Book Review: ‘Vita Nostra’ by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

Note: While ‘Vita Nostra’ has been translated from Russian, Marina and Sergey Dyachenko are Ukrainian.

We’ve talked a lot about translation for our podcast, but the books that deal with translation usually use it as plot point, it’s not actually a translated novel - until ‘Vita Nostra’. I was really looking forward to approaching the idea of translation from this different angle and a translation of a language that I’ve only ever experienced from 19th and early 20th century classics.

For me it bought up a few interesting questions about whether some stances (mostly in respect of the treatment of women and girls) was of it’s time - ‘Vita Nostra’ was originally published in 2007 - or linked to cultural norms and ideas.

Even in dark academia, there are limits, especially for a book that deals with teenagers.

Our life is brief . . .

Sasha Samokhina has just met Farit Kozhenikov and her life will never be the same again.

Whilst on holiday, Sasha is asked by the mysterious Farit to undertake a strange task for him. Reluctantly, she obliges, and is rewarded with a shining golden coin. The more tasks she performs, the more coins Sasha receives until Farit instructs her – against the wishes of her family – to travel to a remote village and use her gold to gain entrance to the Institute of Special Technologies.

Sasha quickly discovers this is no ordinary school. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the knowledge itself refuses to be remembered. Despite this, Sasha undergoes changes that defy matter and time; with experiences that are nothing like what she could have dreamed of before… but which are suddenly all she could ever want.

But this learning comes at a cost. The school uses terror and coercion to keep students in line: should they transgress at all, their families pay a terrible price…

A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy, expressed through a distinctly Russian voice, this astonishing story will transport the reader to a place far beyond imagining.

Much like the Russian language literature I’m familiar with, ‘Vita Nostra’ deals heavily with issues of power and control, philosophy, existentialism and metaphysics. For me that equated to not really knowing what the heck they were actually trying to learn at do, and honestly, that never really changed. I wanted firm answers and explanations and they didn’t materialise.

This is all taught by the most intense and scary professors I think that I’ve ever read and I generally hated them all. The way they treated the actual children in the book made me feel a bit it sick, especially when it went over to telling Sasha that she needs to have sex to help her meet the insane academic goals they have for her. It was very difficult to pull it back after that for me.

I didn’t necessarily enjoy ‘Vita Nostra’, but it was an interesting read and I’m glad to have finally ticked it off the dark academia masterlist.

Written by Sophie