The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf are among the funniest and most entertaining books that I have read.

 The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov

The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf are among the funniest and most entertaining books that I have read.

 

Ostap Bender is so funny and likeable that I wanted to name a pet after him, and if I did not end up having a tomcat or a borzoi with that name, I thought at least a tree or maybe a car could be named after him.

Against all odds, he manages to find a way around and through the bureaucracy, the corruption and stupidity of laws and communists in Russia.

In the case of The Twelve Chairs, we are dealing with a supposed treasure hidden inside the furniture, in one of the…Twelve Chairs, hence the name of this hilarious work.

Vorobyaninov is a former aristocrat who lives with his mother-in-law. In the new, communist Russia he is perceived as an enemy of the people, and he is suspected of being a fugitive, who just came from exile, Paris in particular.

The mother-in-law reveals a secret, that she has hidden precious jewelry in one of the chairs that had formed a set in the old dining room.

Vorobyaninov is shocked and determined to get his hands on the treasure, one problem is that the priest -Father Fyodor, who is the confessor of the mother-in-law –finds out about the hidden riches and wants to get them too.

During the joy and comic ride, the two of them meet or just follow in each others ‘steps.

At one time, they both arrive in the make shift office of a guy who has a treasure of his own: documents that trace valuables and property, which in a bureaucratic regime can be as good as gold, because incompetent staff manage to lose or simply throw away official papers and then all is lost.

The chairs had been confiscated by the new regime, and then they went in all corners, more or less, of the vast country. Addresses and owners are evidently necessary in order to get the chairs and so both Bender and Father Fyodor pay a visit to the man who has the keys to Paradise.

Ostap Bender joins forces with Vorobyaninov in order to recuperate the jewelry. In the first place, the negotiations give the latter a higher percentage, but that dwindles with time.

Anyway, the former aristocrat makes some serious errors in the pursuit of financial happiness.

There is an auction at one point, which reveals some flaws in the soviet system, but also the mistake made by Vorobyaninov.

He had gone to spend money the night before and has no money left, and when the two of them have to pay a hidden and rather dubious auction tax, they have no more money, although the sum for the chair had been in the hands of Bender.

-          You stupid fool…good for nothing, I will kill you!

Or words to that effect are shouted by an angry Ostap Bender.

The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf are among the funniest and most entertaining books that I have read.

In fact, I loved The Twelve Chairs so much, that I have read it twice and the latest; third encounter came in the form of an adapted version for the National Radio.

In the lead role I have listened to a very good Octavian Cotescu, who has died unfortunately many years ago.

Some years back I have also see fragments from a film made by Mel Brooks, based on the same Twelve Chairs.

Mel Brooks has made some wonderful comedies, like History of the World, The Producers and Blazing Saddles, but his production of the Twelve Chairs is not in the same league, alas.

I had a wonderful time reading a splendid work.