13 best books by Pelevin
Victor O. Pelevin - an outstanding pravokator-prose writer of our time, about whose existence goes a lot of rumors in view of the closed lifestyle of the author. In his works, performances have been staged in theaters, films have been made, critics are ambiguous in assessing creativity, but this is the success and the key to the reader of a different age and perception of the world. The peculiarity of the author is a constant comparison of the book and the real through the prism of his own vision, corresponding to the opinion of the majority, a comparison of political events and theories of the world conspiracy, irony, ridiculing the flaws of modernity.
Rating the best books of Victor Pelevin
| Nomination | a place | composition | rating |
| Rating the best books of Victor Pelevin | 1 | Chapaev and emptiness (1996) | 4.7 |
| 2 | Recluse and Shestipaly (1990) | 4.7 | |
| 3 | OMON RA (1991) | 4.7 | |
| 4 | S.N.U.F.F. (2001) | 4.6 | |
| 5 | Numbers (2003) | 4.6 | |
| 6 | Life of insects (1993) | 4.6 | |
| 7 | Generation "P" (1999) | 4.5 | |
| 8 | T (2009) | 4.5 | |
| 9 | Pineapple water for a beautiful lady (2010) | 4.5 | |
| 10 | Holy Werewolf Book (2004) | 4.4 | |
| 11 | iPhuck 10 (2017) | 4.4 | |
| 12 | Empire V (2006) | 4.3 | |
| 13 | DPP (NN) (2003) | 4.3 |
Chapaev and emptiness (1996)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.7
The novel that everyone needs to read is “Chapaev and Emptiness”.
In the center of the narration is the poet Peter the Void, which is simultaneously located in two temporary spaces - in post-revolutionary Russia of 1918-1919. and in the mid-1990s. The hero serves in Chapaev’s division, and at the same time at the end of the same century he is being treated in a psychiatric clinic, which, as it seems to him, is only a dream.
Pelevin was able to combine such contradictory personalities with their completely opposite characters. He managed to organically introduce Serdyuk, the hero of the Mexican series, the gangster and even Arnold Schwarzenegger into the narrative of the Japanese clans involved in the war. Such complex parallels are partly explained by the possible historical development of Russia in relations with the West and the East, each of which is symbolically associated with a separate hero. All patients of the same ward are united by the goal - to recover, for which the unique method of penetrating each other’s personal space is used to search for answers to some questions.
Responsibility for the future of Russia today in the novel lies on the shoulders of Grigory Kotovsky, who is closer to the end of the story, turns out to be cocaine-dependent. But this does not prevent him from being in the same harness in the Void, whose spiritual Buddhist teacher eventually becomes Vasily Chapaev - he helps the main character to achieve inner enlightenment.
A complex at first glance plot is a mixture of separate lines of narration in different styles, twisted around the personality of the Void and its struggle for its future. Reviewers call the novel “Chapaev and the Void” “the first Zen Buddhist novel in Russian literature.”
Recluse and Shestipaly (1990)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.7
In the second place of the rating is the first story written by Victor Pelevin in 1990, “The Recluse and Shestepaly”.Since 2005, the work has been used by theatrical figures, it was taken as the basis for staging performances - a good success for the debut.
The focus of a pair of chickens - the Recluse and Shestipaly, broilers at the chicken farm them. Lunacharsky. The author talks about the chicken hierarchy, which turns out to be difficult - the main one who is closer to the trough and further downward with some features. Shestipalov is expelled from the system, he meets with the philosopher-chicken the Recluse - the latter shows an interest in natural tests and wanders between separate communities of broilers inside the combine. Surprisingly, the Recluse has mastered the "divine" language - Russian, knows how to determine the time by the hour dial and knows where chicken children come from, although I have never seen it myself.
Six-Fingered becomes a student of the Recluse, now they move together in communities in the poultry farm, learn about the world and want to understand the unknowing “flight” with which you can escape from the closed space of the plant.
The main idea of the story: gifted singles-enthusiasts are able to reach an optimistic end, and not the masses who are prone to gray collectivism.
OMON RA (1991)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.7
For Pelevin, “Omon Ra” became the first novels in writing. The work was created on the basis of the preparation of Omon Krivomazov as part of a group of Soviet cosmonauts for the flight to the moon. Ra is the call sign of the protagonist, likened to the name of the sun god of ancient Egyptian mythology. The author dispels the myths about the space program, exposing the official versions and stories, and also tells about real heroes whose names are unknown to anyone. In other words, the reader is invited to look at space flights from the other side, not from the one about which they speak in the media.
The whole novel "Omon Ra" is built like a revealing film in the tradition of Western cinema. Victor Pelevin ridicules the "secrets of cosmonautics", the plot "moon conspiracy" and the dramatization of activities on the flight to the earth satellite, the author talks about the primitiveness of the Soviet missiles, up to manual control of the steps when they are unhooked by footless cosmonaut suicide bombers "trained" in the flight school them. Maresyev (Zaraysk). The reader’s judgment also includes the facts of strange training of military specialists: cutting off legs in the already mentioned flight school, shooting examinations in the machine-gun school named after him. Matrosov, as well as blind and paralyzed graduates of the military-political school to them. P. Korchagin.
The work can not be called a documentary, it is rather fantasy. No wonder “Omon Ra” was awarded special prizes “Interpresscon” and “Bronze Snail”.
S.N.U.F.F. (2001)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.6
The novel “S.N.U.F.F.” can today be considered provocative in favor of political players, but it was written before the conflict of military events, and therefore has nothing in common with reality.
The action develops within two interacting countries - post-kalaptic Ukraine with a technologically backward society of orcs, speaking Upper Russian, and Byzantium, an artificial ball, within which there is a separate technological state populated by people who communicate in a fictional church-English language . Everything would be nice, but in Bizantium there is not enough real space due to spherical limitation, everything is not in order and with the law of consent - following it, people can only enter into sexual relations after reaching 46 years of age. The lack of communication in all its aspects is compensated by suras - robots, with whom the population of the artificial world lives.
Demian-Landulf Damilola Karpov, an operator of an armed drone with a camera, took a sura on credit with the name Kai. It draws the owner and two more representatives of the "orcs" into the game in their own robotic interests.
“S.N.U.F.F.” reflects the author’s vision of the political situation between the countries of the West and the East, rich and backward states.
Numbers (2003)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.6
On the fifth line of the rating is the novel “Numbers”, which constitutes a large part of the collection “DPP” (NN).
In the center of the plot, the Steppe boy is a Soviet child who discovered the magic of numbers. The magic number, the code of the name - he adjusted everything to the laws of numerology. Seven red line goes through the whole plot: the number of power, which was calculated Step, 3 + 4 in the amount give the same "7" (34 - name code). Personality development, successful banking business - his number sign helps Stepan in everything. Until one day, as opposed to him, he becomes the antipode of 43 - another banker, who also took the lucky seven as his guide. The meeting of these heroes was predicted by clairvoyant. Against the background of the prevailing circumstances and the psychological suppression of Stoup, in his 43 years old, he experiences so much trouble that internal Zen is completely undermined.
The heroes of the novel with the seriousness of the plot remain a bit abnormal, comparing themselves with unexpected characters of world cinema and literature.
Life of insects (1993)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.5
Victor Pelevin's unusual, but still fascinating novel “The Life of Insects” is a comparison of different people and social groups with representatives of the insect world. With mosquitoes, he associates future businessmen who are ready for anything for the sake of goals without risk assessment; father and son, going to the beach - with scarab beetles, constantly collecting dung - the dirt of life; The female ant is the Marina girl, who is in demand among men, but not interested in their society.
Drug-dependent Maxim and Nikita, Marina - the fates of all the characters and their loved ones intersect in different combinations. Pelevin constantly compares all the actions of people with the instinctive processes of the insect world. It is interesting to see how accurately the author falls into the comparison. Moths finishing the story, looking for the meaning of life, are constantly in conflict over very unexpected questions.
The message is to see incarnations of all these insects in the human kingdom in the outside world and draw conclusions about their own lives based on their instructive stories. After all, each insect can easily be found in the forest, park or in the country.
Generation "P" (1999)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.5
The novel Generation "P" or "Generation" P "is widely known in the youth environment, according to which the eponymous film has become a cult film.
At the very end of the 20th century, Viktor Pelevin identified the main problems of upbringing and life, pathology, and the peculiarities of the generation, whose conscious life fell on the post-Soviet era of the 90s, when advertising with its simple and often meaningless, but loud slogans quickly broke into all media . Clips with a strange plot form the basis of the new generation of culture “P” (Pepsi), the name of which, according to different versions, is translated obscenely. The protagonist of the novel Babilen Tatarsky is sure that he knows everything about the true values of commercials, because he is their creator, having traveled from a simple copywriter to a television figure. How does he underestimate the whole scale of the situation around ...
Babilen is a collective image of the generation of the 70s, the very same “P”. He became part of a huge machine aimed at promoting goods that came from the West. Advertising began to replace many people with real life, to bring illusions into the world perception of people in the post-Soviet space. Everything changes when Tatarsky thinks about those who control the whole process and how life has changed around.
The novel is deep, raising the acute social problems of generations of recent decades. The plot is bright, complex and incredibly multifaceted.
T (2009)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.5
T is the designation of the name of a certain graph, presumably L. N. Tolstoy.A master of martial arts, he escapes from the royal guard in the Optina Hermitage, which embodies the mysterious Shambhala, a place of spiritual enlightenment (the cloister of Orthodoxy) in the novel. On the way to this place T, various obstacles are overcome, Ariel is confronted with the Kabbalist society, the literary figures of which themselves write a novel about the graph, which he is informed about. The hero begins to doubt the reality of what is happening around, and the success of the journey is becoming increasingly illusory and incomprehensible - why all this? Not wanting to live according to the scenario written by strangers, T tries to independently change his destiny, answering the questions “who am I?” And “where am I?”.
The novel "T" was recognized by readers as the best in 2010, highly praised by critics. He will help all those who "follow the flow" to take a step towards themselves.
Pineapple water for a beautiful lady (2010)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.5
The stories of the first in our rating of the collection “Pineapple water for a beautiful lady” made a lot of noise. Readers and critics are similar in opinion: Pelevin did not invent new subjects, but used previously written works and beautifully retold them, replacing names and numbers. However, for those who are only acquainted with the works of the provocative and mysterious author of modernity, this is completely unimportant, as well as for connoisseurs - even if it is self-plagiarism, then it is successful.
In the book "Pineapple water for a beautiful lady" 2 blocks. The section “Gods and Mechanisms” contains 2 novels: the fantastic “Operation Burning Bush” about Semyon Levitan involved in a special operation of state security agencies as voicing the voice of God, and later also the devil for similar American services; “Al-Efesbi’s anti-aircraft codes” about computer intelligence of American development in warfare and Russian man Saveliya Skotenkov, who managed to create protection against “smart” devices.
The second part “Mechanisms and Gods” contains 3 heartfelt stories: “Contemplator of the Shadow” about a Russian man trying to know the truth with his own shadow by meditation (trying to highlight the desire of Western people to penetrate the culture of India), “Thagi” about Boris who wants to enter to the ranks of the Thaghi sect practicing sacrifices and the Hotel of Good Incarnations. The last story reveals the name of a compilation about pineapple water: the girl’s soul is preparing for rebirth, the angel invites her to be born into an oligarch family, but after learning the details of this proposal, she refuses. Here a bank of pineapple water will appear in the form of a quotation from the work of Mayakovsky.
Pelevin, as always, raises topical philosophical questions of our time, subtly mocks the realities of life and actively uses the grotesque.
Holy Werewolf Book (2004)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.4
Not the deepest, but not badly, Pelevin's propiar novel, the sixth in a row for the author - “The Holy Book of the Werewolf” - not everyone will like it, but the true connoisseurs of the scandalous author will appreciate the work that is interwoven with other writers and stories of the writer.
At the heart of the plot are a werewolf fox with an obscene name (in different languages it is possible to collect many different meanings summarized under the line of love of freedom and low responsibility) and the wolf Alexander Gray, also a werewolf, in human form who is Lieutenant General FBS. The author reveals the story of their love, the desire of both to the development of spirituality, as far as possible in the novels of Victor Pelevin.
iPhuck 10 (2017)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.4
One of the last novels of the author "iPhuck 10" brought Pelevin the prize to them. Andrei Bely - not the most prestigious, but significant for literature without censorship.
The author takes the reader to the future - to the end of the XXI century, to a world consisting of several powers: Paces (Crotch), the Caliphate of Europeans, the new Confederation (descendants of the United States), the Eastern superpower and Russia (focus on shifting political influence from West to East, changing religious societies).Zika virus and anti-propaganda have become a reason to refuse sex, now it is replaced with a virtual one using ayfak (iPhuck) and androgins (they do not need to be specified). iPhuck 10 is the most expensive sex machine of the time, and we are talking about it.
Art critic Mara falls in love with Porfiry Petrovich’s latest modification — a police literary algorithm that can penetrate the software of any electronic device, including the perfect iPhuck 10. She uses his algorithm for her own selfish purposes, but on a legal basis, a woman bought the program from the police department and could enjoy it all my life. What is greed? Mara led the creation of artificial intelligence for the generation of new works of art with their subsequent sale for personal enrichment. To do this, she used the previously lost people and programs, among which was Porfiry, who finds out about the intentions of the owner, but late. He leaves a backup of his own algorithm and kills himself.
In the novel, fantasy and reality, present and future tense, man and artificial intelligence, irony and sarcasm are closely intertwined. Who will win? About this to learn the reader.
Empire V (2006)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.3
The novel "Empire V" was written right before the onset of fashion on vampire sagas and stories, so plagiarism cannot be blamed. By the way, in 2024 the release of the Russian film of the same name is planned. What is the plot so hooked filmmakers?
In the piece, we are talking about Roman Shtorkin, who became a vampire, having received from Brahma a “tongue” - a kind of relay baton with the knowledge and abilities of ghouls. With the help of this essence, vampires can penetrate the thoughts of people, other vampires, after having tasted blood for a sample. The hero changes his name to Rama, but in order to fully comply with the new role, he needs to change his thinking by studying glamor and discourse - he must control these aspects in order to not be influenced and remain a vampire, to establish power over humanity. However, nothing lasts forever, as well as the life of the speakers of the "language".
A society of people and vampires live, almost without intersection, only individual "agents" penetrate into the masses of another world. Rama, after the appeal, understands that he is not comfortable in the new role, thinks about the origin of the world and the value of life, God and truth. A book is a recorded thoughts of a vampire on finding answers to eternal questions. Assistant to the hero made Oziris - also an unusual vampire.
Why was Rama left behind in the new community? Fans of vampire works will find the answer to this question on the pages of the novel “Empire V”.
DPP (NN) (2003)
Book author: Victor Pelevin
Rating: 4.3
The rating is completed by a collection of DPP (NN), whose name is decoded by the author as “Dialectics of the Transition Period from Nowhere to Nowhere”. The book includes the previously reviewed novel “The Numbers” from the “Might of the Great” block. In addition to him in the present story and stories.
The story "Macedonian criticism of French thought" tells about Kik - the child of an oil magnate, nicknamed the KiKA channel for children. The grown-up boy organized in the workshop of a shoe factory a filming room for sadomasochistic cinema for adults. This person was previously mentioned in the novel “Numbers” of the same collection.
The story "One Vogue" ridicules the sex-money relationships of rich men and those who want to get a gift or a place in the sun of women. In the work "Akiko" again talking about sex, but inside cybermachines, in chat rooms. The author draws an analogy with the department for the management of counter-terrorism on the Internet, the above-mentioned work of Numbers.
In the story “Focus Group”, the action is developed in the world of the dead, where the “Luminous Being” communicates with people who have left the earthly world. The reader will find here a mention of a dead man in the novel “Numbers” with donkey ears on a ribbon.
The concluding part of the collection "The Life of Remarkable People" contains 2 stories with a reference to the philosophy of the East with all the subtlety of the literary approach of Victor Pelevin.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
