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Fish Letters (and Other Stories)
This collection brings together five masterful short stories that capture Goderdzi Chokheli's genius as a chronicler of his time. Set in the wild mountain villages in 20th-century Georgia, these charming, heartbreaking stories explore the full territory of human experience.
Chokheli's storytelling method is perhaps best shown in 'Cipollino', where an ethnographic account of villagers' age-old customs leads into a hilarious tale which ends on a poignant note. 'Fish Letters' is the story of a man who withdraws from life to go be a fish in the river; in Chokheli's poetics, what at first appears absurd develops into heartrending tragedy. In one of his most comic pieces, 'The Communal Crow', villagers compete for ownership of a crow under the arbitration of the local Communist Party official. What unfolds is a comedy of manners, as a rather simple yet absurd problem stumps the Soviet judicial system.
These stories demonstrate Chokheli's mastery of the short story form. Translated into English for the first time Chokheli's literary contribution is now ready for the English-speaking world.
Chokheli's storytelling method is perhaps best shown in 'Cipollino', where an ethnographic account of villagers' age-old customs leads into a hilarious tale which ends on a poignant note. 'Fish Letters' is the story of a man who withdraws from life to go be a fish in the river; in Chokheli's poetics, what at first appears absurd develops into heartrending tragedy. In one of his most comic pieces, 'The Communal Crow', villagers compete for ownership of a crow under the arbitration of the local Communist Party official. What unfolds is a comedy of manners, as a rather simple yet absurd problem stumps the Soviet judicial system.
These stories demonstrate Chokheli's mastery of the short story form. Translated into English for the first time Chokheli's literary contribution is now ready for the English-speaking world.
Book Details
- Publisher: Dedalus
- Publish Date: Feb 14th, 2026
- Pages: 96
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 7.75in - 5.12in - 0.50in - 0.37lb
- EAN: 9781915568670
- Categories: • Non-Classifiable
About the Author
Chokheli, Goderdzi: - Goderdzi Chokheli was born in 1954 in a small village north-east of Tbilisi, and died in Tbilisi in 2007. He was one of the most important filmmakers and prose writers of his era.He published one novel Human Sadness and five short stories. His films and screen plays won many awards both inside Georgia and abroad.
His unique place in Georgian society and culture is encapsulated by Levan Berdzenishvili: 'Goderdzi Chokheli did not write anti-Soviet literature, he wrote non-Soviet literature. This is something that nobody else was able to do.'
His unique place in Georgian society and culture is encapsulated by Levan Berdzenishvili: 'Goderdzi Chokheli did not write anti-Soviet literature, he wrote non-Soviet literature. This is something that nobody else was able to do.'
Praise for this book
These scenes and stories nicely convey the village life of this place and times - not completely naturalistically, and yet still convincingly feeling true to life. The Soviet system only comes to the fore occasionally -in the foreman and other authorities in Fish Letters or the judge in The Communal Crow, for example -, but mostly is just another of the world's and life's peculiarities the villagers have to accept and deal with - a subtly effective way of critiquing it.Including also some photographs of the author, as well as an Introduction and Afterword situating the author and the locale, Fish Letters is a well-presented little volume of stories by a talented writer.'
-M.A.Orthofer in The Complete Review
-M.A.Orthofer in The Complete Review