The Life of Non-Ivan

Abdulmajid grew up in a Dagestani aul, where no one had a precise address – the passports of the residents simply listed it as “village N.” One summer, a blonde girl named Asya came to visit, and for the next few weeks, the boy and girl kept the whole area on its toes with their antics. Asya cannot pronounce the name of her new friend and asks what his name is “in Russian.” Thus, Abdulmajid became Ivan. One day, their childhood mischief spiraled out of control: Abdulmajid and Asya led the mute son of the stonemason Musa into the mountains, and the boy got lost there. Everything turned out fine, but this event remarkably influenced Abdulmajid's self-perception: the feeling of guilt and the thirst for redemption opened something new within him.
Time passed, Abdulmajid left his native village, enrolled in a university in Moscow, and for the first time faced what it meant to be different from others. “Ivan,” he continued to introduce himself, while simultaneously wishing to merge with those around him and burning with shame for betraying himself. Abdulmajid became a writer; he populated the stories of his debut book with characters – people he once met back home in the Caucasus. They reflect in him, and he in them, the foreign voices helping Abdulmajid find his own. “The Life of Non-Ivan” is a story about the search for identity and calling, about what it is like to be a stranger, lonely in a big city, and about the strength of roots.