Ssanin: Roman

The story opens with the arrival of a controversial Russian novel in early‑1908 Germany, a work whose author is barely known here but already causing a stir back home. As literary critics scramble to assess its daring vision, the book is suddenly seized by the authorities, sparking a tense clash between the press, the publishing house, and the police. The ensuing legal battle reveals a web of investigations, confiscations in Munich and Leipzig, and a bewildering courtroom drama that pits artistic freedom against state censorship.

Listeners are drawn into the frantic atmosphere of newspaper feuilletons, heated protests from cultural societies, and the bewildering testimony of a reluctant expert who admits he cannot even read Russian. The narrative captures the palpable anxiety of a society confronting a foreign voice that threatens to upend its norms, while the fate of the novel’s copies hangs in a limbo of secrecy and intrigue. This early act sets the stage for a compelling exploration of art, law, and the power of a book to ignite public debate.