Alive In Necropolis

A Forgotten Monument?

Dmitri Prieto-Samsonov: I define myself as being either Cuban-Russian or Russian-Cuban, indiscriminately. I was born in Moscow in 1972 of a Russian mother and a Cuban father. I lived in the USSR until I was 13, although I was already familiar with Cuba-- where we would take our vacation almost every year. I currently live on the fifth floor of an apartment building in Santa Cruz del Norte, near the sea. I’ve studied biochemistry and law in Havana and anthropology in London. I’ve written about molecular biology, philosophy and anarchism, although I enjoy reading more than writing. I am currently teaching in the Agrarian University of Havana. I believe in God and in the possibility of a free society. Together with other people, that’s what we’re into: breaking down walls and routines.

Dmitri Prieto

Not many people know about the monument on Puerto de La Habana Avenue.  It has a relief with some half-dressed men hopelessly hanging onto the helm of a sinking ship.

It came back to my mind because I passed by it again on May 9, the date on which the victory over the fascism is commemorated in Cuba, given the historical ties with the countries of the former-USSR*).

That same day I watched TV to see the military ceremony at the mausoleum of the Soviet internationalist soldiers.  It’s a small necropolis that guards the remains of several young soldiers from the USSR who were in Cuba and died here (practically all them due to accidents, none in combat).

As someone with a dual Cuban-Russian nationality, I always find it quite touching that the Cuban government and the armed forces pay homage to those who died in the war against fascism.

Services are held at the graves of people from the country that gave the most lives in that war, although those who are buried there were almost all children of World War II veterans and not themselves veterans of that conflict.

As it’s now customary, to the memorial ceremony attend senior-level diplomats from Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as representatives of the diasporas of those countries in Cuba.  There was even a table with small glasses full of vodka, the traditional Slavic manner of rendering homage to the dead.

There was no reason for me to have anything against that ceremony; instead, I was filled with nostalgia and a sense of solidarity with those veterans who are still alive (four former-Soviet women who survived the Second World War reside in Cuba).

J.J. Abrams Gets Book Deal With 'Alive in Necropolis' Author Doug ...

TheWrap reported exclusively last week that J.J. Abrams was close to a book deal, and now that deal is done: Abrams and writer Doug Dorst will collaborate on a novel to be published next year by Little, Brown and Company.

"Doug and J.J.’s story will explode the bonds of the novel in ways no book has ever done,” said Michael Pietsch, executive vice president and publisher of Little, Brown. "It is a privilege to work with this wildly creative team of writers and thinkers."

The "Lost" co-creator's past print projects have included "Star Trek" comics pegged to his relaunch of the movie franchise and a series of books inspired by his TV show, "Alias."

Dorst is the author of "Alive in Necropolis," a runner-up for the 2009 PEN/Hemingway, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and one of Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008. He graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and, perhaps most impressively, is a three-time "Jeopardy" champion.

“Doug is a genius,” said Abrams.  “I could not be more excited to collaborate with him on this completely original project.  I feel lucky not just to be working in this medium, but also to be doing so at Little, Brown.”

What we still don't know: What the book is about. The famously secretive Abrams has declined, through a rep, to say any more.

The novel will be edited by Mulholland Books editor John Schoenfelder. Abrams and Dorst were represented by Jay Mandel of WME.

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