Avetik Darbinyan, The Fountain of the Whale
Avetik Darbinyan was born in Gyumri, he worked in a puppet theater as the head of the literary department. Novelist Vahagn Grigoryan wrote an epilogue on his posthumous book, evaluating the literary world of the young author. Avetik Darbinyan’s prose was highlighted by the poet Hrachya Beyleryan, during a conversation about the Robinsonade genre, mentioning one of the excellent manifestations of the genre, Darbinyan’s novel “The Fountain of the Whale”.
In the 1980s, Avetik Darbinyan’s short stories were published in “Garun” magazine. The first collection of short stories, “Gyumri”, was published in 1983, and “Day of Seniority: Shame” in 1991.
The Fountain of the Whale
Avetik Darbinyan’s novel “The Fountain of the Whale” reconstructs and uniquely recalls one of the famous biblical stories, the story of Hovnan the Prophet and the whale-monster. In this short novel created with featherlike lightness and with Italo Calvino’s style, the crisis of love and marriage turns into a crisis of existence.
“The Fountain of the Whale” was first published in 1991 in Avetik Darbinyan’s posthumous book “Day of Seniority: Shame” entitled “The King of the Stomach and His Wife” (Nairi Publishing House).
