Emmanuel Carrère's 'Kolchoz' as Filial Atonement

Emmanuel Carrère's latest book 'Kolchoz', published by Adelphi in 2026 and translated by Francesco Bergamasco, is a monument of filial piety and a request for forgiveness addressed to his mother Hélène. The work follows the rift caused by his earlier book 'Un romanzo russo', which led to years of silence between mother and son, later followed by a belated reconciliation. Carrère, now a mature sixty-year-old, acknowledges his faults and attempts the ultimate act of atonement, echoing Oscar Wilde's observation that children initially love their parents, then judge them, and rarely forgive them.