Already after turning into a dog, Alexander admits that he visited Vavilen Tatarsky, the hero of another Pelevin novel, Generation P.

"The problem of the werewolf in the middle lane" - the coincidence of the names of the main characters and references to secondary characters (Colonel Lebedenko).

Released with the book music CD. The authorship of musical compositions was not indicated.

Original track listing:
1. And Khuli willow over the night river... Today, near the National, there is music from a black car with dip numbers. The Chinese driver smiled and clicked an old cassette out of the tape recorder. Yellow mountain. And my grave near the city of Luoyang. How boundlessly wide is the path of heavenly truth!
2. Philosophy. Words, like spintriyas, can be combined with each other in threes and even fours in many French ways. And each time a semblance of meaning will stick to them - on which the entire amphitheater discourse is built. It is good that this is understood even on the island of Cape Verde.
3. Chicken hunting. Read Bunin.
4. Alexander. Catch up and devour, how to give a drink.
5. Another favorite song of Alexander. Only Volodya, about whom they sing here, is not at all the Volodya he thinks about.
6.From the film based on Pu Songling. Right about me.
7. Pu Songling again. How much evil I brought to people.
8. Song of portfolio investors.
9.Endless beauty of the mirror. What can compare with it, except another mirror? So they look at each other from the very beginning of time.
10. What has the religion of Adonai turned into on the islands of Melanesia... And Sasha asks - "Do you believe in God?" How to explain to him that for many centuries I have not had this black dusty bag on my head, inside which you can believe it or not. However, I can explain. But then he will understand how old I am.
11. Kid Los Diaz. Y yo desesperando.

Some of these songs were later identified:
1. ?
2.Herminia - Philosophy.
3. Good night - Archdeacon Roman (Tamberg) and Priest Alexei Grachev (album "The Sea of ​​Life" (2002)).
4.Shocking Blue - I'll follow the sun.
5. Santocas - Valodia.
6.Sally Yeh - Lai Ming Bat Yiu Loi (song from the movie "Chinese Ghost Story" / Chinese Ghost Story 1).
7.Leslie Cheung - ? (song from the movie "Chinese Ghost Story 2" / Chinese Ghost Story 2).
8. Carlos Puebla - Un nombre.
9. Trinh Cong Son - Rung xua da khep (Rừng xưa đã khép) (song from the movie A-la verticale de l'ete) performed by Vu Tranh Xuan.
10. Choir of All Saints, Honiara - Jisas Yu Holem Blong Mi.
11. Nat King Cole - Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.

Artistic works and modern culture in the novel.

Chinese mythology about werefoxes (possibly The Case of the Werefoxes by Holm van Zaichik)
- A. Blok's poem "Scythians"
- works by Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita" and "Paris Poem"
- Alphaville song "Forever Young"
- Chopin's Prelude "Raindrops"
- Moonraker movie (about James Bond)
- "Kreutzer Sonata" by Leo Tolstoy
- "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and The Theory of Everything
- the story of Baron Munchausen
- book "Globalization and its Discontents" by Joseph Eugene Stiglitz
- “The Ballad of Nails” by Nikolai Tikhonov (“nails would be made from these people, there would be no stronger nails in the world”)
- “The Poem of the End” by Marina Tsvetaeva (“from friends - to you, the ins and outs of Eve’s secret from the tree - here: I am nothing more than an animal wounded in the stomach by someone”)
- "Ride of the Valkyries" and the opera "Ring of the Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner
- Dog Waltz
- fairy tales "Tiny-Havroshechka", "Scarlet Flower", "Little Red Riding Hood"
- myths about the wolf Fenrir and the werewolf
Borges' short story "Ragnarok"
- Elder Edda
- Zemfira's song “Goodbye” (“Goodbye, my beloved city ...”)
- the expression "Werewolves in uniform"
- Ulysses by James Joyce
— quote attributed to Lord Byron "Everybody has his skeleton in the closet"
- "Heart of a Dog" by Mikhail Bulgakov
- "The Bronze Horseman" by Pushkin
- Shakespeare's Hamlet
- The Matrix movie
- Shocking Blue song "I'll follow the sun"
- painting by Brueghel "Tower of Babel"
- Picasso's painting "The Old Jew and the Boy"
- The Psychopathology of Everyday Life by Sigmund Freud
- Films directed by Luchino Visconti, Takeshi Kitano
- films "Family portrait in the interior", "Death of the Gods", "Death in Venice", "Casablanca", "Gone with the Wind", "Mulholland Drive" - ​​David Lynch, "Dreamcatcher" by Stephen King, "The Matrix 2", " Matrix 3", "Lord of the Rings", "Midnight Dancers", "Sex Life in LA", "Versace Murder", "Romeo and Juliet".
- Quote from Oscar Wilde ("Yet each man kills the thing he loves...")
- works by Carlos Castaneda
- Nat King Cole song "Quizas Quizas Quizas" ("Y asi pasan los dias y yo desesperando...")
- In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai
- Dostoevsky's novel "Demons"
- painting by Kazimir Malevich "Black Square"
- there are hints of a novel and a film based on Lukyanenko's novel Night Watch ([…] metaphysical blockbusters in which good allows evil to feed because evil allows good to feed[…])
- other elements of modern culture and drug culture are repeatedly mentioned: computers and the Internet, computer games, media, trademarks

The "Sacred Book of the Werewolf" is, at the same time, a traditionally recognizable, familiar, and, at the same time, a completely new Pelevin.

Traditional - Pelevin's brilliant wit, his caustic sarcasm and amorism. As always, Pelevin's text just wants to be pulled apart into quotes: "Reforms ... are constantly going on here ... Their essence boils down to choosing the most vulgar of all possible options for the future with a great delay." “I noticed a long time ago: nothing pleases a Russian humanitarian intellectual so much as buying a new household electrical appliance ...” “SKO” is an extremely journalistic text. In it, Pelevin again touches on the most pressing topics of modern Russian reality: the Yukos affair, werewolves in uniform, emigration to London, and the complete discrediting of the liberal idea in Russia.

And with all this political and journalistic tension, the "Sacred Book Reverse" is an extremely lyrical text. Frankly, I have not yet read such Pelevin. The story of the fox A Huli, who gave her heart to the FSB werewolf in uniform Sasha Sery, is written with a piercingly touching, tender, sometimes even sentimental intonation.

But, in my opinion, the most poignant scene of the novel is when the Wolf howls at the skull of the Motley Cow, asking her to give oil - “so that the cookie-yukis-yuxi-puks unfastens his loer, the loer is thrown back to the security chief, the security chief rolls back to the hairdresser, the hairdresser to the cook, the cook to the driver, and the driver hired your Khavroshechka for an hour for a hundred and fifty bucks - and then ... "

And at this moment you realize that after all, Pelevin's novel is not only "about love." Or rather, even that it is not about her at all. It's about how to survive in a country that is overrun by werewolves. If in "Numbers" Pelevin spoke in detail about how the current system, the current "space of life" is arranged, then the "Book of the Werewolf" is an attempt to tell how one can even exist in such a space flying "from nowhere to nowhere" ...

Score: 10

At one time I was not enthusiastic about Pelevin. I read something, but with some bewilderment from the hype around this author. But the novel "The Holy Book of the Werewolf" just turned me upside down. With some books, an inexplicable relationship is established, as if some kind of chemical reaction occurs between the author and the reader. And it is impossible to convey your impression to another, it is pointless to praise or scold.

I love this book, I reread it regularly, almost every year. The aphoristic, polished text has long been disassembled into quotes in a notebook. It is difficult to write about this novel, the response to it turned out to be so personal.

I really appreciate the fusion of lyricism with Pelevin's unique irony and black humor in The Sacred Book of the Werewolf. They say that Pelevin wrote this book under the influence of love, and this is felt. He added lyrics to his corporate identity, as they add a new note to a familiar fragrance, and got a unique fragrance - such an association is established in me.

Due to the fact that the heroine is two thousand years old (and these are only those years that she can easily remember), the book achieves a kind of transcendent effect - how much has happened, how much has been seen, and everything is the same, and the world does not change, and does not change his laws. Hence that broad, generalizing view of history, including that of our country, which I like so much in the novel. A separate topic is the interweaving of magic and fantasy into our history, created by creatures who have a reference book "Russian Folk Tales". And what is the mention of the famous Sharikov Polygraph Poligrafovich, and how his deeds are woven into the history of the country! Maybe this is how it should be written about our reality, about which there are jokes “I live like in a fairy tale: the farther, the more terrible”, and let descendants write documentary books.

But the central theme of the novel is still the theme of love, and we must pay tribute to Pelevin: he managed to say a new word here, there has never been such love in Russian literature.

Is there a piece of eternity in the soul of every woman? It is no coincidence that Fox A is a werewolf by nature, and Sasha Gray becomes a werewolf during a short cycle of human life, and the difference between a man and a woman is comparable to the age difference between these two creatures.

In addition, the novel is built into a kind of cycle; against its background, it is interesting to re-read the stories “The Prince of the State Planning Commission” and “Problems of a Werewolf in the Middle Lane”, in which the werewolf Alexander also acts.

Score: 10

a set of jokes and interesting thoughts generously seasoned with vulgarity. (It was impossible not to make the fox a prostitute, right?) The plot carries a semantic load to the same extent as Malevich's square carries it. Actually, I have no doubt that Pelevin laid some hidden meaning in the plot, but there is no system in the novel. Critics, they say, will then figure it out for themselves whether there is any sense in this scribbling or not. Critics find, and not even one version of the meaning. And then they still argue what the author actually meant.

As for me, the plot of the novel is just a set of characters and environments necessary to create Don Juans and Carlos. This is especially noticeable towards the end of the novel, when the entire space is filled with dialogue and there is simply no plot. After the creation of Don Juan and Carlos, you can chatter about anything until the very end of the book, as long as it looks philosophical and subtle in an oriental way. There are so many allusions to Castaneda that naguals and tonals crawl out of every page, and even the final jump is copied (well, borrowed) from Carlos. And if in Chapaev such a parody of Castaneda looks serious and organic, then here it is not. Just a free retelling of suitable oriental wisdom from various isms and a philosophy invented on the knee.

I liked the episode with the yellow gentleman, when he chains the fox with a hat and scrolls. A few quotes and comparisons are also really good. And I also liked the mythological story about the dog P*zdets, who wakes up when adversaries come to Russian lands, after which he COMES to them.

And about seasoning. Where without vulgarity Pelevin? In Chapaev, he sneers at himself and his own reader, showing a horse with two dicks and a private who can talk with his ass. From these spectacles, the crowd downright falls with laughter, and in another way, they say, there is no way to get through to the people. So Pelevin in each new novel leads his two * horses by the leash, from which it becomes closer to the people and from which popularity its all growing.

Score: 6

“Love was completely meaningless. But she gave meaning to everything else.

Unexpectedly and pleasantly, for the umpteenth time, Viktor Pelevin, surprising me, opened up to me from a new side. Yes, this is still the same sharp social satire, extremely relevant for the time of writing, even forcing you to directly feel the era. This is all the same solipsism and Buddhism, the same teachings about emptiness and comprehension of the secrets of the world through the equation "world = consciousness". This is still the same sometimes rude, but very accurate and catchy humor. These are all the same wonderful aphorisms scattered throughout the text in dozens, after reading which each time you want to emphasize them, then write them down .. but there is nothing and nowhere to emphasize and write down, as always, just some kind of emptiness.)

But this is the first book by Viktor Olegovich, which explores the concept of Love. Let love be very vulgar from the very beginning, let this love be unpleasant or even evil creatures, but, apparently, something pricked the author. I don't even really believe it. From whom, but from him I did not expect to see the path to truth through love. The relationship of a werewolf fox and a werewolf very competently shows a misunderstanding between the sexes, and at the same time, the reasons for the endless attraction of these sexes, albeit so different, but therefore reaching out to each other in a mutual attempt to finally unravel the secret of the other ... Pragmatic, a homophobic, primitive, with Zon concepts and values, a werewolf in uniform and a cynical prostitute who, instead of a known place, has a seminal sac, is a very repulsive, at first glance, couple. Even in the novel itself, Alexander recalls the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" .. Yes, only in their world of monsters - they are both. But, as mentioned earlier, this does not prevent them from knowing love in the same way, and in no way distinguishes them from sleek knights and perfumed princesses.

Fox Ah Huli is a metaphor for the entire cultural heritage of mankind. Equally eclectically absorbed all the diversity of cultural experience, and from this naturally became infinitely cynical. Its tail is a real discovery of the author, as an active principle of consciousness in terms of influencing the surrounding world (and hello again to solipsism). And Khuli is, on the one hand, any subject that has such an active perceiving beginning-tail, and on the other hand, it is any woman capable of chaining any male with her charms. No wonder the fox is surprised how women can do it so easily: “When I see a girl in an expensive boutique with a gentleman who buys her a brooch worth a small plane, I am convinced every time that human females create mirages no worse than us. Maybe even better. It is necessary to pass off a breeding machine made of meat as a marvelous spring flower worthy of a precious frame - and maintain this illusion not for minutes, like us, but for years and decades, and all this without any tail-slapping. You have to be able to do that."

The end of the novel is touching. Despite the horror of the two main characters, their story captivates with the tragedy of the intransigence of external circumstances, the fragility of feelings, and creates an effect no worse than the drama of Romeo and Juliet. Definitely a successful work of the author, containing all the positive features of his work, and making a new contribution, revealing the idea of ​​Love.

Score: 9

Disappointment. Pelevin, as it were, forgot that he had already written all this. It would be nice if he just repeated himself (Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, who “nervously smoke,” also repeated, after all, and more than once), so he also began to pretend that he didn’t! it doesn't repeat itself! what are you! And he began to retell the summary of his own previous books as if they were not in sight. Here comes the drag. In addition, the woman did not work out. Late Pelevin women, children, personalities (that is, everything irrational, irreducible to philosophical calculations) either ceased to be interested, or the lips were silent (V. Erofeev). No, small jokes are great, the correspondence of foxes is also, in short, in terms of humor - excellent, as always, but there are also obvious punctures: ancient China (already happened 100 times), howling in the tundra (mdaaa ...) An attempt to return to the literature of feelings , probably failed. Trying to get away from the field that has already become familiar, the air defense stepped too dangerously on the brink of a foul. Werewolves in uniform are too obvious a realization of the metaphor, and the metaphor is alien and repeated 100 times. Here in "Numbers" pathos - not a hair, but you laugh at the top of your voice. And after reading - you think, think deeply ... Here - not that. It is said too directly, and the miracle does not work - too straightforward statement always repeats someone's earlier one! A new word never sounds straightforward - only a quote.

At one time, the accusatory pathos strangled the great writer in Saltykov-Shchedrin, leaving some good jokes from him against the general impossibly pathetic background. And in this novel by Pelevin, alas! - the same. People like this novel for the abundance of jokes. Me too. For the rest, no.

On the Poster you can find a very deep (even in 2 chapters!) review by L. Danilkin, where he interprets the novel as a parable about the relationship between the people (Khavroshechka) - the artist (A Khuli) - the authorities (werewolves in uniform). The review is good, do not say anything. After reading it, I thought - no, what if I'm a fool? - and opened the novel again, hoping that the Jericho rose would turn green where I saw only the desert. Well, here it is. What can I add... The review is good, the novel is not good!

Score: 6

Pelevin is incredibly talented, I understood this from the first page of Chapaev and never doubted it again. He is gifted with the power of words and superhuman insight. Any of his books can be safely (and deservedly) disassembled into aphonarisms. But, for my taste, he is angry and cynical - this is not for me. I have not read all of his novels, I rarely have the mood to read Pelevin, but of all that I have read, The Book of the Werewolf is definitely the best. It captivates at the beginning, captivates with non-trivial aesthetics in the middle, and by the end it becomes so piercing that it stuns for a while. After reading the letter that A-Hooley wrote to Lord Cricket at the request of Alexander, for the first time I appreciated Pelevin's humor so much that I burst out laughing. Until then, I had given more credit to his humor with my mind than my heart. I have great respect for Pelevin's work, I really consider his books to be real literature, but still, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf is the only thing written by Viktor Pelevin that I take the liberty of recommending to read.

Score: 7

Gentlemen "art critics", in my opinion, the originality of the presentation of some of you has distracted from the main thing. And Pelevin, in my opinion, did not aim to capture your imagination. Why all the comments about the artistic values ​​of the novel? Roman sucked out of your finger!? The form of expression characteristic of Pelevin, the one that is so impressive and sometimes shocking, is simple and natural for him, I don’t think that he strains his brain much about wording and does not suffer from choosing words. Natural and easy, like breathing for everyone. No one says a word about WHAT the writer wanted to say, all about HOW it is breathtakingly delivered! LOVE IS THE KEY! He shares with us an amazing discovery through a fox. And the essence of the novel is by no means fiction, the truth, which in its raw form is not easily absorbed by everyone. Here is the talent of Pelevin and resorted to means of artistic expression. After all, the artist is the essence of the original interpreter of the obvious, the creator of the form. Pelevin is a true artist!!! Still, for me, the main thrill of reading it is in such a feeling when you want to scream “Yes! This is true! I know what you're talking about, dude! Although I myself would never say that, I would express it differently. ”More. A heap of imploring fantastic plot elements, it seems, only so that the reader’s impressionability, completely overloaded, goofed off under the rubble of all this tinsel, suffocates to death, and the reader himself, deprived of his greed for everything extreme, exotic (forbidden ..) bitches, could listen in the simple words of an artist.

Score: 10

My first acquaintance with Pelevin.

The novel leaves conflicting sensations, but, in general, I rather did not like it.

The plot is replete with various absurdities and inconsistencies (for example, the scene with a cow skull looks completely implausible, although it’s not very smart, of course, to apply the term “implausible” to a novel whose protagonist is a werewolf fox)

Some dialogues, again, look completely out of place (at the end of the philosophizing novel, two werewolves are simply killed in their bomb shelter. No, they are even quite interesting, but the author shoved them there extremely rudely. Well, there will not be two in such a situation, albeit werewolves, talk like that!)

Another episode with the Yellow Lord did not like. That's purely subjective, I didn't like it at all. As if everything had finally slipped into a fairy tale.

In general, as I understood from reviews of other novels by the writer, and from this one that I read, Pelevin's creative method is to use the plot simply to connect a bunch of smart dialogues and reasoning. I have nothing against such a method, but in this novel, firstly, it is done extremely roughly, and such pieces stand out sharply (the letters of two sisters are another example), and secondly, the philosophy itself is rather doubtful (although, of course, there are very "appetizing" pieces, just ready-made quotes).

But it was read, I must say, despite all this, it was interesting enough, there was no desire to quit or postpone.

Something like this.

PS. I have already read 200 pages of Pelevin's "Snuff", my impressions are much more positive, my fears for Pelevin's work as a whole, it seems, have not been confirmed.

Score: 5

There are books that are very difficult to talk about. It is difficult because everything is already said in the book itself. Everything about everything. And there is nothing to add.

This novel has it all. There is subtly - witty satire, sometimes evil - sometimes cunningly - subtle. There are episodes that are tritely reminiscent of a Shapiyon action movie, and there is a poignant love story. Love between creatures that at first glance are not adapted to this.

After all, a werewolf in our understanding is bloody, scary and creepy, but not loving at all. We do not associate the word "werewolf" with the words "love", "duty", "Motherland".

And if the story began in such a way that one could quite expect some kind of erotic black reading, it soon became clear that this was a work about love. It is Love with a capital letter.

Outcome. I'll probably re-read it sometime.

Score: 9

I have read most of Pelevin's works. The first was Omon Ra. I remember that then I was in a state of shock, probably for a whole week after reading :) I read the “Sacred Book of the Werewolf” quite recently, and, of course, having got used to Pelevin’s style, I no longer experienced the former delights. The author remains true to himself - political satire (but in moderation, not like in "Snuff"), banter over the Russian business elite (but less than in "Numbers") and, of course, from book to book, a transferable presentation of the concept in your own words Buddhism and related teachings.

What did not like:

1. A veiled justification for prostitution. I am a cynical person, but that Indian, A Huli's client, is sincerely sorry.

2. Too frequent and unnecessary descriptions of how

Spoiler (plot reveal)

the main characters have sex "entering" the film

In addition, it is not entirely clear why they abandoned the traditional methods ... and how it all develops the plot itself and the ideas of the author.

3. It never explains why foxes

Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)

are immortal and live for thousands of years, and wolves and dogs that grow old like people? What is the difference?

What we liked:

1. Admired the letters of the sisters Huli to each other. I had the opportunity to live for several years in those countries that the sisters are discussing. Realities, especially Thai ones, are captured with incredible accuracy and amazing psychologism.

2. The idea of ​​werewolves trying to achieve enlightenment.

And I just love Pelevin. That's why the rating is high.

Score: 8

8/10 Viktor Pelevin "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" is a fantasy novel about an immortal fox demoness who brainwashes ordinary people in order to support her existence. Once again, Pelevin in his work shows the relationship of people who are in non-human forms.

Separately, I would like to say about the philosophical rantings of the author, which occupy a significant place in the novel. Pelevin is trying, in my opinion, in an amateurish way, to express a deliberately strange concept of world outlook, consisting of a hellish mixture of borrowings from various religions and philosophies (most, in my opinion, taken from Buddhism). To explain this concept, he uses numerous everyday analogies, and even slips into statements like “this idea cannot be expressed in words, because words are just human concepts,” etc. Many actions of the characters that follow from this philosophy are not explained or contradict it - and this destroys the wall of trust that has been built for a long time. And the concept itself is full of holes, contradictions and omissions. In my opinion, the reader should not admire the supposedly high level of the philosophical idea of ​​the work just because the author did not bother to clearly and logically explain it. I think Pelevin deliberately describes a mushy absurd system of worldview, mocking the modern reader and forcing them to strain their brains.

Despite the gender of the author, the psychologism of the story is surprisingly feminine. In opposition to him (and perhaps as a confirmation), the male character is the embodiment of a rude animal principle, which, of course, is chauvinism, but since. a strong half of humanity is shown in an unflattering light (like the author himself), this should not cause any indignation of readers. Sergo2, November 12, 2011

For me, this is so far Pelevin's most "humane" book. Yes, that's the paradox! The fact is that here he spent an incredible amount of time for himself on the lyrics (Pelevinsky spill, but the lyrics!) - and it turned out very well. The book attracts not even events (of which there are two or three - no more), but juicy and colorful characters ... No, "character" is not the right word. Images! Even episodic ones (the British lord, Mikhalych, I Khuli) are filigree and harmonious. In short, made with love, the propaganda of which the novel is.

For a long time (along with Alexander) he tried to delve into the depths of philosophy until he remembered “Alice Through the Looking Glass”! And here it dawned on me: everything was very simply put on the shelves by Lewis Carroll. The whole world is the dream of the Black King. “What happens when he wakes up? - You will disappear! Pelevin added only one thing: the Black King also dreams of himself. He is an illusion in a world that he himself created with his illusion. He is the same Mind that Perceives and is itself Perceived. And to stop the illusion of the King is very simple: you need to find a way to wake up! What to add? Only that I am this Black King. As does each of us.

Score: 9

As best I could, I stayed away from this author. But, having found a quote from it, suddenly, from Andrzej Sapkowski, he decided. What to say? Pelevin is really difficult to criticize, it is difficult to find something wrong in this prose. Blackness, obscene language, topical and srachetvornoe sucking life and native country? So it's not a minus, it's a style. It's like blaming Stephen King for being scary. What else? An overabundance of the East, an infantile enthusiasm for Chinese teachings? Who understands this now? Exotic, clever, twisted into something tricky from the particular to the general - why would a subway reader need more? And in general, where is the criticism against the urgent self-irony? Two-thirds of the cuffs reflects with one of its prologues. Does not exceed. Another thought comes out: how cool he writes! You read quickly, without sticking, as if you are sliding your belly over the mucus that makes you want to puke, but it gives such speed, such a breeze! And nothing to criticize. Everything is in place. And the author is not stubborn, the author does not drive outrageous, the author is conceptual and honest. At least to the depth at which 80% of readers get it. And everything that is deeper - the right word, you did not undertake to read Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky without anesthesia will withstand any autopsy to the very bone marrow. But Pelevin is not, he, like a mixin, slips out of the hands of a critic, tying himself in a knot, leaving a liter of euphoria, nauseating mucus and ... emptiness.

And yet, if you wash off this mucus, the following claims appear. Uneven. Obviously uneven. He calls Hawking Hawking, then Hawking. Either openly swears, or chastely “beeps” not the harshest words with asterisks. Either it rolls a logical, bright sequence of well-aimed thoughts, or it flows into a self-justifying philosophy ... however, the latter is already a matter of the pain threshold. Well, the end is crumpled, despite important conclusions. And in general, the plot of this love story is more like a draft of some series, which is clearly wrapped up at the studio, so it remained a draft. Especially at the end - I emphasize - at the level of the plot, i.e. bare sequence of events. The presentation of the material and the accompanying philosophy, of course, brighten up a lot. Although ... the philosophy itself did not hook. I was far from the East before, and after reading I didn’t learn anything stunning, so this author’s enthusiasm for him is incomprehensible to me: he himself writes that everything is emptiness, that the truth is in silence. There is self-contradiction.

Still, the book is heartfelt in many ways. I expected the worst in this regard. But in the coming months, I will probably not read anything from Pelevin.

Score: 7

I give the book the highest rating. I liked that the book is not stupid at all. It is filled with funny albeit sometimes obscene aphorisms.

The novel turned out to be much more positive than the subsequent one about vampires. He is much more humane. There is a chance for a tailless monkey to be free in this life. A person is forgiven his physiological needs in the form of sex, and sincerely adoration for his spiritual component (poetry, literature, music) is felt.

I admired the lyrical-romantic plot line. Ahuli was born 2000 thousand years ago. She is an old treasure for Sharikov. But, of course, due to his illiteracy and narrowness of views, he could not understand this and ran away to "defend his homeland." I am sure that I will remember for a long time the moments when the main characters were sitting at the TV with their tails intertwined, and I will smile remembering the rude jokes that the dog P ... c and the fox Ahuli were thrown

Score: 10

But this is already just a light and relaxed novel a la “postmodern”, on the writing of which, it seems, the author himself did not work too hard. Repetition of the past, retelling of all the same ideas - but on the other hand, a funny dog:smile:, a fox in love and ... but nothing special. It is easier to read "Chapaev", and thanks for that. But it's not to be taken seriously, of course.

This book from Viktor Pelevin went right behind “Pineapple Water for a Beautiful Lady” - it’s not that I master the writer’s work on a rotational basis, but simply, once in the ocean of the writer’s fantasy, I won’t be able to quickly get back. Or, one might say, I got bogged down in Pelevin's philosophical insinuations like a fly in a web. So, the next was "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" - the novel is small and rapidly read, in comparison with other works of the author.

My edition looks like this:

Please note that the book is sold sealed in cellophane, and when selling, they check the passport - category 18+. What progress has been made!

What to say? The author, as always, is either philosophizing or making fun. Why do I read any seemingly phantasmagoric nonsense from Pelevin - these are amazing pearls about our life - and they are present in their usual concentration. That is, almost every page or through the page. Well, here are two examples:

And who will say that there is something to argue - you can throw slippers at me. And there are many such places in the book.

Separately, I want to clarify the theme of the title of the book. As far as I understand, Pelevin's books are called almost arbitrarily. If it says "The Holy Book of the Werewolf", then this does not mean at all that it is so. Just in the text once this topic will pass - it will flash and go out. In the same way, the previous "Pineapple water for a beautiful lady" was not named so at all because of some kind of pineapple water, but simply ... it came to the word in the last Christmas story (which is not Christmas at all in the general sense) and that's it. And here's Pineapple Water. It's almost the same here. But there really is a place about the Holy Book in the text.

In general, when reading The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, it always seemed to me that this whole romance of the passion of the werewolf fox and the werewolf went just with a well-known stamp. This is not quite a literary phrase “Shameful wolves!”, A hot topic of werewolves, relevant analogies with FSB officers - the successors of the KGB (what a brand they ruined! - the author notes) - all this was enough for the author to sketch a novel even with a love line, with the theme of oil production , tied this business (that is, oil production) to an old Russian fairy tale - and the result was the “Sacred Book of the Werewolf”.

What is the book about (futile attempts to retell Pelevin):

the story is told from the perspective of a werewolf fox in human form; this givenness makes it possible to make this particular novel special, it is often called feminine; in particular, the correspondence between werewolf foxes, living for several centuries, is very interesting. Everything else is interesting too;

about the werewolf, I will not specify - otherwise it will not be interesting to read. You will find out what he does in his service, what he likes or dislikes, how he copes with his sense of smell of a wolf in a human body, and his way of thinking is not at all shameful, but still subordinate to the current state of affairs in the country;

and about many other things - Pelevin's works are like a kaleidoscope, turning the page, you still do not know what digression from the topic will be.

But in general, the book is sad, as always philosophical, I recommend it to convinced fans of Pelevin's work, but not to the rest. You just don't like it is all.

And I would like to take off a star for a lot of sex in the book - but I can't. This is the same as finding fault with the design of a bicycle. Pelevin is a very good writer, extraordinary, sometimes even amazing, and counting sunspots is completely stupid.

Pelevin Victor - The Sacred Book of the Werewolf

Abstract

The real text, also known as Ah Huli, is a clumsy literary forgery made by an unknown author in the first quarter of the 21st century. Most experts agree that it is not the manuscript itself that is interesting, but the method by which it was thrown into the world. The text file, titled "A Khuli", was allegedly located on the hard drive of a portable computer found under "dramatic circumstances" in a Moscow park. The police protocol, which describes the find, testifies to the orchestration of this action. It seems to us that it gives a good idea of ​​the virtuoso technologies of modern PR.

Victor PELEVIN
HOLY BOOK OF THE WEREWOLF

Expert comment

The real text, also known as Ah Huli, is a clumsy literary forgery made by an unknown author in the first quarter of the 21st century. Most experts agree that it is not the manuscript itself that is interesting, but the method by which it was thrown into the world. The text file, titled "A Khuli", was allegedly located on the hard drive of a portable computer found under "dramatic circumstances" in a Moscow park. The police protocol, which describes the find, testifies to the orchestration of this action. It seems to us that it gives a good idea of ​​the virtuoso technologies of modern PR.

The protocol is authentic, all seals and signatures are present on it, although the exact time of its compilation is not known - the upper part of the title page with the date was cut off when binding and filing the protocol into a folder before being sent for storage at the end of the calendar year, as required by the official job description. It follows from the protocol that the interest of the police officers was caused by strange natural phenomena in the Bitsevsky Park of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow. Citizens observed a bluish glow above the trees, fireballs and many five-color rainbows. Some of the rainbows were spherical (according to witnesses of the incident, the colors in them seemed to shine through each other).

The epicenter of the anomaly was a vast wasteland on the border of the park, where there is a springboard for jumping on a bicycle. A semi-melted frame from a Canondale Jekyll 1000 bicycle and the remains of wheels were found near the springboard. The grass within a radius of ten meters around the springboard is burned, and the burnt spot has the shape of a regular five-pointed star, beyond which the grass was not affected. Items of women's clothing were found near the bicycle frame: jeans, a pair of sneakers, panties of the "week" type with the word "Sunday" and a T-shirt with the inscription "ckuf" embroidered on the chest.

The book is written from the point of view of a woman - more precisely, a fox. It seems that before that the gender of the narrator in your novels was male. Was it difficult to readjust?

Pelevin: This novel was not so much written as dictated to me by a certain female essence, very pretty, which I just fell in love with while writing the book. Of course, I don’t want to say that I really believe in such things - it’s just that subjectively everything was perceived that way. The book was written very easily, and I performed the function not so much of a writer as of a stenographer and editor. So I didn't need to change. But I did have a strong identification with the heroine - to the point that several times I imagined that I was tapping the keys with fox paws. It's an interesting feeling. Probably something similar is experienced by an actor practicing the Stanislavsky system. But I didn't make any effort. And I was very sorry to finish the last page and part with the heroine.

From an interview with Viktor Pelevin to Izvestia correspondent Natalya Kochetkova

In order to reach the last truth, the heroine-author of the "Sacred Book of the Werewolf" (on the cover and in the imprint of the product offered by the Eksmo publishing house there is the magic phrase "Victor Pelevin") needed to live several thousand years, and during the last period of her earthly existence to undergo a number of rather dull adventures. Was it worth the effort? A werewolf fox masquerading as a young prostitute lives in Moscow and is greedy for advanced reading. If she had read any of Pelevin's works (always on sale), there would have been no need to be imbued with love for a werewolf (in uniform), to recall the instructions that a wise Chinese monk once bestowed on a red-haired flirt, to study Bishop Berkeley, listen to lectures on the occult, fly to an oil-bearing north and hunt chickens. Ate (in the sense - read) - and the order. Forward and above.
Andrey Nemzer, Boring Boredom, Vremya Novostei

"Every year it becomes more and more difficult to maintain identity and feel like a prostitute, everything around here is being prostituted at such a speed", - one of the heroines of the book shrewdly remarks. It is clear why a prostitute is entrusted with telling about this vile world - this is not a simple transformation of the motive of Chinese fairy tales, in which the werewolf fox actually receives vital energy from a love date with a person. This is the only possible choice: only a burnt through and cynical flirt-tail, an animal that knows nothing about morality, can adequately and accurately tell about inhuman modernity. in general, any relationship. Some have others, some give, others ... Simply, rudely and clearly. As always with Pelevin, all this bleakness, in which there is no place for anything human, is cut through by sharp linguistic jokes - funny and not very. by lies. LG"; "kukis-yukis-yuksi-puks", "the Russian word "God" in English becomes a swamp -"bog"...

The overall result: the magnificent thinking apparatus of a smart, caustic and well-read author is idle (readers do not care about the dividends that the publishers and the writer will extract). Long before the middle, the novel begins to desperately slip, the plot develops strainedly, rare events drown in the endless and often not very intelligible streams of thoughts and conversations of the characters. The narrative breaks up into dozens, at times rather bright pieces, which, however, do not add up to a coherent picture.
Maya Kucherskaya. "To live with wolves...", "Rossiyskaya Gazeta"

One of the frightening properties of Viktor Pelevin is his high reflectivity. He somehow accidentally took upon himself the burden of the main mirror of our most recent history and carries himself where and what he pleases.

How it happened is not entirely clear, but either our times are unrealistic, or Pelevin himself convinced us of this. Or maybe, on the contrary, he stands out for the realistic descriptions of the life of his contemporaries against the background of the writers of ladies' and non-ladies' detective stories. In addition, always in the topic of the day: how can descendants, rummaging through today's, not believe in werewolves, if they are written about in the newspapers even without Pelevin? So he wrote, and much more interesting.
Igor Pronin. "Gazeta.Ru"

From Pelevin's new book I have a painful, but quite definite feeling: a person knew how to do magical things. For example, blowing long-lived soap bubbles, iridescent, light, evoking the same deep and bright sadness that a spring sunset inspires on the outskirts of the city. Blowing bubbles required too much mental strength. Air at the end. The author realized that they can be rolled out of manure, as, in fact, one of his heroes did. And he began to roll up dung balls, passing them off as bubbles. Everything would be fine - the form and even some iridescence - but the air completely disappeared from his compositions. And then they didn't fly anymore.

It's not bad that Pelevin wrote a cynical book, for which they have already begun to reproach him; she is not particularly cynical or even naive. The bad thing is that for the first time in his life he wrote a boring book.
Dmitry Bykov. "Here, a new turn", "Spark"

As in all his previous texts, Pelevin comes to the reader not only with a whip, but also with prana, as well as chakras, hymns of Nothing and his other esoteric mambo jumbo. "Werewolf" is a powerful power plant that produces ex oriente lux in volumes sufficient to illuminate the temple of the void without interruption; and even if you don’t earn a real tan under these lamps, it must be admitted that the irradiation session is worth the money: Pelevin still manages to prove very witty that there is no one to sunbathe, and no temple of emptiness exists.

Disappearing reality tricks have been this writer's main business from the beginning; but perhaps in "The Werewolf" he invested no less powerful resources in a new phase of his study of elitist jargons. Pelevin has always been attracted by the socially prestigious slang in which the elite of temporary workers, the local "priests," express themselves. At first it was the late Soviet language (with its abbreviations-tetragrammaton and "transitional red banners"), then Novo-Russian (with bandit "messages"), now it's managerial (with "portfolio investors" and "minority shareholders"). Pelevin's crowning number is a presentation in the current jargon of something for which he is not intended in principle: like explaining the concept of "seeking God" through the term "improving a credit rating." Provoking a comic effect, Pelevin shows that any elitist jargon actually interacts easily with others and, in essence, is no different from all others. If there is a real priest, then it is Pelevin himself, a social polyglot who is equally free to download and cheat anyone, using both socially prestigious and frankly marginal discursive practices.

Finally, this novel, as always, is poignantly touching: Pelevin devilishly manages to convey certain emotions, such as the experience of a Moscow sunset, a night bike ride with a flashlight through the Bitsevsky forest, or the mood of love that arises when two creatures intertwine their tails and watch a Karvai film. But the most touching page in the novel is when the Wolf howls at the skull of the Spotted Cow, asking her for oil, - " so that cookie-yukis-yuxi-puks unfastens his loer, the loer throws it back to the security chief, the security chief rolls back to the hairdresser, the hairdresser to the cook, the cook to the driver, and the driver hires your Khavroshechka for an hour for a hundred and fifty bucks - and then ... There is some heartbreaking, primal truth in this rhythmic incantation: maybe something like this would have happened if Prokhanov had been asked to write the text for Leonard Cohen's ballad.
Lev Danilkin. "Poster"

80 percent of the volume is occupied by boring Chinese mysticism, descriptions of the habits and thoughts of werewolves, as well as endless homegrown syllogisms on the themes of The Matrix. The remaining 20 are inclusions, thanks to which this fast food should please everyone like a dollar. Plus obscene vocabulary: they will immediately buzz about the novel, argue whether it carries artistic meaning or not, which will give free PR, enhance commercial success and increase sales ...

Undoubtedly, The Holy Book is Pelevin's most literary work of high quality. Complex, but proportionate (I want to say: openwork) architectonics. A minimum of stylistic mistakes. Comfort for the recipient: 380 pages you pass, as if on the softest springs ...