About the work
Tūla is the second and most widely read novel of Kunčinas, written in Vilnius in 1991 and published in 1993. The novel has been translated into Swedish, Russian and Polish languages. Tūla has been described as being one of the most important Lithuanian novels of the post-Soviet period, praised by critics as having introduced into modern Lithuanian prose temptous elements of narrative spontaneity and sensuality.
Structure and plot
The novel narrates the bohemian, driftless life of an unnamed character during the final years of the Soviet period. The story is set in Vilnius and told from the perspective of the male protagonist of the novel. At its core, the novel is the story of a love affair between the protagonist and the female art studet named Tūla. The love affair is narrated chronologically, begining with the first meeting of the two characters and leading up to their endless wanderings through Vilnius. The story ends with the separation of the two lovers and the subsequent mysterious – unresolved — death of Tūla. The novel portrays a “marginal” social reality of Vilnius that goes beyond the standard time-and-space experience of a typical Soviet citizen. Homelesness, alcoholism and emotional volatility are colorful elements of this “peripheral reality” of Soviet Vilnius.
The novel centers on the neighborhood of Užupis, one of the poorest and, at the same time, most haunting old districts of Vilnius. Užupis, beloved by the protagonist of the novel as the bohemian heart of Vilnius, frames and leads the narrative map of the story. Hence, the plot of the novel is inseparable from the non-conformist – marginal — view of Vilnius, with the two main characters of the novel roaming around the city while encountering a whole range of exotic personalities.