Alice Forever!
On January 27 of this year Nina Demurova presented her new book “Pictures and Conversations” in the cozy Art Hall of the Rudomino State Library of Foreign Literature. It was not an ordinary day – it was the jubilee of Lewis Carroll, the immortal author of Alice in Wonderland! Nina Demurova, a brilliant translator of his “untranslatable” novel, was in high spirits, generously signing books and expressing her best wishes to all those present.
For me she has always been a living legend, the same as Carroll’s “Alice”, a book familiar from childhood, and yet “unknown”, sealed, locked – except for the “chosen ones”… It seems to me that all my life I’ve been unraveling one big mystery, solving one big problem – my own “Alice”. At a certain time I saw Tenniel’s illustrations and realized what “Alice’s band” was. (I even attempted to imitate it in order to resemble my idol!) At a certain time of my life I started crying begging mum to buy me a cat (preferably Dinah!), a Tom-cat (Cheshire, no doubt!) and a rabbit (white!)… And later still I read commentaries by Dmitri Urnov that explained to me so much about funny rhymes… Many allusions with the years became more transparent, and yet they did not lose their charm and beauty.
Nina Demurova took the microphone and started talking about her life, her work – and Lewis Carroll, to whom her life and work were devoted. She was scrupulously studying his creative activity. Nina Demurova was very sincere, she compared herself to Alice for she, too, “plunged” into the atmosphere of a fairy tale and wonders. Perusing Carroll’s books turned out to be a dazzling revelation, a journey into the unknown, into a world of puzzles and secrets…
Apart from praise, she mentioned some striking facts: not all people in England love Carroll’s best creation. Many people still view the characters of “Alice” as strange, suspicious and even dangerous. Some people have never even heard of this book(!). The same attitude is widely spread in Germany and other “civilised” countries.
While she was talking about all these strange things, it suddenly dawned on me that, perhaps it was due to Demurova that the situation in our country is totally different. It is extremely difficult to find a child who is not “on friendly terms” with Alice. Nina Demurova did the impossible – she translated the text which does not yield itself to translation! And yet she found all the necessary clues, she solved all its mysteries, she conveyed the meaning of all allusions, she “preserved” all metaphors and other figures of speech in their original spirit and style! She introduced us into the rich, unusual, whimsical, contradictory – and yet beautifully unique and uniquely beautiful world! The world of a mathematician, an Oxford don whose logic was as impeccable as it was at times elusive!
I was lucky to obtain her book, the crowning glory of her life’s work. The title, too, is allusive. (And what is the use of a book without pictures or conversations in it?) The contributors to this; wonderful book are: Julia Gukova, artist; Juliy Danilov, mathematician and translator (Demurova calls him “a man of encyclopaedic knowledge”!); Boris Zakhoder, writer; Anastasia Zakharova, artist; Alexander Koshkin, artist; Theodore Krenkel, translator; Dmitriy Urnov, literary critic, and even a post-graduate student Andrey Lomonosov! The entire “constellation” of talented people whose life and work was in one way or other connected with Lewis Carroll and his books, in the first place – with “Alice”!
In her book Nina Demurova gives everyone a chance “to speak it all out”, to recall the “auld lang syne”, to express an infinite love to Carroll’s genial creations… Many co-authors are no longer with us, and Nina Demurova pays tribute to them all. No jealousy, no competition – just harmony and love, respect and devotion, mutual admiration and trust. Nothing can be more beneficial! Nina Demurova invited all these people to share with us their self-irony, their very personal impressions, their sacred feelings. What wonderful illustrations a lucky reader will come across! What theatrical decorations! What performances! This book resembles a kind of a drawing room in a majestic stately home where members of different aristocratic families get together before proudly processing to the feast hall, the main course being our small, curious and fearless girl – Alice!