Anthony Marra’s debut novel boasts a tight narrative, strong characters, and a deep understanding of the Chechen conflict.
It is rare to find a novel so full of suffering, brutality, and a general layer of inhumanity that simultaneously manages not to sink under it.
The characters of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (2013) run the spectrum across society in Chechnya all set across a ten-year period from 1994–2004 (along with various forays deep into the past or far into the future). Despite their varied background, they are united by their shared hardships wrought by the first and second Chechen wars, but more so by their dogged determination to survive and maintain a modicum of dignity.
The story roughly follows Akhmed, a well-meaning but oafish doctor, and Sonja, an ethnic Russian doctor who more-or-less single handedly keeps the remaining hospital in the fictional Chechen city of Volchansk afloat. Both are on their own individual missions: Akhmed is trying to save a neighbour’s young daughter, Havaa, who is wanted for unknown reasons by Russian security forces, while Sonja is searching for her sister Natasha who disappeared amidst the chaos of war.
The respective quests play out over the course of five days in 2004, in the middle of the violent insurgency phase of the Second Chechen War. Marra masterfully weaves Akhmed and Sonja’s stories together, as well as those of their friends and neighbours, going back and forth in time and with skillful use of the Chekhov’s gun-type plot device.
As a story, the time-hopping and perspective switches almost never feel overdone, and serve to elevate the tension and dread, rather than slowing down the force of the story. The varying stories, even involving seemingly minor characters, are all satisfyingly connected and largely resolved, even if their resolutions are tragic.
Beyond being just a well-crafted novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena deftly avoids many of the pitfalls often found in works of place-specific fiction by foreign authors.
There are no stereotypical characters such as the ‘noble Chechen warrior’, a trope long found in Russian literature about the region, and while the ethnically Russian Sonja is one of the main characters, she doesn’t overshadow the story, as can often happen with unfortunate ‘white saviour’ type tales. Instead, the characters are fully fleshed out and seem like real people, maintaining their specific culture but not descending into cliché (for the most part).
Indeed, through the perspective of one of Akhmed’s elderly neighbours, Khassan, Marra also tells the larger centuries-long history of Chechnya’s struggle against Russian imperialism. He also includes the 1944 deportations of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia, a pivotal event that continues to shape their respective relationships with Moscow.
As for the accuracy of the story, it is clear that Marra did his research — he also made several trips to Chechnya as part of the writing process. The novel covers the complexity of the wars, replete with shifting sides, changing alliances, and how it began to transform into a religious conflict. While some of the Russian soldiers commit evil and senseless acts, they do not come off as cartoonish comic book villains, such as in the film Five Days of War about the 2008 August War.
Most importantly, the novel does away with any black and white notions of collaboration versus resistance — there are characters who work with the Russians, and there are Russians who work with rebels, and sometimes all at the same time.
It is a strange phenomenon that we can see the effects of today. After all, the notorious warlord and Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov got his start fighting alongside the rebels only to then switch sides and eventually evolve into one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most loyal allies.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a difficult read, but an important one. If you are relatively unfamiliar with the Chechen wars, it sheds light on the topic. It is also timely — the same Russian military culture that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Chechens and widespread destruction is currently manifesting itself in the brutality Russia is inflicting on Ukraine. When reading this book, it is hard not to think about how the West saw what was happening in Chechnya and nonetheless turned a blind eye, and was somehow still surprised that Russia did the same thing in Georgia, and now Ukraine.
Book details: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, 2013, Penguin Random House. Buy it from the publisher here.
