the Throne: Further Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin]

Paris: YMCA-Press, 1979. Item #1011

357 pages: portrait; 21 cm. Text in Russian. A copy with minor wear to the cover and light foxing throughout.

This rare first edition is the second book in the satirical trilogy chronicling the adventures of soldier Ivan Chonkin. Written by Soviet dissident Vladimir Voinovich, this novel follows the underground circulation of its predecessor, "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Soldier Ivan Chonkin" (initially titled "The Unattainable Face"), penned between 1963 and 1969. The trilogy, censored and banned in the USSR, culminated in 2007 with the publication of "Displaced Person."

Vladimir Nikolayevich Voinovich (1932-2018) was a distinguished Russian writer and dissident, known for his incisive satire that frequently antagonized Soviet authorities. Born in Stalinabad, Tajikistan (now Dushanbe), he served in the Soviet army, attended the Moscow Pedagogical Institute, and worked as a laborer and radio editor. Voinovich gained prominence with works like "My zdes zhivyom" (We Live Here), "Khochu byt chestnym" (I Want to Be Honest), and "Dva tovarishcha" (Two Comrades), exploring Soviet life pressures. His best-known novel, "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin," satirizes Soviet bureaucracy. After defending Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1974, he was expelled from the Writers' Union, leading to his emigration to West Germany in 1980. Despite losing his Soviet citizenship in 1981, it was restored in 1990, allowing his return to Russia. Voinovich continued writing acclaimed works like "Monumental Propaganda" and took up painting later in life.

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