We have long wanted to write about Alexander Ilichevsky's novella "Narrow Sky, Wide River," but it was challenging for us because, after all, we published it. On the other hand, if we didn't like it, we wouldn't have published it, right?

In any case, as long-time and devoted fans of Ilichevsky's prose, we always dreamed of reading something with a plot from him—something we could recount, like "Matisse," for example. So, "Narrow Sky, Wide River," as far removed as this novella may be from "Matisse," is exactly that.

Everything we love about Ilichevsky's literary style is here—poetic descriptions, a slow, languid narrative, and references to the past. Essentially, the entire novella is a journey into the past, undertaken by a group of old friends as they drift on a raft along the wide river's surface. It won't be a spoiler to say that in this short but emotionally rich journey, unresolved grievances and unforgotten skeletons will resurface from the depths of memory, and the wounds of youth will be laid bare to such an extent that only old friendship might heal them—will it?

As far as we know, this text was initially envisioned by the author as part of a large post-apocalyptic novel, but it ultimately remained a small novella, slow like the flow of a wide river, whose waters conceal waves and turbulence beyond the sea's imagination. Ilichevsky's dialogue-filled novella is a frozen snapshot of the past, which is never serene. And no one will leave feeling wronged. Or rather, no one will leave.