On June 3 in St. Petersburg, a laureate of the "National Bestseller" literary prize was named, which is awarded for the best Russian-language prose literary work published in the past year, or a manuscript, regardless of the time of its creation. The organizers - the National Bestseller Foundation - consider it their task to reveal the unclaimed potential of highly artistic works of literary men little-known or unknown to the general public.
According to the Regulations on the Prize, the Organizing Committee determines the nominees. These are publishers, critics, writers. They form a "long list" of applicants, nominating one work each. The organizing committee determines the composition of the Grand and Small juries.
This year, the long list includes 42 works. The members of the Grand Jury selected 6 most liked. The short list of 2012 includes “The Germans” by Alexander Terekhov, “Russian Sadism” by Vladimir Lidsky, “The Mines of Tsar Solomon” by Vladimir Lorchenkov, “Living” by Anna Starobinets, “Women of Lazarus” by Marina Stepanova and “Françoise or the Way to the Glacier” by Sergey Nosov …
The Small Jury consists mainly of people not directly related to literature - personalities, arts, prominent politicians, businessmen. Voting takes place right at the award ceremony. In 2012, the winner of the absolutely predictable novel was Alexander Terekhov's "The Germans".
Alexander Terekhov is a former editor-in-chief of the Novoye Vremya newspaper. Three years ago, he won the second prize in the Big Book for his novel Stone Bridge, a work that caused very controversial reviews and even some confusion among critics and readers. It is quite obvious that the author is an outstanding writer, and his book is a very significant work. The novel was considered disgusting, but, nevertheless, very important.
The Germans, a novel about Moscow officials, is a partly satirical work. Critics compare the author almost to Saltykov-Shchedrin. However, Terekhov himself does not consider his work a satire. He says that his book is about love and the cruel realities of modern Russian life. The language of the novel also deserves praise. However, the book has generated a number of highly controversial statements. For example, Dmitry Bykov calls the novel not a step forward, but a jump back. In general, "The Germans" is a lighter and more readable work than "Stone Bridge".
