The Faculty of Useless Things

Yuri Dombrovsky (1909–1978) wrote his main novel “The Faculty of Useless Things” for more than ten years, not hoping for publication in his homeland. The book was first published in a Parisian publishing house in 1978, and the author even managed to hold it in his hands. The publication in his homeland took place much later. “The Faculty” concludes a kind of duology, begun with “The Keeper of Antiquities,” in which the main character is the same — Zybin, a man devoted to culture and an inseparable part of it. This is a parable novel about a traitor, a victim, and a torturer, about how in our country these concepts are closely and tragically intertwined.

Zybin is arrested (anti-Soviet propaganda, fleeing abroad, theft of gold), but still remains a winner. Unbroken. As does the author of the novel. Domestic and foreign critics placed "The Faculty of Useless Things" on par with 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 no actions, no hesitations, no experiences — only patience. They torment him, and he endures; they tempt him, and he prays. …After martyrs, the torturers always follow.