Paul Lynch, "The Song of the Prophet," Moscow: "Inostranka," 2024

Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize last year for this novel. "The Prophet's Song" has been called a dystopia, and perhaps in vain: despite the fictional element inherent in the setting (the right-wing rise to power in Ireland amid "hard times," the unlimited power of the secret police, senseless arrests, and an atmosphere of fear), the text can easily be mistaken for news reporting rather than fiction. The novel, however, is masterfully written: dense action, merciless plot twists, a detached yet deeply lyrical narrative—Lynch distills into paragraph-free chapters the turbulent consciousness of the heroine, who fights for her loved ones in a world where her former life has ended, and human rights, despite common sense and the bewilderment of the international community, have become empty words. 

"It's a feeling of living in a different country now, a sense of looming chaos, ready to swallow them all in its maw. Eilish returns to the kitchen, feeling angry..."