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msgtdameron's review
5.0
This is Sorokin's best work that I've read. This work covers 70 years of a group of beings of light who four billion years ago created earth and got trapped on it. During the story both the people of light and us humans have radical waking dreams of both the near and far future and the near and far past. Sorokin also has a under current of population ecology in that the 23000 light people will make the earth melt back into the cosmos. Or another way, there's to many people on the planet and that's bad. We humans are described as meat sacks with out hearts. We are conceived in an act of violence, born through pain, live in a world filled with pain that other meat sacks have created for us, meet other meat sacks who we commit the act of violence with, collect money and precious metals, build stone caves, exist until we stop pumping blood. While doing all these violent acts we fight, kill, attack both our fellow meat sacks and the natural world around us. While in the world of light people talk with their hearts and their is no violence against each other. Violence against meat sacks that get in the way of finding other brothers and sisters of the ice/light is OK. This could be seen as a call to stop the destruction of earth and her resources through mining, over fishing, unsustainable land use, polluting the atmosphere warming the atmosphere. overpopulation, uncontrolled greed, lack of social conscience basically the entire Paulininen play book as put forward by the extreme right in this and other countries. THIS LAST PART CONTAINS SPOLIERS SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT THE ENDING, CLOSE THIS SCREEN.
Moving on. The ending is not what one expects by the end. The reader is cheering for the destruction of the earth because that's what the people of the ice/light want, but as humans we don't want our earth to be destroyed. So in the end the final circle is formed with 23,000 brothers and sisters of the Ice/Light and two who did not pass the test of ice. The earth is still their 23,000 light/ice people are dead and our two that failed the test are exhausted but alive. Three ways this gets here that I can figure out. One: While the children of the light created earth and it was a mistake and they were caught here they also created the laws of biology. The Law of Evolution created us, humans. As Voltaire said, "If God did not exist man would have created him." SO the humans the Ice/Light people created, created God and that God became more powerful than the Ice/Light or the Cosmos. This could be where Sorokin is going. He has one of the people of the Ice with a Oh S&%T look on his face such as would happen when what you expected to happen did not. Option two: This is another Ice/Light dream of what happened for the two who were not part of the 23,000 and were just failed tests. As I said through out both humans and Ice people have dreams of the past, present , and future. This may be a gift from the Ice/Light to these two for helping the Ice/Light people come back to the Cosmos as light photons. The gift being that in the last few moments before the Earth disintegrates or melts they live the rest of their lives prior to becoming cosmic dust. Option three: The light left the 23,000 and returned them to the Cosmos. But the light also left the Earth as it is and the Cosmos will work around it. That the earth was not destroyed but the people of Ice/Light had their lights sucked into the Cosmos and home thus leaving behind the Ice/Light peoples bags of meat. All three could be were Sorokin was going. Or maybe he just left the reason for the ending up to the reader. Any way this is a Great Book and if you like Russian Sci-Fi it's a must read.
Moving on. The ending is not what one expects by the end. The reader is cheering for the destruction of the earth because that's what the people of the ice/light want, but as humans we don't want our earth to be destroyed. So in the end the final circle is formed with 23,000 brothers and sisters of the Ice/Light and two who did not pass the test of ice. The earth is still their 23,000 light/ice people are dead and our two that failed the test are exhausted but alive. Three ways this gets here that I can figure out. One: While the children of the light created earth and it was a mistake and they were caught here they also created the laws of biology. The Law of Evolution created us, humans. As Voltaire said, "If God did not exist man would have created him." SO the humans the Ice/Light people created, created God and that God became more powerful than the Ice/Light or the Cosmos. This could be where Sorokin is going. He has one of the people of the Ice with a Oh S&%T look on his face such as would happen when what you expected to happen did not. Option two: This is another Ice/Light dream of what happened for the two who were not part of the 23,000 and were just failed tests. As I said through out both humans and Ice people have dreams of the past, present , and future. This may be a gift from the Ice/Light to these two for helping the Ice/Light people come back to the Cosmos as light photons. The gift being that in the last few moments before the Earth disintegrates or melts they live the rest of their lives prior to becoming cosmic dust. Option three: The light left the 23,000 and returned them to the Cosmos. But the light also left the Earth as it is and the Cosmos will work around it. That the earth was not destroyed but the people of Ice/Light had their lights sucked into the Cosmos and home thus leaving behind the Ice/Light peoples bags of meat. All three could be were Sorokin was going. Or maybe he just left the reason for the ending up to the reader. Any way this is a Great Book and if you like Russian Sci-Fi it's a must read.
gfox3737's review
3.0
Sorokin writes in a relatively simple prose style, at least as represented by the English translation. I want to check out the Russian versions while I am living in Russia to see how the original reads. My friend here told me that Sorokin's first novel, The Queue, was written devoid of descriptions, mainly in dialogue with an absurd bent to his prose, and in regards to this trilogy, Sorokin changes up his prose styles throughout the novels.
In other reviews that people tend to talk about the repetitiveness that Sorokin uses throughout the Bro section and which comes up in the other two novels as well. In part this was done on purpose to illustrate the communal and identical aspects of the Brotherhood of Light members. It was not distracting for me since the plots of all three novels moved along rapidly and kind of drilled in the, uh, otherworldliness and harshness of the, uh, cult.
Bro is written from the point of view of the title character and his narrative voice changes as he goes through the different periods of his life. I thought this was entertaining despite not particularly liking how he ended up... BUT that has to do with the, uh, problematic objectives and procedures of the Brotherhood. Enough on that.
Ice follows Bro chronologically story-wise but was written before the other two novels in the trilogy. I knew this going into the novel and I could see the signs that this was the case, as well. At the end of Bro, the reader knows the founding history and some procedures of the Brotherhood, but Ice begins in a way that purposefully casts doubt and a sense of the unknown on the Brotherhood's purpose. It feels less like a true follow up to Bro and might have even been better placed as the opening of the trilogy. The point of view changes several times in this section and makes for an enjoyable reading experience. I liked the "user review" section toward the end in the third part of the novel with the constantly changing narrative voice for people of different ages, genders, and professions.
23,000 follows Ice chronologically and even starts where the former left off. I noticed that a few reviewers called this last novel the weakest with a rushed ending, but both points seem more fitting following the new characters introduced as a sort of nemesis to the Brotherhood. Sorokin again changes his narrative voice and narrators. In three consecutive sections, he entertainingly takes on the voices of three characters who were successfully evading the Brotherhood. I truly thought Sorokin's absurdist humor, satire, social and national focuses, history, religious, and even dietary ideas put forth in the novels made the entire series fun to read. The only time I felt let down was a repetitive moment during the last three pages. There are too many spoilers here to discuss it, but that is one reason I only rated it 3 stars. It could have left out three repeated words and I would have been content with the series. As is, it was fun and I loved the mixing of nationalities in this last section, with cultural and religious humor inserted as well.
These are only my quick thoughts after finishing tonight !
allzbooks's review
3.0
I’m abandoning this after book 2. I don’t trust Sorokin to get his shit together.
rosseroo's review against another edition
2.0
I must have read a pretty glowing review of this somewhere and felt ambitious, because I'm kind of sizist about books. That is to say, I am generally not inclined to make time for one 700-page book, when I could instead read two 350-page books. In any event, the first volume in this Russian trilogy ("Bro"), begins with great promise. We meet and follow a boy born at the same moment of the 1908 Tunguska "event" (there is still debate over whether or not it was a comet or asteroid or something else that knocked over almost 100 million trees in deepest Siberia).
Born into a wealthy family in Ukraine, we follow the boy's comfortable upbringing until it is upended by the Revolution and he becomes another orphaned piece of flotsam in the new Soviet Union. He develops a strange obsession with space, and eventually joins a scientific expedition heading to the Tunguska blast site. As they get closer and closer, things get weirder and weirder, to the point where I just lost interest. The writing devolves into some trippy, almost stream of consciousness stuff that just didn't work at all for me. Even though I've heard the middle book of the trilogy ("Ice") is much more readable and engaging, now that I've set it aside, I am less motivated by the day to pick the book back up and slog on. But give it a shot if you're into science fiction that's more metaphysical than genre, or just interested in contemporary Russian fiction.
Note: For those that find the idea of Tunguska an interesting one, there are at least 20-30 other novels, including quite a few from big name authors, that feature it in their plotlines. And if you start peeking into the corners of geek culture, you'll find it crop up everywhere (Ghostbusters, Buffy, X-Files, Hellboy, Star Trek, Dr. Who, and a gazillion comics and games).
Born into a wealthy family in Ukraine, we follow the boy's comfortable upbringing until it is upended by the Revolution and he becomes another orphaned piece of flotsam in the new Soviet Union. He develops a strange obsession with space, and eventually joins a scientific expedition heading to the Tunguska blast site. As they get closer and closer, things get weirder and weirder, to the point where I just lost interest. The writing devolves into some trippy, almost stream of consciousness stuff that just didn't work at all for me. Even though I've heard the middle book of the trilogy ("Ice") is much more readable and engaging, now that I've set it aside, I am less motivated by the day to pick the book back up and slog on. But give it a shot if you're into science fiction that's more metaphysical than genre, or just interested in contemporary Russian fiction.
Note: For those that find the idea of Tunguska an interesting one, there are at least 20-30 other novels, including quite a few from big name authors, that feature it in their plotlines. And if you start peeking into the corners of geek culture, you'll find it crop up everywhere (Ghostbusters, Buffy, X-Files, Hellboy, Star Trek, Dr. Who, and a gazillion comics and games).
annyway47's review against another edition
1.0
This was my debut and retirement as a reader of Vladimir Sorokin and probably all of Russian sci-fi in general. Not that I was much of a non-Russian sci-fi reader to begin with.
I own a physical copy of this book, which I bought about a decade ago because of some stellar reviews. Finally got around to reading it, wanting to find out if it's worth taking up so much shelf space. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.
It's about 700-pages long, containing the whole trilogy under one cover. So this is what goes toward my reading challenge. But since the trilogy is very jumpy and uneven, compiling all of my thoughts into one review would be too much. So I decided to review books 1-3 separately.
Here are my reviews for:
- Ice;
- Bro;
- 23000.
I own a physical copy of this book, which I bought about a decade ago because of some stellar reviews. Finally got around to reading it, wanting to find out if it's worth taking up so much shelf space. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.
It's about 700-pages long, containing the whole trilogy under one cover. So this is what goes toward my reading challenge. But since the trilogy is very jumpy and uneven, compiling all of my thoughts into one review would be too much. So I decided to review books 1-3 separately.
Here are my reviews for:
- Ice;
- Bro;
- 23000.
annyway47's review against another edition
1.0
СТИЛЬ И ЯЗЫК
С такими ожиданиями я взяла эту книгу. Давайте посмотрим на этого классика?
"На полу солома обосцанная, в углу куча говна.", "И так мне хорошо стало, что не сдержалась и обосцалася вся.", "Вот и ладно. Поперди, маленькой, поперди...", "Слушай, у нас с рублями облом. Давай я тебе отсосу? ", "От Лапина слегка попахивало калом.", "Вы все слабохуйные пиздососы!", "Больно? — выплюнула она член. — Нет... просто... я так никогда не кончу... давай, это... по-нормальному... ", "Очень пердеть любил. Пёрнет, пробубнит что-то и пойдет по деревне. ", "Струя мочи ударила в березовый ствол.", "Подошла к бутылке. Примерилась. Стала садиться влагалищем на бутылку. — Нэ пиздой! Жопой садысь! Пиздой ты на меня работать будэшь!", "Горячая моча струится по ногам."
И правда. Прямо Гоголь.
Это не избранные цитаты, вся книга выглядит именно так. Как вы, наверное, догадались, Сорокин считает, что если на странице нет ни одной отсылки к продуктам жизнедеятельности человека, дерево погибло зря. На худой конец можно добавить жестокости и мата. Но в идеале совмещать.
ПЕРСОНАЖИ
Каждый, кто появляется на странице, получает аутичное описание, как будто сгенерированное очками терминатора:
"Уранов: 30 лет, высокий, узкоплечий, лицо худощавое, умное, бежевый плащ."
"заглянула мать: 43 года, полноватая, каштановые волосы, моложавое лицо, серые лосины, черно-белый свитер."
"пьяно посмотрел из окна водитель: 50 лет, грубое желто-коричневое лицо, кроликовая шапка, серый ватник, сигарета."
Один и тот же чеклист для абсолютно всех, кто появляется в книге - точный возраст, одежда, цвет кожи и волос, форма головы и тела. Как будто это имеет какое-либо значение.
Таких плоских, картонных, безликих и взаимозаменяемых персонажей еще поискать. Полная немощь и убожество в создании людей.
СТРУКТУРА
Первая глава описывает избиение и убийство людей в подвале. Кем, зачем, почему - не понятно. Ведут все себя странно, говорят странно. Полно криков и кроваво-каловых подробностей. Читать страшно и противно, а главное, непонятно, что это и к чему.
Остальные главы первой части (до 54% книги) практически полностью повторяют ее. Другие люди тоже бессмысленно кого-то мутузят и обделываются, неся всякую чушь. Если в первой главе некое замешательство ожидаемо и понятно, то дальше топтаться на месте выглядит неоправданным. Практически полкниги история никуда не двигается, в ней ничего нового.
Вторая часть внезапно переносит нас из современной России во времена второй мировой. Какая-то селючка рассказывает, что она помнит о том времени. Кто она, почему нас должны интересовать ее рассказы про обоссаные вагоны, какое отношение она имеет к первой части книги - непонятно. А потому скучно и все равно.
Ближе к концу наконец-то начинает проясняться завязка и появляться сюжет, но мы быстро совершаем крутое пике в сборник вымышленных отзывов о несуществующем аппарате. Такой вот суровый русский сай-фай. Так что книга, при своей скромной длине, оказалась очень неоднородной и разношестной по темпу и содержанию.
СМЫСЛ
А он был?
Постмодернизм - не для меня.
"Удостоиться при жизни звания «классик» — удел немногих писателей. Владимир Сорокин — классик. Его превозносят, его ненавидят, но все сходятся в одном: Сорокин — великолепный мастер слова, блестящий стилист"
С такими ожиданиями я взяла эту книгу. Давайте посмотрим на этого классика?
"На полу солома обосцанная, в углу куча говна.", "И так мне хорошо стало, что не сдержалась и обосцалася вся.", "Вот и ладно. Поперди, маленькой, поперди...", "Слушай, у нас с рублями облом. Давай я тебе отсосу? ", "От Лапина слегка попахивало калом.", "Вы все слабохуйные пиздососы!", "Больно? — выплюнула она член. — Нет... просто... я так никогда не кончу... давай, это... по-нормальному... ", "Очень пердеть любил. Пёрнет, пробубнит что-то и пойдет по деревне. ", "Струя мочи ударила в березовый ствол.", "Подошла к бутылке. Примерилась. Стала садиться влагалищем на бутылку. — Нэ пиздой! Жопой садысь! Пиздой ты на меня работать будэшь!", "Горячая моча струится по ногам."
И правда. Прямо Гоголь.
Это не избранные цитаты, вся книга выглядит именно так. Как вы, наверное, догадались, Сорокин считает, что если на странице нет ни одной отсылки к продуктам жизнедеятельности человека, дерево погибло зря. На худой конец можно добавить жестокости и мата. Но в идеале совмещать.
ПЕРСОНАЖИ
Каждый, кто появляется на странице, получает аутичное описание, как будто сгенерированное очками терминатора:
"Уранов: 30 лет, высокий, узкоплечий, лицо худощавое, умное, бежевый плащ."
"заглянула мать: 43 года, полноватая, каштановые волосы, моложавое лицо, серые лосины, черно-белый свитер."
"пьяно посмотрел из окна водитель: 50 лет, грубое желто-коричневое лицо, кроликовая шапка, серый ватник, сигарета."
Один и тот же чеклист для абсолютно всех, кто появляется в книге - точный возраст, одежда, цвет кожи и волос, форма головы и тела. Как будто это имеет какое-либо значение.
Таких плоских, картонных, безликих и взаимозаменяемых персонажей еще поискать. Полная немощь и убожество в создании людей.
СТРУКТУРА
Первая глава описывает избиение и убийство людей в подвале. Кем, зачем, почему - не понятно. Ведут все себя странно, говорят странно. Полно криков и кроваво-каловых подробностей. Читать страшно и противно, а главное, непонятно, что это и к чему.
Остальные главы первой части (до 54% книги) практически полностью повторяют ее. Другие люди тоже бессмысленно кого-то мутузят и обделываются, неся всякую чушь. Если в первой главе некое замешательство ожидаемо и понятно, то дальше топтаться на месте выглядит неоправданным. Практически полкниги история никуда не двигается, в ней ничего нового.
Вторая часть внезапно переносит нас из современной России во времена второй мировой. Какая-то селючка рассказывает, что она помнит о том времени. Кто она, почему нас должны интересовать ее рассказы про обоссаные вагоны, какое отношение она имеет к первой части книги - непонятно. А потому скучно и все равно.
Ближе к концу наконец-то начинает проясняться завязка и появляться сюжет, но мы быстро совершаем крутое пике в сборник вымышленных отзывов о несуществующем аппарате. Такой вот суровый русский сай-фай. Так что книга, при своей скромной длине, оказалась очень неоднородной и разношестной по темпу и содержанию.
СМЫСЛ
А он был?
Постмодернизм - не для меня.
jorybear's review against another edition
2.0
This is such a bizarre trilogy of novellas, and it never came together for me as well as I hoped. At the beginning of the first book, I really enjoyed learning along with Bro about the Ice. It was okay that it was weird, because it was interesting. The second novella was also reasonably interesting, but by the third novella it became clear that there was no good ending coming. I actually wish I'd read the second book by itself - I think it would have captured the creepiness super well, but in a shorter form it's okay for things to stay weird. 700 pages is much too long.
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