A millionaire is killed. A golden statuette of a Buddha goes missing. A penniless student, who is afflicted by dream-like fits, is arrested and accused of murder.Slipping between the menacing dream world of the student's fevered imagination, and the dark back alleys of the Paris underworld, The Buddha's Return is part detective novel, part philosophical thriller, and part love story.In typically crisp, unfussy prose, Gazdanov's delicately balanced novel is an irresistibly hypnotic masterpiece from one of Russia's most talented émigré writers.



Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he earned a living driving taxis at night. He quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly admired by Maxim Gorky, among others. The Flight and The Spectre of Alexander Wolf are also published by Pushkin Press.Bryan Karetnyk is a British writer and translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include works by Ichiyo Higuchi, Irina Odoevtseva, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He is also the editor of the Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.



The Gazdanov revival... is nothing short of a literary event... Gazdanov's thrillers offer a truly original vision, distinguished by profound existential and metaphysical concerns, a peculiar sense of humour, and enchanting prose, which Bryan Karetnyk has once again reproduced with impeccable grace



An excellent novel by any standard, and especially remarkable for joining the philosophical underpinnings of the Russians with the intrigue of a French thriller



He has his own utterly distinctive voice... Pushkin Press is to be congratulated on reviving an author who is as relevant now as ever



Eccentric... exciting... an offbeat appeal and flashes of black humour... a fascinating writer



Praise for The Spectre of Alexander Wolf: 'A masterpiece... it will stay with you for the rest of your life' Guardian; 'Mesmerising' Antony Beevor; 'Devastatingly atmospheric' Irish Times; 'Irresistible' Daily Mail; 'As if the roman policier has been filtered through Dostoevsky... just waiting to be discovered by a filmmaker'



Gadzanov is a modernist master



I would eagerly recommend... Bryan Karetnyk's sensitive re-translation of the Russian émigré novelist Gaito Gazdanov's 'metaphysical thriller'



A deliciously dark and complex tale concerning mistaken identities, moral ambiguities and deep-set yearnings... thanks to Gazdanov's mesmerizing prose and Bryan Karetnyk's fluid translation the novel feels just as fresh and exciting 65 years on



Gazdanov's prose is both crisp and elegant...gripping...meaty and fun.