''The Russian Interpreter'' is the second novel by English author

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

published in 1966 by Collins in the UK and by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

in the US. It won the

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award given annually to a British, Irish or British-based author for a work of "imaginative literature" – including poetry, novels, history, biography and creative non-fiction – published in the pre ...

in 1967. Michael Frayn was himself an interpreter in Moscow in the 1950s.

Plot Summary

Paul Manning is writing a thesis at

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, where he meets visiting British businessman Gordon Proctor-Gould who speaks no Russian - Paul becomes his paid interpreter. Paul then falls in love with Raya and introduces her to Gordon. Raya and Gordon immediately hit it off, Gordon invites her to stay the night and Raya agrees, to Paul's chagrin. Gordon and Raya live in a hotel room; Gordon imposing rules on Raya which she just ignores. Paul still interprets between them hoping that Raya will leave Gordon. Then Raya starts to steal Gordon's belongings and books, and the situation escalates as Gordon and Paul try to stop Raya and uncover the truth. Paul suspects that Gordon may also have something to hide.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

praises the novel: "this literate intrigue is full of quirky, quixotic surprises and it will catch your curiosity and convert it into admiration. *''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' states that "Michael Frayn won entree by studying as an exchange student at Moscow University. As a result, his sprightly book shines with an eerily realistic glow." and concludes that "The implication is that Proctor-Gould is now spying for the Russians. But is he really? Frayn doesn't say. The effect is illogical but somehow appropriate, as it is, perhaps, in real-life espionage." *Brandon Robshaw in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' writes "this novel conveys the atmosphere of that time: seedy, cold, grumbling, paranoid. Yet this is a funny novel. Frayn focuses on the absurdities of this bleak world and makes comedy of it, just as Isherwood did for 1930s Berlin. Manning is a first-rate comic protagonist, observant yet innocent, rather like one of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

's put-upon heroes. A short novel, but a highly enjoyable one, with characters that jump off the page. It’s a great pity that

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

, who was going to make a film of it, never did.Paperbacks: From The Russian Interpreter to All Day Long
Retrieved 10/1/2023.

References

External links

Pounding the streets of Soviet Moscow gave Michael Frayn invaluable material
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Interpreter 1966 British novels William Collins, Sons books Viking Press books Novels set in Moscow Cold War spy novels