Roots of the Japanese Sun

Boris Andreyevich Pilnyak (1894–1938) — a Russian writer of the 20–30s of the 20th century, creator of a unique "ornamental" style that combined document and myth. The tragic fate of Pilnyak, who was shot in 1938, long erased his name from literature, but today his prose is returning to readers in all its artistic power.

This volume includes prose works by Pilnyak, written following his travels in the Far East: the documentary-autobiographical novel "Roots of the Japanese Sun", the novellas "Big Heart" about Mongolia, "Chinese Story" and "Chinese Fate of Man", as well as stories from various years.

The writer is not interested in exoticism for the sake of exoticism. His gaze is fixed on how the will and culture of peoples have been formed over centuries, how traditions coexist with industrial pressure, and what happens to a Russian person when he finds himself alone with the mysterious East.