Рождественская история, или Записки из полумертвого дома

"Povest-parable" by Vladimir Kantor, "A Christmas Story", narrates the account of an enforced state of holiness. The storyline is uncomplicated: philosopher Boris Kuzmin falls gravely ill with a severe ulcer attack just before Christmas and finds himself teetering on the edge of Hell. The hospital ward, acting as a microcosm, is chaotically constructed, with vulnerable and defenseless patients immersed in the depths of the river Styx, confronted by the tyranny of an unrefined, unethical, and apathetic medical staff. The trio of ward doctors, comparable to a three-headed hydra, perceive themselves as zealots of the concept of Russian sacrifice - they must sacrifice innocent lives for the greater good. The philosopher's nightly vigils, akin to those experienced after one's demise, and the executioner, named This, That, and The Other, who communicates with the condemned (drawing parallels with V. Nabokov and Kafka, among others). The sole opposition to these forces is the wife-owl of the future martyr Boris, personifying enlightened Christianity and resembling Beatrice...