Sana Krasikov and Viv Groskop discuss the Soviet experience, the rise of mass cynicism and the politics of Russia and the US today.
Viv Groskop interviews Sana Krasikov about her novel The Patriots. They discuss the Soviet and post-Soviet experience, the rise of mass cynicism and the parallels between the politics of Russia and America today.
‘Russian officials are on the one hand masterminding the takeover of Ukraine, and on the other writing dissident lyrics for rock bands. To them they can do it all. They are above consistency.’ – Sana Krasikov.
‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘Breaking your family’s heart was the price you paid for rescuing your own.’
‘I wonder if the only way to grasp what is terrifying and unimaginable for those of us who haven’t experienced it is to feel around the contours of inescapability, the boundary of its negative space.’
‘The world is teeming with demons who are always looking for ways to screw with your good fortune.’
‘It seemed perfectly normal for middle-class writers to tell the stories of the underclass. But the presumed creator of literature has been changing.’
Granta interviews Wu Qi.
‘She is thorough in a way that is off putting to people. It makes for a good secretary, not a good conversationalist.’
Fiction by Madeline Cash.
‘She draws from her mind the image of a giant steel girder, pictures it smashing through the wall of the bar, obliterating everything, legs and arms reaching and waving.’
