2022-09-29 23:46:09
For the past ten years, the new Pelevin has served as an important annual ritual – somewhat soothing, like any ritual. The next volume in a lurid cover summed up the period of summer holidays, directly called to “turn on your head” and switch to autumn working mode. This year, the cornerstones of the world have shaken, and the collapse of the Pelevin chart is a symptomatic echo of the tectonic grind. It was even announced that there would be no new book at all, but it eventually came out, albeit a month late. Well, slightly overdue consolation never ceases to be so.
“KGBT+” is actually a sequel to last year’s collection of short stories by Transhumanism Inc., therefore, for a comfortable immersion in the new novel, the qualification has been slightly increased – an unprepared reader is immediately bombarded with a lot of inventive newspeak, and the rules of the world (the action takes place in a dystopian tomorrow) are thrown away. Therefore, it is advisable to re(pro)read the first book. But not necessarily. The initial shock quickly subsides, and the understanding comes that the fantastic world of the future, of course, turns out to be satirical, brought to the grotesque by the present.
Book cover /Eksmo
Rap, YouTube, TikTok there, of course, is already the last century, if not a millennium. Young and arrogant make a career as a “beater”. Implants are built into the brain of each person, so the “artists” broadcast their emotionally colored thoughts (“punch”) directly, not really bothering with the form. Some kind of beat is still present, it introduces the audience into a state of trance or meditation – therefore, outwardly, the concert really resembles a concert, but the message spreads as if through the air. Moreover, the newly acquired thoughts seem to be their own to the recipient. The technology for introducing ideas from Christopher Nolan’s Inception has been simplified and streamlined.
Behind every successful career there is a producer who helps to ride the conjuncture. Even the pseudonym of the main character, a KGBT+ hacker, was generated by a neural network in an attempt to please everyone – supporters of a strong hand will like the consonance of the KGB, liberals will catch the allusion to LGBT+. The plus (cross) at the end of the abbreviation also receives an artistic justification, since in his inlays the artist refers to the themes of death, catastrophe and God. The first stories of KGBT+ are suggested by the producer, but gradually the artist will gain a semblance of independence. Similarity, because the topics of the most hit hits will be offered to him by his past reincarnation – a Japanese Buddhist officer.
Pelevin is generous with ideas, his books are redundant. Another craftsman on the material of one of his novels would have made a couple of quite successful action films or some fantastic detective stories. But Pelevin, over the years, is less and less interested in imitating fiction. For example, the title story in the collection The Art of Light Touches (2019) pretended to be a review (!) of a fictional novel. “KGBT+” consists of two genetically related stories – 100 pages (The Straight Man) and 400 (The Late Man; the titles refer to the King Crimson song I Talk to the Wind). The first is the memoir of the aforementioned Japanese, the second is the memoir of a bully, where years and decades sometimes fly by in a couple of sentences.
Pelevin’s prose is certainly therapeutic, although not in the sense that heals, for example, the optimist O’Henry, who was called the Great Comforter (there was even a Soviet film with that name). And not in the sense of an escapist genre adventure. On the contrary, Pelevin scrupulously recalls everything that you thought, read, heard about during the reporting year – and which, perhaps, you would not like to remember. So in “KGBT+” there are ironic allusions to almost all key informational events, from the mass distribution of “foreign agencies” to the death of Jean-Paul Belmondo (the actor passed away last September). According to a recent investigation by journalists, the writer has long been living not in Moscow’s Northern Chertanov, but in Thailand. However, apparently, he does not get out of social networks – his awareness is amazing.
The cathartic effect is caused by the proprietary and unique combination of cynicism, Buddhism, black humor and conspiracy theories. First, using the language of hyperbole and metaphor, Pelevin actually calls a spade a spade. Secondly, bilious cynicism is sobering – and even natural idealists sometimes need to sink to the ground. Finally, many years of Buddhist propaganda is doing its job. Pelevin’s readers with experience are clearly prepared for the vicissitudes of fate more than many.
His latest book – not the best obviously, but definitely not the worst – is difficult to overestimate due to the context of the publication. Late, she left on time. KGBT+ is, no joke, primarily a guide to dealing with anxiety. Its effectiveness, however, will directly depend on enhanced practice – one reading is not enough. In short and quite rudely, we are convinced that it is possible to remain calm even in the epicenter of a hurricane if we stop overreacting to things that are beyond our control. “Do what you can, and come what may,” Pelevin actually says, almost repeating Marcus Aurelius. Who was also, apparently, a spontaneous Buddhist.
#KGBT #Victor #Pelevin #anxiety