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Русский апокалипсис : опыт художественной эсхатологии
This is a book about the basic Russian values, which together make up our identity, our pride, our happiness, our religion, our dinner - our apocalypse.
322 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
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12 people want to read
About the author
Victor Erofeyev
48 books43 followersВиктор Ерофеев (Russian)
Victor Erofeev (French, Italian, Romanian)
Viktor Erofeev (Italian)
Viktor Jerofejev (Dutch, Hungarian)
Viktor Jerofejew (German)
Viktor Yeroféiev (Spanish)
Viktors Jerofejevs (Latvian)
Wiktor Jerofiejew (Polish)
Βίκτωρ Γεροφέγεφ (Greek)
Віктор Єрофєєв (Ukranian)
Виктор Јерофејев (Serbian)
Viktor Yerofeyev (also transliterated as Erofeyev) was born in Moscow in 1947. The son of a high-ranking diplomat he spent some years of his childhood in Paris. This meant he had access early on to literature banned in the Soviet Union. He was greatly influenced by the works of Vladimir Nabokov and the Marquis de Sade. In the late 1960’s he studied Literature in Moscow. He then worked for the Institute of World Literature. In 1975, he completed his doctorate with a thesis on »Dostoevsky and French Existentialism«. As a literary critic he wrote some essays interpreting the Marquis de Sade’s writing and an article on the philosophy of Leo Shestov. The literary almanac »Metropol« (Eng. »Metropol«, 1982) first created a major scandal in 1979. It was a compilation of politically explosive texts, selected by Victor Erofeyev, Vassili Axionow, Andrei Bitov, Jevgeni Popov and Fasil Iskander, in which both officially established writers and renegade writers were included. The attempt to publish the almanac in the Soviet Union failed because it was judged to be »pornography of the mind«. The work was published in the West. During this period his father, Vladimir Erofeyev, Stalin's former interpreter, was forced to resign and end his diplomatic career. From this time Victor Erofeyev was considered a dissident, and his writings were banned. With the first signs of Glasnost and Perestroika, Victor Erofeyev was able to publish again. In 1990 his first novel appeared, »Russkaia Krasavitsa« (Eng. »Russian Beauty«, 1992). Through the story of the beautiful Irena, a high-class prostitute in Moscow, the reader is transported into the world of the dark, grotesque aesthetics of sex, violence and death. In two essays, »Pominki po sovyetskoi literatur« (1990; t: An epitaph of Soviet literature) and »Russkie tsvety zla« (1993; Eng. »Russia’s Fleurs du mal«, 1995) Victor Erofeyev announced the death of the literature of Socialist Realism. At the same time he set out a radical artistic manifesto for a new literature of evil. He was also the editor of the first Russian edition of Nabokov's work, together with other anthologies of Russian literature. His story »Zhizn s idiotom« (1991; Eng. »Life With an Idiot«, 1992) was adapted for the operatic stage by Alfred Schnittke. Victor Erofeyev writes regularly for »The New Yorker« and the »New York Review of Books«. After his well-received autobiographical novel »Khoroshii Stalin« (2004; t: The good Stalin), he recently published a collection of stories »De Profundis« (2006). Victor Erofeyev lives in Moscow.
© international literature festival berlin
Victor Erofeev (French, Italian, Romanian)
Viktor Erofeev (Italian)
Viktor Jerofejev (Dutch, Hungarian)
Viktor Jerofejew (German)
Viktor Yeroféiev (Spanish)
Viktors Jerofejevs (Latvian)
Wiktor Jerofiejew (Polish)
Βίκτωρ Γεροφέγεφ (Greek)
Віктор Єрофєєв (Ukranian)
Виктор Јерофејев (Serbian)
Viktor Yerofeyev (also transliterated as Erofeyev) was born in Moscow in 1947. The son of a high-ranking diplomat he spent some years of his childhood in Paris. This meant he had access early on to literature banned in the Soviet Union. He was greatly influenced by the works of Vladimir Nabokov and the Marquis de Sade. In the late 1960’s he studied Literature in Moscow. He then worked for the Institute of World Literature. In 1975, he completed his doctorate with a thesis on »Dostoevsky and French Existentialism«. As a literary critic he wrote some essays interpreting the Marquis de Sade’s writing and an article on the philosophy of Leo Shestov. The literary almanac »Metropol« (Eng. »Metropol«, 1982) first created a major scandal in 1979. It was a compilation of politically explosive texts, selected by Victor Erofeyev, Vassili Axionow, Andrei Bitov, Jevgeni Popov and Fasil Iskander, in which both officially established writers and renegade writers were included. The attempt to publish the almanac in the Soviet Union failed because it was judged to be »pornography of the mind«. The work was published in the West. During this period his father, Vladimir Erofeyev, Stalin's former interpreter, was forced to resign and end his diplomatic career. From this time Victor Erofeyev was considered a dissident, and his writings were banned. With the first signs of Glasnost and Perestroika, Victor Erofeyev was able to publish again. In 1990 his first novel appeared, »Russkaia Krasavitsa« (Eng. »Russian Beauty«, 1992). Through the story of the beautiful Irena, a high-class prostitute in Moscow, the reader is transported into the world of the dark, grotesque aesthetics of sex, violence and death. In two essays, »Pominki po sovyetskoi literatur« (1990; t: An epitaph of Soviet literature) and »Russkie tsvety zla« (1993; Eng. »Russia’s Fleurs du mal«, 1995) Victor Erofeyev announced the death of the literature of Socialist Realism. At the same time he set out a radical artistic manifesto for a new literature of evil. He was also the editor of the first Russian edition of Nabokov's work, together with other anthologies of Russian literature. His story »Zhizn s idiotom« (1991; Eng. »Life With an Idiot«, 1992) was adapted for the operatic stage by Alfred Schnittke. Victor Erofeyev writes regularly for »The New Yorker« and the »New York Review of Books«. After his well-received autobiographical novel »Khoroshii Stalin« (2004; t: The good Stalin), he recently published a collection of stories »De Profundis« (2006). Victor Erofeyev lives in Moscow.
© international literature festival berlin
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 10, 2013
Na twee jaar heb ik dit boek dan eindelijk, eindelijk uit en dat heb ik alleen aan mijn eigen koppigheid te danken. Wat met veel bombarie op de achterflap wordt aangekondigd ("meesterlijk formulerende criticus, schrijver en filosoof") blijkt uiteindelijk vooral neer te komen op een stroom van hoogdravend gezemel, vol slecht lopende zinnen, lelijke vertalingen en zelfvleierij. Een boek voor in het haardvuur.
December 17, 2018
De meeste stukken die daadwerkelijk over Rusland gingen, vond ik de moeite waard. Bij sommige stukken baalde ik dat ik dit boek zo lang op mijn lijstje had staan.
May 20, 2014
Over de Russische mentaliteit, met een scherp oog voor details en rijk gestoffeerd. Heb ervan genoten
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews