A complete guide to Victor Pelevin's books: from caustic satire to lyric novels

Why you should read Pelevin

For many years Viktor Pelevin has been considered one of the most beloved writers of Russian intellectuals. Considering his almost thirty-year career, he doesn't have that many jobs to his credit. He usually is in no hurry to publish his works, except that recently he gives out one book a year.

At the heart of his work is a combination of the philosophy of Buddhism, social satire and a vivid description of the life of the most ordinary people. With rare exceptions, his works are not related to each other, only small mutual references can be seen in them.

But even with a common theme, each Pelevin's book is unique, and the form and presentation are very different. Therefore, before taking up reading, it is better to familiarize yourself with our guide to the writer's work.

The first books about Soviet everyday life

In the early nineties, the first books by Viktor Pelevin captivated the audience with an outright satire on the topic of the collapsed Soviet Union.

Omon Ra

Soviet schoolboy Omon Krivomazov is included in the training program for the first expedition to the moon. It just turns out that there is no automation in Soviet missiles, all the stages are manually snapped off by people sitting in them, who die in the process. But the country is ready to make such sacrifices in order to get ahead of the whole world.

Pelevin openly sneers at many social problems. Ardent patriotism comes under attack: cadets at the Maresyev Flight School are cut off their legs, and at the Alexander Matrosov Infantry School, graduates are fired at from a machine gun so that everyone can prove their loyalty to their homeland. And at the same time, the author laughs at conspiracy theories: suddenly, it is true that people control all automatic missiles. Or maybe there were no flights to the moon at all.

Insect life

At first glance, this is the story of the everyday life of ordinary people in the early nineties. But each hero looks like some kind of insect. A father can teach his son only to roll a huge ball in front of him, as if this is the only purpose of his life; frivolous moths are drawn to the fire all the time; a foreign mosquito arrives in our country to taste the local blood, but is nearly poisoned by biting an alcoholic.

In the works of Pelevin, especially in his early work, the characters are often not who they seem at first. People can be chickens or heroes in games. But insects are one of his most striking allegories. After all, the monotonous everyday life of a person is so similar to their monotonous existence.

Concentrated philosophy

If you want to immediately understand the main ideas of the author, without reading all the works, then it is best to start with these books.

Chapaev and Emptiness

The young decadent poet Pyotr Void goes to the front together with Vasily Chapaev. But at night he dreams that he is a patient in a psychiatric hospital in Russia in the late nineties. And a patient in a psychiatric hospital dreams that he is a decadent poet in the Chapaev division.

This book is often called the main work of Pelevin. In it, he formulated all his main ideas, although most of them (like the plot of the book itself) are a rethinking of the philosophy of Buddhism. But that's not all. If you first read "Chapaeva and the Emptiness", then in all the other works of Pelevin you will see references to this book.

Helm of Terror. Creatiff of Theseus and the Minotaur

All the heroes of this book wake up in the same rooms, where, in addition to the simplest furniture, there is only a keyboard and a screen. And they can only communicate with each other via chat. Everyone has a strange labyrinth outside the door, but none of the heroes can remember how he got here. Or they only say so, because the interlocutors cannot verify the truthfulness of each other's words - they only see letters on the screen.

The Helm of Terror can be said to be a concentrated Pelevin. If you want to briefly familiarize yourself with the main topics of his books or refresh your memories of the author's philosophy, it is best to take up this work, especially since it is written in the form of an Internet chat.

Books for beginners

If the previous books seem too difficult for a first acquaintance, there are several options that are the easiest to start with. This does not mean at all that it will not be interesting to read them for those who are already well acquainted with the author's work. But many thoughts in them are presented in rather simple language and are explained in more detail.

Sacred werewolf book

The book tells the love story of an ancient werewolf fox named Ah Huli (the name simultaneously plays on the translation of the Chinese "fox" and Russian curse words) and the werewolf Alexander Sery. According to the ancient custom of all foxes, she should only earn a living by prostitution, and he is a high-ranking FSB official.

This book is sometimes called "Chapaev and Emptiness for Youth". Indeed, despite the differences in the plot, the ideology in these works is approximately the same, and even the fifth paw of the dog, which leads to the disappearance of everything that he steps on, is a clear analogue of the Chapaev clay machine gun.

Interestingly, Alexander's backstory can be learned from Pelevin's old story "The Werewolf Problem in the Middle Lane." It is also curious that an official soundtrack was released for the novel from the songs mentioned in the work. The disc was sold with the book.

Empire v

The most ordinary young man Roman is suddenly turned into a vampire. But in life they are very different from those shown in the movies. Now the hero's name is Rama, and he must study the main vampire sciences: glamor and discourse. Since ancient times, vampires have ruled people, using them for food and service at the same time. Although, in fact, vampires do not suck blood, but bablos.

Pelevin does not ignore any relevant topic, and in this novel he turned to the world of glamor and money. Albeit metaphorically, through the theme of vampires, he understands the life of the regulars of elite parties, who consider the whole world to be their servants.

This novel is also excellent for the first acquaintance with the author. It is perhaps a little simpler than some of the other pieces, but there is a lot of action here. And for those who liked the vampire theme, you can immediately start the sequel - "Batman Apollo". As an independent book, it is rather weak, but as the finale of the story of Rama, it is nothing at all.

Satire and topicality

Pelevin does not always turn to the eternal. Many of his books raise the most sensitive topics.

Generation "P"

Vavilen Tatarsky is a typical intelligent representative of the seventies generation. In perestroika times, he discovers a new talent in himself - to compose advertising slogans for any product. He goes to work as a copywriter, then becomes a creator. And then he learns the shocking truth about television and politics.

Generation P is the first book in Pelevin's new style. Under the influence of changes in the country, his philosophical view became tougher, more sarcastic and topical. But despite the fact that almost 20 years have passed since the book was published, Pelevin's ideas have not become obsolete. This novel is still recommended reading for many advertising managers. It is not for nothing that the comic advertising of Sprite has turned from a book into a very real slogan of Nikola kvass.

DPP (NN)

The book consists of several works, but the bulk of it is occupied by the novel "Numbers", all other stories and stories can be considered additions to it. The novel is about a banker named Styopa. Since childhood, he worships the magic of numbers and chose the number 34 as his patron. But over time, the hero realizes that he is opposed by a strong unlucky number 43.

With its atmosphere, this book directly continues the ideas of "Generation P" ", only here Pelevin decided to take on show business, Islam and even Pokémon - the main character and his beloved associate himself with them."Numbers" is called the writer's darkest work. Here one can see an open hostility to many phenomena that took place in Russia at the beginning of the 2000s. But those who liked the previous novel will surely like this one too.

S. N. U. F. F

The action takes place in a dystopian world of the future, where people live on a huge flying ball Byzantium, and less developed orcs remained on Earth. The protagonist Damilola Karpov works as an operator of an unmanned flying camera, which can simultaneously become a deadly weapon. His job is to make videos about the life of the orcs. And when the inhabitants of Byzantium needed a portion of interesting news, they started a war in the country of the orcs - Urkaine.

One of Pelevin's most sarcastic and caustic books. And now it is perceived even more relevant, because the author predicted the Ukrainian crisis back in 2011, without even changing the name of the state much. But S. N. U. F. F. attracts not only with political satire. In addition, there is also a very interesting view of the relationship between men and women. After all, the companion of the protagonist is an advanced sex doll, in which the "quirkiness" is brought to the maximum.

Love for the Three Zuckerbrins

This book is divided into several related parts. The introduction tells about the supreme being - Cyclops, who saves our world, tracking the probabilities of all events developing according to the principle of the butterfly effect. Birds are trying to prevent him, throwing people at him in the manner of the game Angry Birds. And the main part is devoted to the world of the future, where people spend all their time in virtual reality.

The novel looks like a kind of answer to The Matrix. Pelevin shows that humanity does not need to create any complex illusions, because people themselves gladly escape from the real world to the Internet.

Love for the Three Zuckerbrins has one major drawback - the long, slow intro. Cyclops' philosophy is very interesting, but those who were counting on something lighter and more topical will have to endure a little. But the second plot will please you with references to pop culture and an appeal to the problem of Internet addiction.

iPhuck 10

The story is told on behalf of the police-literary algorithm, which calls itself Porfiry Petrovich. This program investigates crimes and immediately writes detective novels about them. One day, the algorithm is leased by art historian and curator Maruha Cho, who wants to use Porfiry's detective skills to get information about the largest deals of the "gypsum era" - the beginning of the 21st century.

As if in response to the claims of some critics who began to accuse Pelevin of self-repetition, he published a book on behalf of the program. At the same time, the author did not forget in one of the chapters to go over all such reviews very caustically, predicting in advance the reaction to iPhuck 10.

This book is more difficult than many of the writer's other works. The action here develops very slowly, and a significant part of the humor is built on self-irony. The plot itself plays a secondary role. Real fans of Pelevin will be delighted by reflections on the subjective value of creativity (in the future, a work of art may consist of one name), as well as an attempt to understand one of the most pressing topics of modern literature - the self-awareness of artificial intelligence.

Secret views of Mount Fuji

In this novel, Pelevin again takes on the most relevant and discussed topics of recent times: from meditation to feminism. The author tells about the excruciatingly difficult search for happiness of Russian oligarchs, about the history of real female success and about the difficulties of startups in Russian realities.

For those who are tired of satire

Caretaker

What if Emperor Paul I was not killed by the conspirators, but managed to be transported to another world created by Franz Anton Mesmer? In Idyllium, he became the first Overseer to guard his world. Since then, many Rangers have changed, and the main character of the book must take this honorary post, but he has to learn a lot about the very essence of life, doubt his own reality and find love.

Before reading this book, it is worth knowing: "The Caretaker" is a two-volume book consisting of the books "The Order of the Yellow Flag" and "The Iron Abyss", they must be read in succession. But the main thing is Pelevin's most lyrical and calm work. Many critics, surprised by the lack of social themes and sarcasm, began to say that this novel is completely empty. But in fact, here Pelevin for the first time began to speak openly about the search for eternal love. And if you think about it, then this topic has slipped with him before, but in S. N. U. F. F. or "Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" was covered with irony.

Short stories

In addition to novels, Viktor Pelevin sometimes writes novels and short stories, combining them into small collections. They are often related, but you can read them in any order.

Yellow arrow

This book contains the stories "The Yellow Arrow", "The Prince of the State Planning Commission" and "The Recluse and the Six-Fingered." They are united by a common theme - attempts to escape from everyday life and somehow change. In the first work, all people are shown as train passengers, in the second - as characters of computer games, and in the third - as hens at the Lunacharsky poultry farm.

In addition, the book contains a whole collection of stories, some of which were previously published under the general title "Blue Lantern". Many people love exactly the short works of Pelevin. They do not immerse the reader in too complex worlds, but they are always perceived brightly and unexpectedly.

P5

To be more precise, this book is called "PPPP", and even more precisely, "Farewell songs of the political pygmies of Pindostan." Five short stories on completely different topics. A prostitute is hired to work as a singing caryatid in a brothel for oligarchs, a group of friends listens to a story from Egyptian mythology, an official makes speed bumps from the ashes of his colleagues, scientists find out that money attracts money, and a young assassin realizes that the promised paradise is a hoax. All this is short, harsh and very witty.

Pineapple water for a lovely lady

The book consists of two stories and three stories, which many at the time of release called Pelevin's return to his old style. The first work "Operation Burning Bush" tells how Semyon Levitan, with a deep, soulful voice, uses secret technologies to communicate with George W. Bush, convincing him that he is the voice of God.

The second story, Al-Efesbi's Anti-Aircraft Codes, can be considered a harbinger of the S. N. U. F. F. novel, because it describes how a former FSB officer managed to break the artificial intelligence of combat drones using slogans written in the sand. It was these drones that later became the prototypes of flying video cameras.

The stories in this collection only supplement the main stories, but it will be very pleasant to read them if the stories themselves were not enough.

Return to the old style

Although Pelevin's style has changed since the release of Generation P, it is not only Pineapple Water that is considered to have been written in the style of the author's classics. He periodically publishes novels that resemble his first known books.

t

Count T. (an allusion to Leo Tolstoy) goes on a trip to Optina Pustyn, although he himself does not remember exactly why. On the way, he will have to meet not only people who are trying to prevent him from achieving his goal, but also the creators themselves - the authors of the book about Count T. In parallel, you can learn about the fate of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky - a character in a computer game where you have to kill zombies.

The dual nature of the main characters, multiple religious references and repeated intersections with "Chapaev and Emptiness" create the feeling that Pelevin is talking about what he wanted to say back in the nineties, but then did not have time.

Lamp of Methuselah, or the Extreme Battle of the Chekists with the Freemasons

Three generations of the noble family of the Mozhaiskys regularly serve the fatherland in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The first part may seem too lengthy and even boring: there is a lot of financial analytics here. But then Pelevin returns to his beloved madness and expanse with time travel, alien bearded men and reptilians, as well as zones where newspapers are published in the form of tattoos. And in the finale, he will even be able to explain why the first part was so boring.

New-2021

Transhumanism Inc

The action of Pelevin's new novel is set in the future, two centuries after the events of iPhuck 10. Judging by the annotation, this is both a futuristic and archaic world of victorious matriarchy, in which wealthy people were able to live almost forever.

“In connection with the moral revival of our society, there is no obscenity in the book, but the author still manages to tell the truth about the most important thing,” says the Start of sales of the new Pelevin's novel / Eksmo Publishing House in the announcement of the novel Transhumanism Inc. on the website of the publisher.