91制片厂

91制片厂 professors Arna Bronstein and Aleksa Fleszar have produced the first English translation of 鈥淒octor Levitin,鈥� by David Shrayer-Petrov. The publication is the first novel available in English that depicts the experience of the Jewish exodus from the former Soviet Union. It was co-translated by the author鈥檚 son, Maxim Shrayer, a Boston College professor.

Author and medical scientist Shrayer-Petrov was born in Leningrad in 1936 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1987. His personal experience with anti-Semitism and the harassment and obstruction that followed his application to leave Russia in 1979 served as the raw material for the novel.

鈥淚 met the writer David and his son Maxim several years ago when I was teaching the course, Jewish Voices in the Russian Empire,鈥� says Bronstein. 鈥淚 emailed Maxim for advice and then arranged for Maxim and David to come to 91制片厂 to meet with my students.鈥澨�

It was during that visit that the idea of translating Shrayer-Petrov鈥檚 work arose. Bronstein and Fleszar first translated his short novel, 鈥淪trange Danya Rayev,鈥� and, later, his short story, 鈥淒inner with Stalin.鈥澨�

鈥淭he translation of the work 鈥楬erbert and Nelly鈥� 鈥� of which 鈥楧octor Levitin鈥� is the first of a trilogy 鈥� has been a labor of love,鈥� says Bronstein. 鈥淭his trilogy is about the struggle of Soviet Jews and refuseniks during the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the main protagonist, Doctor Levitin, his non-Jewish wife and their teenage son, applying to leave the Soviet Union due to the anti-Semitism of the Soviet regime. This personal story is an insightful reflection of the plight of Soviet Jewry of that time, and as such we felt it was important work to be available to an English-speaking audience.鈥�

The same translation team is currently working on books two and three of the trilogy, which are entering their final editing phases.

Bronstein and Fleszar have co-authored Russian textbooks, including 鈥淢aking Progress in Russian,鈥� and have translated several other works of fiction and nonfiction from Russian.

Read an article about 鈥淒octor Levitin鈥� and its author at .