Publication
Amsterdam Wereldbibliotheek 1995
ISBN
9028417141 / 9789028417144
Language
Collections
Description
Victor Pelevin's unforgettable first novel, Omon Ra, is the story of a young man who always dreamt of becoming the ultimate Russian hero, a cosmonaut in the mould of Yuri Gagarin. Enrolling as a cadet at the Zaraisk flying school, it is not long before he is chosen to be the sole pilot of a mission - to the dark side of the moon. 'An inventive comedy as black as outer space itself. Makes The Right Stuff look like a NASA handout.' Tibor Fischer
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
Victor Pelevin's Omon Ra imagines a Soviet Union that never had the capabilities of the real U.S.S.R. and so had to fake everything to maintain its geopolitical power, including nuclear weapons and spaceflight capability. Pelevin's protagonist, Omon, dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut since he was a
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young boy. When he gets the chance, he discovers that he will work on an automated probe to the far side of the Moon. As the Soviet Union lacks the ability to manufacture an automated probe, they send humans on one-way missions. The tone of the story evokes a combination of Dr. Strangelove and Capricorn One and will entertain those interested in Cold War fiction, the Soviet Union, and spaceflight. Show Less
LibraryThing member DuneSherban
Pelevin's Omon Ra has about it a very tangible sense of fatalism, as well as hope. The main charcter, Omon Krivomazov, both dreams to become a cosmonaut and yet, at the same time, seems to be imperceptibly led toward that dream without action on his part. It is a literary chicken and egg situation,
Pelevin's prose is simple, philosophical, and sad. And it is also very moving. I read this short book in a sitting, as you feel compelled to follow the same, strangely passive route of Omon as he becomes a cosmonaut and is launched, wholly unprepared but willing, to his first assignment to the moon.
This point about Omon's strangely amateuristic space adventure is, for me, the big, ambiguous core to the book. Neither himself nor his teachers ever indicate that Omon should necessarily be trained to become a cosmonaut; after all, it's as simple as riding a bike. Of course, this makes at the close of the book. Almost.
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where you're unsure who's leading whom (the dream or the dreamer). By itself this constitutes a very real, very subtle satire of late Soviet Russia.Pelevin's prose is simple, philosophical, and sad. And it is also very moving. I read this short book in a sitting, as you feel compelled to follow the same, strangely passive route of Omon as he becomes a cosmonaut and is launched, wholly unprepared but willing, to his first assignment to the moon.
This point about Omon's strangely amateuristic space adventure is, for me, the big, ambiguous core to the book. Neither himself nor his teachers ever indicate that Omon should necessarily be trained to become a cosmonaut; after all, it's as simple as riding a bike. Of course, this makes at the close of the book. Almost.
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LibraryThing member gonzobrarian
Victor Pelevin’s Omon Ra is a fiction of two halves. A novella that starts out rather slowly, Pelevin writes of the nostalgia that soviet era cosmonaut Omon Krivomazov experiences in his pursuit of reaching the moon from the time as a young boy. It’s a distinctly Russian nostalgia that takes
Whereas the first half is an eerie and introspective look into the individual’s integration within the soviet mentality, the second half cements the work as simultaneously that of both science fiction and horror. Pelevin brilliantly foreshadows successive bits of sacrifice Omon and his flight crew undertake from their training to their eventual lunar mission, where each member is trained to carry out not only their precise duties but the knowledge of their fate as well.
At times Omon Ra seems a bit uneven given its dual nature in genre. However, due to its brevity, the story rarely meanders far from its themes of heroism and its place within individual, and our conception of space.
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its time wistfully dissecting the absurdity of the party’s stellar ambitions at the expense of the citizens who surrender themselves for the cause. Pelevin makes the insightful observation that the importance of life is really witnessed on the periphery, highlighting the divide between the controlling party and its heroic though powerless citizens.Whereas the first half is an eerie and introspective look into the individual’s integration within the soviet mentality, the second half cements the work as simultaneously that of both science fiction and horror. Pelevin brilliantly foreshadows successive bits of sacrifice Omon and his flight crew undertake from their training to their eventual lunar mission, where each member is trained to carry out not only their precise duties but the knowledge of their fate as well.
At times Omon Ra seems a bit uneven given its dual nature in genre. However, due to its brevity, the story rarely meanders far from its themes of heroism and its place within individual, and our conception of space.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
A wonderful slice of absurdist fiction: the protagonist, Omon, has always dreamed of going to the moon, but when his wish is granted and he joins the Russian cosmonaut program, he discovers that all is not as it seems.
This is one of those marvellously inventive little books that accomplish a lot in
This is one of those marvellously inventive little books that accomplish a lot in
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a short time; of the books I've read, it reminded me most of Kristof's "The Notebook," for its style and its dead-pan, horrific black humour. Show Less
LibraryThing member KimMarie1
Nobody weaves a tale better than Pelevin. Full of unexpected twists and turns he never disappoints. I found the first half of the book a little on the slow side but the middle to end more than made up for it. As good as it is in english as a modern satirical look at the Soviet Space Program I can
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just imagine how much better it is in russian. Personally I'm not in love with the translation - at times I found it a bit clunky and I think when dealing with Pelevin less is not more so I don't agree with keeping the explanation of allusions to Soviet references to a minimum. I'm not allergic to footnotes and honestly the few explanations of cultural terms left me wanting more. Hence 3 stars instead of 5. Show Less
Original publication date
1992 (original Russian)
1994 (English translation)