Faraway Log. Ural Tales

The stories and novella of the collection are united by the setting and characters.In the fictional Bazhenov, everything is real: recognizable types and seemingly familiar landscapes. Natalia Bakirova continues the traditions of Ural prose, her heroes are classic "little people" shaping... their destiny. The Ural Bazhenov resembles any other provincial town focused around a single enterprise. But the residents of Bazhenov know: if you look at the sky, one day you will see a ray breaking through the clouds — and it becomes sunny and gentle. The little people of Natalia Bakirova dream of living a great life full of bright events and feats. Some succeed, others not so much, but they do not despair and believe that it is not the environment that changes a person, but the other way around. 

Quotes:
"A large room with windows facing south, between the windows there grows an unseen tree, a ficus, with large leathery leaves, resembling smooth paws. At the top, the paws reach for the ceiling — the ficus-atlas holds the local sky. Beneath this sky rise the shelf-like houses. When you move between them, the scent of old pages, book glue, and dry dust lightens your soul." 

 "In the bathhouse — oh, it's good! Hot, the scent of pine from the walls and floor, the birch scent from the brooms, and the steam, the steam!.. We had enough of it: red, hot, almost fainted there. Irka, the boldest of all, opened the door and — jumped! — into the snowdrift. Such squealing and laughter! She jumped without considering that someone might see her. Someone did see. Someone who absolutely shouldn't have."

 "We walked through the park, kicking up piles of poplar leaves, and in the sky — later I learned that this is what an eclipse looks like — hung a wonderful moon: it was distinctly visible that it was the illuminated side of a sphere. You could also make out the sphere itself; it stood out against the sky. A clear sphere, a celestial body!" 

 "They say: Russian hospitality. Those who say this have not experienced Bashkir hospitality. On the tables, hot shashlik. The marinated tomatoes have wilted in the yellow brine, and from the fresh flatbreads, there is such a hearty scent that one breath is enough — and it feels like you have already eaten."