OMON RA Victor Pelevin
Having discovered this book
whilst investigating the death
of a high-ranking KGB official,
it sat upon my shelf gathering dust,
undisturbed by human
hands until Saturday last.
It began entering my
consciousness in a rather
peculiar manner, popping
up in my thoughts again
and again.
Determined to solve the
mystery of its seemingly
conspiratorial attempts to
draw me in, I decided to call its
bluff, and opened the dusty pages.
Victor Pelevin's first novel is a masterpiece of Post-Soviet satire, that enthralled me with its darkly humorous imaginings of early Russian space exploration.
His protagonist Omon, having dreamt of space
flight as a child, finds himself the sole
pilot for a
supposedly unmanned mission to the moon
after a selection and
training process that throws into sharp relief the absurdity of post-World War II
Russia's twin
obsessions,
heroism and the space program.
A contemporary criticism that plunged to the
depths of my emotions with its
profound mysticism,
returning to the murky surface bearing glittering
offerings
of everyday irony, only to dive back into
the deep once again, hugging me tight.
No comments:
Post a Comment