Time and books of Vladimir Sorokin

He is called the classic of postmodernism and the star of literary social art. The books of Vladimir Sorokin are not just controversies. His prosaic and dramatic works - this is a scandal, the reason for protest actions, an excuse to start legal proceedings.

Too extraordinary is his work, even for contemporary Russian literature, in which complete freedom has long been proclaimed. For those who believe in the existence of the national literary tradition, Sorokin is above all an outstanding master of the word, possessing an arsenal of language heritage, giving rise to new directions in the development of the Russian language. Although the tangible influence of the writer's books on contemporary society is not limited only to the virtuosity of style.

Start

He was born in the Moscow region of Bykov on August 7, 1955. After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas, he became a mechanical engineer. Wednesday, which formed artistic preferences and views on the surrounding reality, the writer himself calls the Moscow art and literary underground of the early 80's.

The first published books of Vladimir Sorokin - the novel "The Queue" and a collection of short stories - appeared in Russian, but in Paris, in the emigrant publishing house "Syntax" (1985). Since that time abroad, especially in Germany, France, Poland, Japan and China, all its major works have been published in large editions. The exit of Sorokin to the masses of readers in his homeland occurred only in 1992, when the first publications appeared in the journal "The Art of Cinema".

Absurdity of Socialist Realism

From the first responses of critics and readers it became clear that a large master appeared. The high quality of possession of the syllable did not cause doubts, but the ideas expressed by the impeccable style gave birth to violent polemics. Early novels - Norma (1983), The Thirtieth Love of Marina (1984) - painted a society based on strict regulations at all levels: from state ideology to everyday trivia. The form of grotesque and absurdity, chosen by Sorokin, could not hide the object of analogy. The shock of some details of the text was especially strong among those who saw in the Soviet past the optimal structure of life.

The writer is called one of the main gravediggers of socialist realism in literature and the leading master of social art that has arisen on his mortal remains. "The thirtieth love of Marina" is a vivid example of this trend.

In style-tested texts, it is easy to identify references to what filled bookstores by the decision of ideological bodies. Replacing the habitual and concerted goals and aspirations of the heroes of production epics with an absurd and cruel symbol, Vladimir Sorokin's books proclaim the unnaturalness of lack of freedom, a protest against the pressure of the absolute will of the majority.

Mirror of change

Sorokin's texts have all the visible signs of belonging to the era of postmodernism. They are characterized by free treatment of the form and plot of the narrative, the presence of irony and black humor, the use of informal vocabulary and linguistic experiments. There is also a classic tradition of topical reaction to events and analysis of them with the construction of global or close-by-time forecasts.

The next major works of the writer - "Roman" (1989), "Hearts of Four" (1991) and "Blue Fat" (1999) are contemporaries of the global changes that the country and the world underwent with the beginning of perestroika and glasnost. Their influence in the text is felt, although there is no journalistic reaction to what is happening. The narrative is based on an alternative story or fantasy improvisations.

Amplitude of social and political upheavals resulted in a particularly large deviation from the usual literary and moral foundations. For the "Blue Fat" the author had a case on the distribution of pornography, and "Hearts of Four" is even considered Sorokin's admirers of one of the most cruel books.

Cycles and trilogies

The country, changing, was part of the 21st century. Sorokin also appeared in the "ice" trilogy: "Ice" (2002), "The Way of Bro" (2004) and "23 000" (2005). The writer created a special and complex world in these novels, which share common plot lines. In process of an exit they expanded and complicated a plot, camouflaged under usual for Soviet scientific fiction moves. The writer himself said that in the trilogy for the first time for him the content was an important form. The result, as always, caused an ambiguous reaction.

Serial thinking is one of the most actual signs of the modern literary process. The books of Vladimir Sorokin, which appeared in the zero years of the new century, tend to form entire universes built around one program product. This is the Day of the Oprichnik (2006). From him stretch threads to the "Sugar Kremlin" and the latest in time texts.

A look into the future?

Suddenly Sorokin began to be considered a seer. The omnipotence of the power structures, the kvass patriotism of the worst kind, isolation from the world living by the "unrighteous" way, suddenly began to acquire an objective character from the phantasmagoria.

Many feel the likelihood of realizing the reality, painted in the novel Telluria. Vladimir Sorokin in public speaking says that he is not happy with such a coincidence with his opinion on the ways of the development of the world community, and the return of civilization in the Middle Ages is just one of the options.

Theater and cinema

The modern writer has enough places for the application of forces and talent. In addition to art texts, Sorokin maintains blogs and pages in electronic media, writes plays for the theater, script for films and even a libretto for opera. The production of Leonid Desyatnikov's opera The Rosenthal's Children in the Bolshoi Theater accompanied the protests of the vigilantes of morality, which called for the prevention of filth and pornography on the country's main stage. In the forefront of the moralists stood the youth movement, which at one time demanded the ban of one of the best novels written by Vladimir Sorokin, "Blue Fat". As a result, a highly effective advertising campaign was produced, raising the circulation of Sorokin's books and attracting even greater interest in productions in his plays.

Literature has long ceased to be a guide to action in the real world. From the extraordinary and shocking texts of Sorokin, those who remember the printed word as immutable instruction faint. But there is Time - the most correct and reliable literary critic who will place the necessary accents and determine the levels of influence.