Two Novels from the Caucasus

“The novels of Guram Odisharia (The President’s Cat) and Daur Nachkebia (The Shore of Night) explore the theme of life in Abkhazia, though the writers approach the issue from different perspectives: while the Georgian Odisharia’s book describes Sukhumi in the 1970s and 80s and the realities of a peaceful coexistence between the Georgian and Abkhazian people, the Abkhaz Nachkebia’s novel hones in on the war in Abkhazia—it traces the tragic split between the Georgian and Abkhazian people.The narration styles also differ accordingly: Odisharia’s narrative is imbued with a kind and nostalgic-romantic palette, while the Nachkebia evokes the bitter taste of the tragic events of the war. Ultimately, both novels enlighten readers to the mistakes made by both sides, while also offering poignant explorations for reconciliation.”

— Irma Ratiani, Director of TSU Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature

“For years, Russia has been writing a chronicle of war, from Chechnya to Ukraine, and to Abkhazia in 1992, which, with Russian help, declared independence from Georgia in 1992 and remains locked in a 'frozen conflict' to this day. Now two writer friends, a historian and a physicist, have collaborated on a groundbreaking publication.

Reminiscent of Goethe's Italy, lemons bloom in the city of Sukhumi on the Black Sea, the capital of Abkhazia and the setting for this double and doubly impressive book. Once a dulcet spa town, this white city on the ‘Red Riviera’ is thrust into war, which tears apart palm trees and people. Despite its place at the periphery of Europe, the city is central to the Western understanding of democracy, self-determination, and peace.

With apparent, subversive ease, Guram Odisharia conveys the flair of the city, the aura of the women, the seduction of wine, and—subcutaneously and richly in anecdotes—the restrictive life under Russian control. Daur Nachkebia, on the other hand, examines the embattled city in a philosophically existentialist way; he explores the horrors and traumas of war, and grapples with questions of survival and guilt. Only love and nature offer refuge—in both novels.

The profound lightness of Odisharia, who fled to Tbilisi upon the outbreak of war, and the allegorical richness of Nachkebia, who remained in Sukhumi, depict two sides of life: the bright joy of the day and the dark melancholy of the night. This powerful joint publication is a courageous attempt to make a statement on the old divides between East and West, to find common ground between hardened ideological fronts, to reduce mistrust, and, ultimately, to reveal the best in people—in Sukhumi on the Black Sea, just opposite the coast of Ovid and the Ukraine.”

— Cornelia Zetzsche, Journalist, Publicist & Literary Critic

“The two juxtaposed novels by an Abkhazian and a Georgian writer offer a new perspective on the portrayal of the Georgian-Abkhazian war in literature, revealing both writers’ beliefs in human trust and reconciliation. 

‘Everyone has his own relationship with God, everyone in the Bible reads his Bible,’ says Guram Odisharia’s author-protagonist in The President’s Cat. Searching for the ‘Bible’ of Mikhail Bgazhba, the novel’s main character explores the mystery of a ‘Sukhuminised’ soul as the literary key to eternal multiethnic relationships.

‘We are co-authors and we shall be jointly responsible for it,’ Odisharia continues, a writer seeking literary dialogue as an alternative to political negotiation. ‘And the book will be our meeting place. And we are engaged in a conversation.’

The motif of the protagonist’s ‘Bible’ and the crafted theory of the ‘Possibility of Impossible’ in The President’s Cat strongly interweave with the themes Daur Nachkebia’s The Shore of Night, a book of salvation that follows the protagonist’s inner discovery of eternity: ‘It was not possible to separate my heart into two halves—living and dead. I should tie it into a knot and move on.’

Readers of this powerful volume will be compelled by the mystery of the ‘Possibility of Impossible,’ a literarily crafted belief that proves even more effective than any political slogan in gaining inner victory over war.”

— Salome Lapachishvili, Ilia State University, Tbilisi