The Tsar of Love and Techno

Discuss the relationship between the past and the present that exists throughout the stories. For example, in “Granddaughters,” Galina becomes a dancer as a way to honor her grandmother’s career. In “Outer Space,” Kolya reminisces on the past as he drifts into the afterlife.

Art serves as one of the thematic focal points throughout the stories. Are the artists portrayed as people to be admired or pitied? Consider how each artist ends up, and what the legacy of their art is at the conclusion of these stories.

Are the protagonists of each story mostly heroes, antiheroes, or simply passive bystanders to the ups and downs of life in Russia? Besides their physical location, what common ties unite these characters?

Discuss the relationship between the ordinary and the sublime, the mundane and the supernatural. On the one hand, so many of the characters’ lives are dictated by unremarkable, predictable routines. On the other, moments of inexplicable mystery appear throughout the stories, such as the seminarian cell mate in “The Leopard” or the ethereal, spiritual journey that Kolya takes in “Outer Space.” Do the ordinary and the sublime coexist in harmony as part of the human experience, or do they directly contradict each other?

In many of the stories, the characters turn to crime. What are the primary motivating factors for their criminal acts? Do Kolya and Sergei commit crimes for similar reasons, or is there something fundamentally different about their distinct actions?

As Marra interweaves these stories, are there any larger implications for how all our stories, as human beings, are connected? Consider how the characters connect between stories, across time periods and in some cases even social class. What, if anything, can we interpret from Marra’s philosophy of storytelling as a way of human connection?

Discuss the role that disabilities play throughout the story collection. In “The Leopard,” for instance, Markin is impaired by the fact that he does not have his glasses. In “Palace of the People,” Sergei aids the wheelchair-bound Kirill. In “The Gruzny Tourist Bureau,” Nadya struggles with her blindness. How do the characters facing the challenge of a disability compare to those who do not endure this adversity?

The female characters throughout these stories only gain social mobility due to male benevolence. For Galina, the oligarch’s interest in her propels her to another level of fame. For Nadya, Ruslan’s sale of the Zakharov painting is what makes her eye surgery possible. What could be a possibility for the implied social commentary evidenced by these examples?