Victor Olegovich Pelevin (Russian: Виктор Олегович Пелевин, born 22 November 1962) is a Russian fiction writer. His books usually carry the outward conventions of the science fiction genre, but are used to construct involved, multi-layered postmodernist texts, fusing together elements of pop culture and esoteric philosophies.
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Biography
After high school Pelevin received a degree in electromechanical engineering from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, then attended seminars in creative writing at the Literature Institute. As an editor of "Science and Religion" magazine, he was responsible for an ongoing series of articles on Eastern mysticism.
Pelevin's first story was published in 1989, and for the next three years his short stories appeared in various magazines and compilations. In 1992 a book of Pelevin's collected stories The Blue Lantern received the first annual Russian Little Booker Prize. His first novel, The Life of Insects, appeared in 1993.
Pelevin rarely gives interviews; when he does, he is known to talk about the nature of the mind rather than his own writing. He has permitted all of his texts in Russian predating 2006 to be published on the Internet for non-commercial use [1]. Some novels are also available as voice files in Russian.
Literary style
Pelevin's prose is usually devoid of dialogue between the author and the reader, whether through plot, character development, literary form or narrative language. This corresponds to his philosophy (both stated[where?] and unstated) that, for the most part, it is the reader who infuses the text with meaning. His novel Babylon bears on its cover the inscription, Any thought that occurs in the process of reading this book is subject to copyright. Unauthorized thinking of it is prohibited.
Selected bibliography
Short novels
- Hermit and Sixfinger / Затворник и Шестипалый (1990)
- Omon Ra / Омон Ра (1991)
- Prince of Central Planning / Принц Госплана (1992)
- The Yellow Arrow / Желтая стрела (1993)
Novels
- The Life of Insects / Жизнь насекомых (1993)
- Buddha's Little Finger (aka Clay Machine-Gun) / Чапаев и Пустота (Chapayev and Void) (1996)
- Babylon (aka Generation Π, Homo Zapiens) / Generation "П" (1999)
- Numbers (as part of the book DTP(NN) - The Dialectics of the Transition Period (from Nowhere to No Place)) / Числа (часть книги ДПП(NN) - Диалектика Переходного Периода (из Ниоткуда в Никуда)) (2004)
- The Sacred Book of the Werewolf / Священная Книга Оборотня (2005)
- The Helmet of Horror / Шлем ужаса (2005)
- Empire V / Ампир В (2006)
- P5: Farewell songs of the political pygmies of Pindostan / П5: прощальные песни политических пигмеев Пиндостана (2008)
- t (2009)[2]
Essays, short stories
- A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia / Проблема верволка в средней полосе
- Bulldozer Driver’s Day / День бульдозериста
- Zombification / Зомбификация
- Blue Lantern and Other Stories
External links
- pelevin.nov.ru Collection of Victor Pelevin's works online, in Russian
- New Directions New Directions publishes English translations of Victor Pelevin's work including Omon Ra, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia, Yellow Arrow, and Blue Lantern and Other Stories.
- Interview, spring 2002. In English, from BOMB magazine.
- Shlem - New Book of Victor Pelevin (Interactive)
- Victor Pelevin at Amazon
- NY Times Book Review: "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf," by Victor Pelevin
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