The Faculty of Useless Things

Yuri Dombrovsky (1909–1978) wrote his main novel “The Faculty of Useless Things” for over ten years, not hoping for publication in the USSR. The book was first published by a Parisian publishing house in 1978, and the author even managed... to hold it in his hands. Publication in his homeland took place much later. “The Faculty” completes a kind of duology that began with “The Keeper of Antiquities,” where the main character is the same — Zybina, a man devoted to culture and an inseparable part of it. This is a parable novel about a traitor, a victim, and an executioner, about how these concepts are closely and tragically intertwined in our country. Zybina is arrested (anti-Soviet propaganda, fleeing abroad, stealing gold), but still remains a victor. Unbroken. Just like the author of the novel. Domestic and foreign critics placed "The Faculty of Useless Things" alongside M. Bulgakov's “The Master and Margarita” and B. Pasternak's “Doctor Zhivago.” And you know what I just remembered? Lessing wrote somewhere that a martyr is the least dramatic figure in the world. You can't write about him and tragedy. He has neither actions, nor doubts, nor experiences — only patience. They torture him, and he endures, they tempt him, and he prays. …After martyrs, executioners always follow.