Chapaev and Void: Victor Pelevin

The author characterizes the novel “Chapaev and Emptiness” as follows: “This is the first work in world literature, the action of which takes place in an absolute void.” In fact, it takes place in 1919 in the Chapaev division, in which the main character, the poet student Peter the Emptiness, serves as a commissar. And also these days. And also, as always in Pelevin, in the virtual space, where Kawabata, Schwarzenegger, “just Mary” are found with the main character …
According to critics, Chapaev and Emptiness are the “first serious Zen-Buddist novel in Russian literature.”

Author
Pelevin Viktor Olegovich
Editor
Kachalkina Julia
Publisher
Exmo-Press, 2012
Series
Polevin’s books