Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial

Jaroslaw Zurowsky is a translator and editor in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In this well-written, carefully researched book, Erika Gottlieb compares
dystopian fiction from Eastern Europe with the major English-language
counterparts. She demonstrates how works by Zamiatin, Havel, Grossman,
Tertz, and many others reflected the ongoing historical processes within
the Communist bloc, and how the visions presented in these works
differed from those offered by Huxley, Orwell, and Atwood. The works
discussed include the science fiction of the Strugatsky Brothers, Pavel
Kohout’s The Hangwoman, Alexei Tolstoy’s Aelita, George Conrad’s
The Case Worker, and Volodymyr Vynnychenko’s The Solar Machine.

Gottlieb’s excellent book challenges scholars who are stuck in
traditional Eastern European literary studies to explore new literary
vistas. It will appeal to anyone interested in dystopian fiction, and
should definitely be included in the reading lists of anyone studying
Eastern European literature written between 1950 and 1991.