A Dantean descent... In a steely translation by Antonina W. Bouis, Oblivion is as cold and stark as a glacial crevasse, but as beautiful as one, too, with a clear poetic sensibility built to stand against the forces of erasure' * Wall Street Journal * Astonishing... Ingeniously structured around the progressive uncovering of memories of a difficult personal and national past [ ...] with a visceral, at times almost unbearable, force' * Times Literary Supplement * Opening in stately fashion and unfolding ever faster with fierce, intensive elegance, this first novel discloses the weight of Soviet history and its consequences... Highly recommended for anyone serious about literature or history' * Library Journal (starred review) * Sergei Lebedev opens up new territory in literature. Lebedev's prose lives from the precise images and the author's colossal gift of observation * Der Spiegel *