The novel is the ultimate bestseller in Georgia and is based on one of the most tragic events of the 1980s when seven young people hijacked an airplane in an attempt to escape from the Soviet Union. It was a reckless move at that time when even to think about escape was forbidden. The Soviet government sentenced most of them to death. The public reaction was split. Some people would consider the young rebels as terrorists, whilst for others they were heroes. Flight from the USSR allows the reader to closely follow the leading characters, and learn more about their motivations and aspirations. Jeans were a symbol of freedom at the time, as it was as rejected to wear as the idea of a free world. The novel has been adapted for stage and is one of the most successful plays at Georgian Free Theater. Quotation "The book is not a canonization. Turashvili describes, colors and romanticises, but he does not condemn or glorify his characters anywhere. Flight from the USSR is a beautiful novel and it deserves a large readership." (c) 8Weekly "He is confident and the storytelling style of Turashvili is sober and direct. The reader does not remain untouched by his story." (c) Literair Nederland
Datho Turašvili Boeken
10 mei 1966
David Turashvili is een Georgische fictieauteur wiens vroege werken voortkomen uit de turbulente gebeurtenissen van de protesten in 1989 bij de Davidgareja-kloosters, waaraan hij deelnam als een van de leiders. Zijn literaire productie omvat romans, korte verhalen, toneelstukken en reisverhalen, waarbij veel van zijn boeken Georgische bestsellers werden. Turashvili's stijl wordt gekenmerkt door een scherp inzicht in historische en maatschappelijke omwentelingen, vaak doordrenkt van persoonlijke ervaringen. Zijn werken, vertaald in verschillende talen, verkennen thema's als identiteit en verzet, vaak gesitueerd tegen dramatische geografische achtergronden.
