ABOUT THE BOOK
Truth With Ornaments is an allegorical gay novel based on a true story by Jacob Green, a Russian novelist. Written under extraordinary circumstances, it was self-published first in Russian and a few years later in English.
Set in an imaginary city parallel to Saint Petersburg, the author’s hometown, the story revolves around three main characters - Evan, Michael, and Madame Verona. At the time of work on the novel, there were no such things as gay rights in Russia. Nevertheless, there were no anti-gay propaganda laws, either, like those in power nowadays. To be open or live in a closet was a matter of great courage and self-acceptance.
While Evan has already accepted himself as a gay person, Michael is only on his way to do it. They are north and south, with Madame Verona in between, an observer discovering new truths of life through her own prejudices and rose-colored ornaments.
The draft of the story came out in one night. Two decades after the divorce of his parents, Jacob went to see his father for the first time. As his train advanced into the heart of Siberia in early February, his emotions took over him in flames of fear and hope, along with the lifelong question: whether his father would recognize him as a son after all those years, namely as a gay person. There would be no answer, though, and on the special thanks page of the book Jacob would later put to my father who left me at the age of three.
RUSSIAN EDITION
Working at a local printshop made it possible for Jacob to bring out the Russian edition without drawing any attention to the content of the book. His bosses didn’t even bother to take a look at what they were going to print. If they had, Truth with Ornaments wouldn’t have come out.
PRESENTATION AND RECEPTION
The book was presented in the Central Station gay club in Saint Petersburg (closed for the time being, with no chance of reopening its doors anytime soon) and some time later in the Indigo gay bookstore (permanently closed for a number of years). Its first readers, however, were straight people who had no idea of Jacob’s views on sexuality—some colleagues and acquaintances—meaning Jacob took a risk of revealing his nature one more time. As it turned out, none of them turned their back on him.
about a difficult theme – love
Moreover, an open homophobe changed her mindset to neutral, and they have been on friendly terms ever since. The key phenomenon, as Jacob himself explains, is that there are no erotic scenes throughout the novel – first and foremost this is, as the Russian editor has put it, a book about a difficult theme – love, let alone between two men.
INFLUENCE
Among works of art that influenced Jacob were Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (he read it on the aforementioned train trip), Moomins by Tove Jansson, and the Desperate Housewives series (Jacob watched them while chained to bed after a hit-and-run accident for a few months). In Truth with Ornaments he used the same Desperate Housewives technique of ending a chapter with something to think over.
TRANSLATION AND ENGLISH EDITION
Utterly disappointed with the test translations made by local literary agencies that claimed to be professional, Jacob decided to do it on his own. After a few years of hard study of English, he translated the novel and for that his friends sometimes compared Jacob to Nabokov as the translator of his own works.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Truth With Ornaments is an allegorical gay novel based on a true story by Jacob Green, a Russian novelist. Written under extraordinary circumstances, it was self-published first in Russian and a few years later in English.
Set in an imaginary city parallel to Saint Petersburg, the author’s hometown, the story revolves around three main characters - Evan, Michael, and Madame Verona. At the time of work on the novel, there were no such things as gay rights in Russia. Nevertheless, there were no anti-gay propaganda laws, either, like those in power nowadays. To be open or live in a closet was a matter of great courage and self-acceptance.
While Evan has already accepted himself as a gay person, Michael is only on his way to do it. They are north and south, with Madame Verona in between, an observer discovering new truths of life through her own prejudices and rose-colored ornaments.
The draft of the story came out in one night. Two decades after the divorce of his parents, Jacob went to see his father for the first time. As his train advanced into the heart of Siberia in early February, his emotions took over him in flames of fear and hope, along with the lifelong question: whether his father would recognize him as a son after all those years, namely as a gay person. There would be no answer, though, and on the special thanks page of the book Jacob would later put to my father who left me at the age of three.
RUSSIAN EDITION
Working at a local printshop made it possible for Jacob to bring out the Russian edition without drawing any attention to the content of the book. His bosses didn’t even bother to take a look at what they were going to print. If they had, Truth with Ornaments wouldn’t have come out.
PRESENTATION AND RECEPTION
The book was presented in the Central Station gay club in Saint Petersburg (closed for the time being, with no chance of reopening its doors anytime soon) and some time later in the Indigo gay bookstore (permanently closed for a number of years). Its first readers, however, were straight people who had no idea of Jacob’s views on sexuality—some colleagues and acquaintances—meaning Jacob took a risk of revealing his nature one more time. As it turned out, none of them turned their back on him.
about a difficult theme – love
Moreover, an open homophobe changed her mindset to neutral, and they have been on friendly terms ever since. The key phenomenon, as Jacob himself explains, is that there are no erotic scenes throughout the novel – first and foremost this is, as the Russian editor has put it, a book about a difficult theme – love, let alone between two men.
INFLUENCE
Among works of art that influenced Jacob were Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (he read it on the aforementioned train trip), Moomins by Tove Jansson, and the Desperate Housewives series (Jacob watched them while chained to bed after a hit-and-run accident for a few months). In Truth with Ornaments he used the same Desperate Housewives technique of ending a chapter with something to think over.
TRANSLATION AND ENGLISH EDITION
Utterly disappointed with the test translations made by local literary agencies that claimed to be professional, Jacob decided to do it on his own. After a few years of hard study of English, he translated the novel and for that his friends sometimes compared Jacob to Nabokov as the translator of his own works.