FRANCOFEST |: Newmag presents the novel “My Armenian Friend” by Andreï Makine, a member of the French Academy (trailer)

Andreï Makine's Armenian friend is 15-year-old Vardan, who lives in the Devil’s End district. Armenian families lived in the poor suburbs; they came to Siberia to wait for the trial of their relatives. The charge was the creation of a secret organization ahead of the anniversary of the Genocide and the idea of restoring Armenia's independence. Political prisoners were held 5,000 kilometers from their homeland in an old monastery converted into a prison.

Through the small Armenian kingdom and his Armenian friend, Vardan, the 13-year-old orphan boy discovers little Armenia and warm relations, which contrast with the harshness of Siberia and the cruelty of exile. Devil’s End, the neighborhood of Armenians moved to Siberia in the 1970s, which the author calls the “Armenian Kingdom”, where Shamiram, Gulizar, and the wise Sarven temporarily live and sell their silver jewelry and coffee pots.

Andreï Makine masterfully presents the story of friendship and love through the character of his Armenian friend, mentioning different tragic periods for Armenia and Armenians: Genocide, Artsakh war, and exile of dissidents. Andreï Makine writes about Armenians and Armenia with emotional reverence, he calls Armenian a sweet-smelling language, and Armenians' way of life pure and sublime. He also presents the terrible events of 1915 in the Armenian lands occupied by the Ottomans.

The story becomes more mysterious and exciting when it turns out that the Armenian boy, Vardan, may not be Armenian. He was adopted by the widow Shamiram in Karabakh when she learned that her mother had died during ethnic clashes, probably after being raped by Azerbaijanis. Growing up and being brought up in an Armenian family and an Armenian environment, little Vardan became an Armenian with a dream about Ararat and the memories of his ancestors about the genocide. As a believer in being Armenian, the child inherited the severe disease called “Armenian”.

THE PROGRAM OF FRANCOFEST

The presentation of Andreï Makine's novel “My Armenian Friend” will take place on September 9, during FRANCOFEST, at 5:20 p.m. in Lovers' Park.