Kvachi by Mikheil Javakhishvili
In a nutshell, this is the tale of Kvachi Kvachantiradze, a womanizer, cheat, insurance fraudster, bank robber, Rasputin associate, filmmaker, rebel, and pimp who was also a Georgian Felix Krull or perhaps a cynical Don Quixote. Kvachi’s story is a wonderful classic of Georgian literature from the twentieth century and an amusing adventure as well, despite being initially criticized as pornographic.
Kvachi by Mikheil Javakhishvili
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One of the key figures in the development of Georgian literature in the 20th century is Mikheil Javakhishvili. Beginning his career as a short story writer, Javakhishvili later penned his first picaresque book, Kvachi Kvachantiradze, in 1924, establishing the groundwork for realism in Georgian literature. It appears that people are finally taking notice because William Boyd featured Rayfield’s translation as one of his “top holiday reads” in the Guardian in 2015. Rayfield’s translation was released by Dalkey Archive Press in 2015.
In Stalin’s Russia, conman Kvachi lives, and the novel details his thrilling and fantastical exploits. Kvachi, a skilled villain with extraordinary wit, uses perfect guile to acquire other people’s assets, wealth, and notoriety. His confidence techniques extend beyond Georgia to St. Petersburg, Paris, and even London; as his money rises, so does the scope of his deception. In Kvachi’s daily life, murders, robberies (of both persons and banks), and fraud occur frequently. Numerous people suffer and die as a result of the atrocities that he and a group of his accomplices commit. Without any following regret or sorrow, he would sacrifice everything and everyone for his own personal gain and professional achievement.
Javakuishvili was able to criticize the social structure and system that gave rise to such “heroes” thanks to Kvachi’s horrifying appearance. It goes without saying that Kvachi and Javakhishvili’s other works were outlawed in the Soviet Union because of how accurately and truthfully they depicted the moral fall of the ruling circles of the Russian Empire.
