Sentence Construction
Metaphorical imagery is rich and dense in this book because the sentences themselves are long, winding, complex mechanism for conveying the author’s vision. “Right now each of his movements works like a valve distributing two lines, symmetrical and irreconcilable, that divide in their turn, divide, divide again, plunge into a material time, a ramified future in the troubled darkness of the car.” And that is not even the entire sentence, which goes on for another twenty words or so. The use of similes and straight metaphors are engaged not just in this example, but in countless others throughout the book as a kind of mirror of the story. That story is about a transcontinental train ride that winds a path through the countryside. Robust use of similes like that comparing his movement to valve distribution contributes to the extended length of the sentence construction and reminds the reader to view the entire narrative through more than just a literal perspective of a train ride.
Anton
Hélène is rhapsodizing to herself about her Russian lover. “He is Andreï Rublev and Marina Tsvetaeva, he is Yuri Gagarin, he is Tchaikovsky, he is Trotsky himself.” These names all refer to well-known figures in Russian history. Her mood allows her to view her lover, Anton, as the embodiment of everything she knows about Russia. He has become in this moment, in her mind, the controlling metaphor for the entire country.
Space Ship
Much of the language is directed toward describing the train ride itself, but almost always this includes some sort of metaphorical aspect. For instance, one of those long and winding sentences concludes simply with the words “the train like a spaceship.” The comparison of this simile is about the way the train inexorably makes its way through all the many different time zones of Russia without stopping and thus inhabiting that time demarcation. Within the self-contained time of the train, it is akin to the loss of meaning of time in a spaceship orbiting quickly through all the earth’s zones.
Pop Culture
Even in a story set on a train in Russia, American pop culture informs the reference point of metaphorical imagery. “The ones who interest him wear skin-tight jeans and stand perched on mind-boggling heels, and they are blond, very blond, like Marilyn, a radical platinum that sets them apart from the throng of other women.” The simile engaged here is a comparison to the ultimate Hollywood sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe. So ingrained into the fabric of the culture is she that her last name is not even needed to identify her. Just the words Marilyn and the description of blond hair as platinum are the clues necessary to identify the subject of this simile.
Fear
The other main character of the story is a young man desperate to escape military service. Paranoia is his driving character trait. “Monotonous rolling, cyclical clicking, axles warming up, shrieks of metal and, if you listened close, you’d also hear — like a tiny soundtrack woven into this hellhole — the torment of Aliocha’s heart.” The language once again mirrors the movement of the train as the imagery brings the sounds to life. What is not heard is the sound of Aliocha’s heart. The characterization of the sound as emanating from emotional torment leaves the sensory details of the metaphor open to individual interpretation.
