Recent cultural impressions, January 2025

The most memorable catches of last month.

Chinghiz Aitmatov - The Place of the Skull

After visiting Kyrgyzstan in late 2024 my interest to this country and it's culture had rised significantly. I heard a lot of good words about Chingiz Aitmatov while being there, so my first Kyrgyz book was his novel "The place of the skull".

It was an intense and exciting read, a very dramatic text, focused on the consequences of human dominance over nature (in soviet decorations), the breakdown of animal fates against the backdrop of human dramas.

Yury Dombrovsky - The Keeper of Antiquities

Hadn't heard about the author before I found this book. The story about archeologist in pre-war Soviet Almaty, focused on absurd and life-breaking repressions in late 1930-s. Written with big love to Almaty and contempt for the regime. Unique, very strong work. Will definitely read the author's other books.

The Last of Us / Left Behind

Having only several hours per week to play video games, I'm very behind on everything in the industry. So I had a chance to play this phenomenal game only in 2025, 12 years after release. It still looks just amazing (I played at PS5) and feels very deep.

It's hard to define why it is so remarkable. Narrative itself is not a big deal, as well as gameplay, but all together... I was feeling great tension and sometimes even fear during play, and maybe this mix with detailed world and strong storytelling made my catharsis.

Pedro Almodóvar - The room next door

I love almost every Pedro Almodovar movie, but this one is very special and unusual. The topic (euthanasia) and unreal cast (Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore) promised something, but all expectations have been exceeded. Amazing work.