Vlad Men: A Novella
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About this ebook
A Soviet poster artist struggles with the realities of life behind the Iron Curtain as he attempts to succeed at work and in his marriage. Set in the 1960s, Vlad Men explores one man's connection to the propaganda he helps create as well as the turbulent politics that define life in Soviet Russia. Also includes historical companion pieces on the art of Gustav Klutsis and the infamous Sinyavsky–Daniel Trial.
David Michael Newstead
David Michael Newstead is a writer and blogger.
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Vlad Men - David Michael Newstead
Vlad Men
A Novella
By David Michael Newstead
Copyright © 2015 by David Michael Newstead
All rights reserved worldwide.
First Electronic Edition, 2015
No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without the prior written consent of the author/publisher or the terms relayed to you herein.
Cover Design: ARG
Author: David Michael Newstead
Editor: Frank Rodgers
Proofreader: David Michael Newstead
Read more: philosophyofshaving.wordpress.com
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Frank Rodgers and Dina Ioffe for their assistance and encouragement on this project.
Contents
Part One
Part Two – The Kitchen Debate
Part Three – The Thaw
Part Four – Iron Curtain
Part Five – A Russian Winter
A Guide to Vlad Men Companion Pieces
Select Companion Piece – The Art of Gustav Klutsis
Select Companion Piece – The Sinyavsky–Daniel Trial
Bibliography
Part One
The sketch paper was pristine and white, sitting out on the rectangular tabletop in the center of the large art room. All morning, Danik Drapushko had passed by it with an instinctual desire to fill the vast blank space however he chose. But for the entire morning, he had been occupied with other tasks and more pressing deadlines from the directors of his department. All during that time though, he jealously kept his eye on the table and that particular sheet of paper.
At lunch, the normally bustling art room cleared out and Danik was left alone. So, he ate and lit a cigarette and stared down at the majestic expanse of plain white paper. He waited for his cigarette to expire, then stubbed its remains into a nearby ashtray and sat down to work. The artist drew a rough sketch that quickly formed the familiar, sharp angles of the Sputnik satellite centered by a gleaming, metallic sphere. He decided to place the Moon in the distance, Earth in the bottom corner of the page.
That urge that had been ruminating in his imagination all day finally crystallized and a kind of razor-sharp intensity took hold of him as he drew. Danik added more detail, texture, and shadow to his work, reaching for the enormous jar of colored pencils. He fumbled about and sifted through it for the ones he wanted, piling them onto the table. Blue, green, gray, silver, gold for the stars in the background, all set against a lightly applied shade of black. His right hand moved furiously inside the margins. In short order, the scene went from an outline to a vivid portrait of scientific exploration. Sputnik’s exterior seemed real and reflected back outer space as the mirror image bent around the curvatures of the satellite. Before he could finish, Danik was momentarily absorbed in the other worldly depiction he’d just created. The Earth was lodged in the bottom left corner of the picture and beyond that he’d envisioned infinite possibilities.
Danik was so focused on his sketch, in fact, that he hadn’t noticed Pyotr returning from lunch. It was only after a light snowstorm of ash fell from the end of Pyotr’s cigarette onto the surface of the Moon that Danik sat up in confusion. Pyotr flashed the smug grin that everyone had grown accustomed to and hated. Once again, Danik was subjected to a speech on the department-wide regulation that art supplies should be conserved except for official party reasons and assigned projects. Then, he was informed that he was no longer an art school student.
You’d be better off if you concentrated on the meeting this afternoon with the new ministry officials. Not this shit…
Pyotr told him as he walked to his desk.
Danik wiped the ash from his drawing and didn’t respond.