Siberian education, according to Nicolai Lilin
Nicolai Lilin was born in 1981 and grew up in the small republic of Transnistria which declared its independence from Moldova in 1990 but has never been recognised. In this video, Lilin tells us more about his experiences in Siberian Education, his memoir of growing up in a society of ‘honest criminals’.
Set in a small and tight-knit community of ‘honest criminals’ in a remote part of Russia, this is a tale of an extreme boyhood – exotic, violent and completely unique.
Told from the perspective of a boy gaining his ‘education’ as a member of the Mafia-like Urkas in Transnistria, we get a glimpse inside the strict codes of honour and the rituals of this bizarre community. Besides having a deep distrust of outsiders – especially the police – the community is split into ‘honest’ and ‘dishonest’ criminals and crime is all-pervasive.
Even their youngest children are taught to understand violence and when it is appropriate to use it. By the age of six, Nicolai Lilin is given his first ‘pike knife’ by an uncle and by the age of twelve he has been convicted of attempted murder.
Read extracts from Siberian Education, and ask the author your questions
We have two complete chapters of Siberian Education for you to read and enjoy…
Once you’ve read the chapters, we feel sure you’ll have some questions – so send them to us using the form below and the best questions, as selected by the publishers, will be put to author Nicolai Lilin on his forthcoming visit to London. Anyone whose question is selected will receive a signed copy of Siberian Education. You will see Nicolai’s answers to your questions appearing here later on in May.
No more submissions accepted at this time.Closing date for questions to be received is 18th May at 7pm – the publisher’s decision about which questions will be submitted to the author is final, and no correspondence will be entered in to. In the event that the same question is received from more than one entrant, the entrant who submitted the question first will be eligible for the signed book.
May 13th, 2010 at 9:02 am
[...] Siberian Education, by Nicolai Lilin Reviewed by Simon Appleby on May 13, 2010 You can read two chapters from Siberian Education, submit questions for the author, and win signed copies of the book, on our sister site Bookhugger.co.uk. [...]
October 17th, 2011 at 1:57 am
“Siberian Education” author Nikolay Lilin never was in prison, he never was in the Russian Army in Chechnya, and the strange “Siberian criminal underworld” not exist in Transnistria. And real Urkas was not the “Siberian Urkas”, it was only the name for the all recidivist criminals in Russian language at past times.
This book is absolutely not memoir, it’s “true” and “realistic” as the Harry Potter fantasy books.