Vladimov, Georgi

Vernyi Ruslan: Istoriia Karaulnoi Sobaki [Faithful Ruslan: The Story of a Guard Dog]

Frankfurt am Main: Posev, 1975. Item #1477

174 p.; 15 × 10.3 cm. Publisher’s red textured hardcover. A very good copy.

First pocket-size edition printed on thin paper, intended for smuggling into the Soviet Union.

A powerful anti-totalitarian allegory, Faithful Ruslan tells the story of a Soviet labor camp through the eyes of a loyal guard dog, who continues to obey orders even after the camp is dissolved. A searing critique of Stalinism and blind obedience, the novel was originally circulated in samizdat and published abroad by the émigré press Possev.

Georgi Nikolaevich Vladimov (1931–2003) was a Russian realist writer and dissident, later forced into exile. His most famous works, including Faithful Ruslan, confront the moral costs of life under totalitarianism.

Price: $150.00