Viktor Olegovich Pelevin, writer: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Viktor Pelevin is a writer whose life is shrouded in mystery. The name and work of this man fascinates and arouses unceasing interest. Despite the fact that his first novel was published in 1996, the author's non-standard prose still causes heated debate. And the most amazing thing is that Victor Pelevin, whose books break sales records, remains one of the most mysterious figures in modern literature.

Mysterious Person

Pelevin is a writer of whom little is known. Few journalists can boast of a personal acquaintance with him. At one time, TV people made incredible efforts to invite the writer to a program or talk show, but they could not even get through to him.

Viktor Pelevin, whose books have been translated into many European languages, is reluctant to give interviews to Russian journalists. And when he appears in public, which he rarely does, he appears before his fans exclusively in black glasses. Publishers whose interests includepromotion of Pelevin's books, on the offer of press workers to organize an interview with a mysterious author, they offer to send questions by e-mail. The author of sensational novels, as a rule, refuses personal meetings.

Several years ago there were even rumors that Viktor Olegovich Pelevin was a non-existent person. And the books published under this name are –the fruits of the labors of the so-called literary ghosts. And yet, who is Viktor Pelevin? What is known about him from official sources?

Short biography

Pelevin Viktor Olegovich was born in Moscow in 1962. The future writer spent his childhood in a communal apartment in the very center of the capital. In the seventies, the family moved to Chertanovo, where, according to some reports, Viktor Pelevin still lives today. After graduating from a prestigious school located in Leontievsky Lane, he entered the Energy Institute. Then there were postgraduate studies and several years of work at the department. In 1987, the writer, like his famous hero Tatarsky, entered the Literary Institute. Gorky.

Viktor Pelevin, whose biography cannot be fully represented due to the presence of a large number of white spots, according to some sources, he served in the army, was never married, worked for several years as a correspondent in one of the Moscow magazines. The first collection of short stories was published by a major Russian publishing house in 1992. The novel that made him famous was published in 1991. But before proceeding to the topic of Pelevin's work, it is worth a few wordstell about what else has become known to inquisitive members of the press about the life of the author of the sensational novel "Chapaev and Emptiness".

School and Institute

Former classmates and teachers of Pelevin remember him as a reserved teenager. Among his peers, he was distinguished by high erudition, but he always kept himself apart.

Pelevin was expelled from the famous university that graduates certified poets and prose writers. There were many legends about him at the Literary Institute. In his student years, Pelevin did not stand out in any way. At least that's what the art teachers thought. Soon after his expulsion, he became famous. This professor could not forgive a former student for a long time. There was a time when an applicant, seen with a book by this author, had every chance of failing the entrance exams.

First novel

The work "Omon Ra" was published in 1991. In terms of genre, it is close to a thriller, but it is a parody of an educational novel of the Soviet years. The main feature of "Omon Ra" is grotesque. The heroes of the novel are cadets of the flight school. Maresyev. After admission, each of them will have their legs amputated. And this is done in the name of the motherland. Then the cadets learn the Kalinka dance. In passing, this fantastic and philosophical work also mentions the military school of Pavel Korchagin, whose graduates, without exception, are all blind invalids. For his first novel, Pelevin was awarded two prestigious literary prizes.

A novel set invoid

Pelevin is a writer who, according to critics, has occupied the niche of Castaneda, Borges and Cortazar in Russian literature. The author of the novel "Chapaev and Emptiness" is the first representative of modern philosophical prose in Russia. The action of this work takes place two years after the revolution. The main character - Peter Void - serves in Chapaev's division. This work was received by critics ambiguously, but in most cases positively. The novel was included in the list of contenders for the Booker Prize.

Generation P

A novel about Russians whose views were shaped in an era of change was published in 1999. The action of the work, which has become a cult, takes place in the early nineties. The hero of the novel is a graduate of the Literary Institute, forced to work in a stall selling cigarettes and beer. But due to chance, he becomes one of the representatives of the profession, the existence of which in the early nineties in Russia, few people knew. Tatarsky (namely, that's the name of Pelevin's hero) becomes a copywriter.

Before the novel appeared on the shelves of bookstores, some of its fragments could be read by Internet users. Critics were interested in a non-standard plot. Pelevin had even more fans. The publication of the novel "Generation P" was a long-awaited event.

DPP

In 2003, a collection was published, which included stories and the novel "Numbers". Prior to this event, there was a short break in the author's work. Pelevin is a writer in whose books criticism of the Sovietconsciousness. The satire of this author is peculiar. It is not expressed in the author's position expressed in the text itself. It is rather a feeling of the ugliness of modern life, which, however, cannot be otherwise. Similar ideas and sentiments are present in DPP.

Features of prose

Pelevin is a writer whose books are a kind of encyclopedia of spiritual and intellectual literature. Any of his writings can be considered as a textbook on mythology. But in order to understand the meaning of Pelevin's ideas, it is necessary to have sufficient information from the field of the history of religion and philosophy. Not every even educated reader can decipher the intertextual references that are present in his books.

In the texts of this author there are religious and philosophical treatises. Reading Pelevin's books is like solving a crossword puzzle. Some literary scholars and admirers of Pelevin's work believe that his prose is a fascinating textbook on religious studies.

What is the reason for the popularity?

The author referred to in this article differs from many of his colleagues in his fine artistic taste and unusually developed imagination. At least, this is what the majority of Russian critics think. Pelevin manages to find a new angle and an original approach in each book. It often surprises, and sometimes even shocks. Pelevin's books contain complex philosophical constructions, but thanks to the lightness of the language, reading does not become tedious.

Images of heroes in the novels of this writer -memorable and vibrant. And Pelevin's literary style is a mixture of forms and genres. In one book, you can find several genres - science fiction, detective, mysticism, and drug romance. By the way, despite the fact that Pelevin's heroes abuse illegal drugs, the author claims that such a weakness is unknown to him. He is able to expand his consciousness without the use of drugs.

Criticism

Of course, not all readers are delighted with Pelevin's prose. But even fans notice that the skill of this writer does not develop incrementally. The novel, which was published more than twenty years ago, according to critics, has not yet been surpassed. Pelevin's prose is distinguished by the presence of different styles that may be present in one work. In the book, you can find episodes that do not play any role in the plot. All these features of prose provoke both positive and negative reactions from critics and readers.

Pelevin and classics

One of the literary critics once said that Pelevin is trying to build a bridge between youth subculture and cultural heritage. The author of fashionable intellectual prose is called a follower of Bulgakov and Gogol. After all, Pelevin's books contain both social satire and mystical plots.

The question of whether Pelevin's work belongs to art and real literature is still debatable. And today there are critics who answer it negatively. However, bad prose, as you know, needs promotion and obsessiveadvertising. Pelevin's books became popular without much advertising campaign.