Fur Hat

for he who cannot keep his hat on before kings and emperors is no free man. SchillerWhen one thinks of what may loosely be referred to as Soviet `dissident' literature there is a tendency to think of long, grim, dark stories. Heavyweight volumes on issues of life, death, and the oppressive nature of a totalitarian regime mark the works of Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, Grossman, and Rybakov. But Vladimir Voinovich will have none of that. Starting with is best-known work, "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin" and continuing through his latest book "Monumental Propaganda" Voinovich has used satire as a weapon aimed at the heart of the Soviet state - its bureaucracy. Voinovich has always drawn his pen at the cronyism, the arrogance, the preening sense of grasping materialism to acquire western clothes, food, and cigarettes and yes the blatant and latent anti-Semitism that has reared its ugly head at regular intervals in the last 100 years.The Soviet authorities no doubt lacked the sense of humor that Voinovich's readership had. He was expelled from the Soviet Writers' Union in 1974 and send into exile, like Solzhenitsyn, in 1980. In a famous response to the statement of Leonid Brezhnev that Voinovich brought harm to the prestige of the Soviet government, Voinovich published a reply that said simply: "I have not undermined the prestige of the Soviet government. The Soviet government, thanks to the efforts of its leaders and your personal contributions, has no prestige. Therefore, in all fairness, you ought to revoke your own citizenship."Voinovich's The Fur Hat takes direct aim at the same Soviet Writers' Union that expelled him in 1974. The `hero' of this tale is Yefim Rakhlin. He considers himself a good writer because his eleven books, all about hardworking members of Soviet society who place the State above their individual wants and desires. According to the narrator (a thinly-veiled Voinovich), Rakhlin is a hack who writes uninspired prose about unbelievable characters. For all intents and purposes, Rakhlin is a true-believer.Rakhlin's world starts to unravel when he hears from his colleagues that the Writers' Union is giving out fur hats to all its members. It turns out that the quality of the hat (with reindeer fawn being top of the line) depends on each writer's status in the bureaucratic pecking order. Although he doesn't expect reindeer fawn he finds out that his hat ranks him about as low as one can get for status purposes: he is assigned a fur hat made out of "fluffy tomcat". This devastating blow to his ego sets Rakhlin on a quest for a better hat.As Rakhlin's emotions spiral out of control he finds himself dealing with an anti-Semitic neighbor (who also hears voices) who connects the disappearance of his house cat with Rakhlin's fluffy tomcat hat. His protest finds him threatening to publish his books in the west and he also ends up writing prose driven by despair and anger which, ironically, turns out to be the best work he has ever done. Voinovich keeps the pot and the plot bubbling along nicely as the story reaches its bittersweet climax.Voinovich has a keen eye for detail. His portrayal of Rakhlin and the apparatchiks that populate the Writers' Union are funny and come across as very accurate. As a former member of the Writers' Union Voinovich certainly had a lot to draw on and his characterizations, thought clearly satirical, have a ring of truth to them.The Fur Hat is a slim volume but it packs a punch. It is both funny and insightful and well worth reading.L. Fleisig

Voinovich wrote great satire about the Soviet Union. In this one, he took on the Writers' Union which expelled him a decade earlier. In this book, the protagonist is an apolitical so-so writer. When the WU announces that writers will receive a hat in appreciation for their work, it is clarified that the quality of the hat will depend on how the WU views each writer (in a utopia where everyone is supposed to be absolutely equal). He will be assigned a hat made from cat fur. Usually mild and unassuming, he goes ballistic on learning this and tries to pull as many strings as he can in order to get a hat worthy of his self-appraised worth. Throughout we are introduced to all sorts of characters and see that anti-Semitism was alive and well in the Soviet Union.

The real trouble for satirists of the old Soviet Union was that reality itself was do absurd. Voinovich manages to make a ridiculous story sound quite plausible.

Yet another wonderful work by Voinovich... This is a quick, fun read. If you have read and enjoyed other Voinovich works you will certainly enjoy this one.Voiny cuts to the heart of Soviet greed, lust, waste, etc. while following the very personal struggle of one man's obsession with obtaining a fur hat and all that it represents.Add this one to your Voinovich collection today!

This book is hilarious.

Welcome to "Animal Farm" as performed within the setting of the Soviet National Writers Union during the communist era. We all know the AF credo: "All men are born equal--some more so than others" could have been made to order for the bloated pompous Soviet bureaucracy of yore. Fur Hat was my first introduction to Vladimir Voinovich: after reading this delightful satire on corruption/cronyism/toadyism within Party machinations, I nominate Voinovich on a par with Vonnegut. Readers will meet lots of Party types in this story: typical system hacks (Pyotr Lukin), over-decorated pompous military types (Karetnikov) and blatant anti-Semites (nearly every character in the book). Even our hapless protagonist, Yefim R, is married to a devoted Party member, "...but underneath her bra she wore a cross..." All kinds of deceit and posturing go on on a daily basis..the politics and pecking order of the national Writers Union come front & center as smug leaders pass out fur hats to its members, according to their rank and file within the group. Of course, celebrated writers who've won (dubiously so, albeit) titles and accolades get the top fur hats like reindeer and rabbit. Our hero, Yefim, receives the lowest ranking hat: fluffy tomcat. Poor Yefim. He is not disrespected by the powers-that-be because of his mediocre talent, but because he "writes only of good men challenging earthly elements." Union officials don't approve of Yefim's "writing about decent people & pretending there's no such thing as the Soviet state, or district and regional committees." Yefim's determined efforts to get a higher-ranking hat for himself ("even rabbit would be better!!") unfold into sublime absurdity as he goes from one Party official to another, encountering toadyism/nepotism/bribery/euphemisms and underhanded tactics. "Even on an iceberg, a Soviet collective will have its careerists, stool pigeons and at least one KGB agent." An exiled scribbler from the Soviet Union himself (1980), Voinovich rips on the Russian mentality that delight in military over-decoration and its writers that write just to receive titles and headlines. And international headlines themselves does our Yefim make as he finally loses his temper with one especially dull Party hack. When the western media ggets hold of this incident, they blow it all out of proportion (as western media is wont to do). Then our hero gets blacklisted as rumors of his "treason" spread like wildfire (the perfect example how rampant paranoid delusions become in police states). The western media dubs Yefim a dissident and builds his literary reputation up far beyond even his own imaginings! You'll have to read the book to see how the 'fur hat debacle' turns out. DANGER: THIS BOOK IS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY BASHER! ENJOY!

Quite honestly the funniest book I've ever read... I've just shared a few passages with people and they all go and order it.

Vladimir Voinovich is the premier Russian wit of the 20th century. This novella is fresh and sharp, with a hint of the Soviet sarcasm that Voinovich is all too famous for. A good, quick read--and a rollicking good time!

Mixing the humorous madness of Gogol with the outright farce of Feydeau, the story is a comic jibe at the life of "authorized" writers in the old Soviet Union, with all the mish-mash of a mindless bureaucracy, idiotic rules and corrupt officials, all dictating what could and should be written about at the time. Into all this comes a writer, who having followed all the dictums and toed the line, nonetheless goes over the edge when he is refused the recognition given to others. Whether he was mad because he fit into the system for so long or goes mad fighting it is for each reader to decide!

Very funny book I needed for school