Zigmunds Skujinš, Flesh-Coloured Dominos, Trans. by Kaija Straumanis. Arcadia Books, 2014.
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When Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen’s officer husband’s body is severed in two she is delighted to find that the lower half has been sewn onto the upper body of the humble local captain Ulste. She conceives a child only to see the return of her husband in one piece.
A beautifully written surrealist novel cum political allegory, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes transports the reader between 18th Century Baltic gentry and the narrator’s life in the modern world. The connection between the two narratives gradually becomes clear in a mesmerising fantasy of love, lust, and loss as Skijunš creates a work of sublime art that is funny, moving, enlightening and philosophical in equal measure.
A beautifully written surrealist novel cum political allegory, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes transports the reader between 18th Century Baltic gentry and the narrator’s life in the modern world. The connection between the two narratives gradually becomes clear in a mesmerising fantasy of love, lust, and loss as Skijunš creates a work of sublime art that is funny, moving, enlightening and philosophical in equal measure.
'Skujins is a master at personae and a cosmopolitan writer, filling his landscape with extraordinary and unforgettable characters'- World Literature Today
'There are few figures in contemporary literature as well respected as Zigmunds Skujiņš'- Virginia Quarterly Review
The narrative itself is split into two parallel stories. On the one hand, 18th century Baltic German gentry in the framework of Russian Czarism empire: baroness Valtraute von Bruegen with the help of the famous count Caliostro is searching for her husband who has disappeared during Turkish wars, with great effort it is finally established that her husband in a battle had been torn into two and that his lower part has been stitched to the upper part of the local captain Ulste of humble origins. After having found the lower part of her husband, she conceives a child from it and is considering at great length whom to consider as the father of her child, but then her husband returns - in one piece. On the other hand, we follow as if the life story of the author himself through the turmoil’s of the 20th century in Latvia; the story again is atypical, nationalities intertwined in a inseparable mix - Latvians, Germans, Jews, Japanese, whoever else. The connection between the two narratives becomes gradually clear; they click together in details, mentioned as if in passing. It is also a moving experience of life. Skujiņš is known as a master if style - eloquent storyteller, weaving fantasies around history and enjoying the language. - portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=19199&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
'There are few figures in contemporary literature as well respected as Zigmunds Skujiņš'- Virginia Quarterly Review
The narrative itself is split into two parallel stories. On the one hand, 18th century Baltic German gentry in the framework of Russian Czarism empire: baroness Valtraute von Bruegen with the help of the famous count Caliostro is searching for her husband who has disappeared during Turkish wars, with great effort it is finally established that her husband in a battle had been torn into two and that his lower part has been stitched to the upper part of the local captain Ulste of humble origins. After having found the lower part of her husband, she conceives a child from it and is considering at great length whom to consider as the father of her child, but then her husband returns - in one piece. On the other hand, we follow as if the life story of the author himself through the turmoil’s of the 20th century in Latvia; the story again is atypical, nationalities intertwined in a inseparable mix - Latvians, Germans, Jews, Japanese, whoever else. The connection between the two narratives becomes gradually clear; they click together in details, mentioned as if in passing. It is also a moving experience of life. Skujiņš is known as a master if style - eloquent storyteller, weaving fantasies around history and enjoying the language. - portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=19199&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html