The Science of Celestial Pretzels

“The Science of Heavenly Pretzels” by Elena Kolina is a continuation of the famous “Diary of a New Russian Woman.” This is a topical and ironic novel with recognizable characters who reveal those human traits that sometimes you want to hide and not show to anyone. People, at their core, are all the same. They look for new problems and ignore the current ones; they get offended, argue, renounce each other. They’re always dissatisfied with something. But as soon as life is darkened by tragedy, all the small worries—seemingly so important—turn out to be trivial and meaningless. In their place come the desire to help, sympathy, empathy—and of course love. Elena Kolina knows how to write comically about the sad with mastery. “The Science of Heavenly Pretzels” is a novel about the education of feelings: it satirizes the modern world and depicts it exactly as it is—funny and sad, cruel and merciful.