{"product_id":"9781908058775","title":"An Archive of Happiness","description":"\u003cp\u003eLevas Ciparis, the anti-hero of this masterly critique of life in the late Soviet Union, is a man alone and he desperately wants to belong. He is obstructed in this quest by his own innocence and decency, which occasionally cause him to act with absurd inflexibility. In fact, the irresolvable tension between moral probity and necessary compromise is one of the many themes of this novel: \"Yes, I truly did believe that if I took up the work of the Komsomol, I would, being an honest, sufficiently pure, persistent person, most certainly be capable of changing and enriching that community.\" In part, the first-person narration describes the process of being disabused of that delusion. Ciparis is dead and writes letters to his estranged friend Tomas Kelertas, with whom he has something of a love-hate relationship, which became more obsessive after their estrangement. The randomness of life does not always work against Ciparis, as he recounts his experiences from sickly child in a basement flat to his final moments in Leningrad when all options fall away. The system can work in his favour - primarily through a marriage that gains him a father-in-law who is a powerful, intelligent and utterly corrupt politician at the very top of the Soviet regime in Lithuania - but ultimately there is no place for him in that society or perhaps anywhere. Memoirs of a Life Cut Short is full of ideas, doubts and insightful observations on human behaviour borne along on a helter-skelter plot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"product__accordion accordion quick-add-hidden\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdetails id=\"Details-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003csummary role=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-controls=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"summary__title\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003ch2 class=\"h4 accordion__title inline-richtext\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProduct Information\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/h2\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003csvg class=\"icon icon-caret\" viewbox=\"0 0 10 6\"\u003e\u003cpath fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M9.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708 0L5 4.293 1.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 0 .708 0l4-4a.5.5 0 0 0 0-.708\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\u003e\u003c\/path\u003e\u003c\/svg\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003c\/summary\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"accordion__content rte\" id=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"metafield-multi_line_text_field\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ricardas Gavelis\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDate of Publication:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/04\/2018\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePagination:\u003c\/b\u003e 260 pages\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e N\/A\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eImprint:\u003c\/b\u003e Vagabond Voices\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePublished By:\u003c\/b\u003e Vagabond Voices\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBook Classification:\u003c\/b\u003e Modern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (post c 1945)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e 142 x 211 x 23\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eISBN13\/EAN\/SKU:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781908251817\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\u003c\/details\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ricardas Gavelis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42191925346548,"sku":"9781908058775","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0568\/2180\/9347\/files\/9781908058775.jpg?v=1758359462","url":"https:\/\/mountfloridabooks.live\/products\/9781908058775","provider":"Mount Florida Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}