Day of the Oprichnik (2006)

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Sadly, the book does not feature knife-weilding bears.

Author Vladimir Sorokin

Translator Jamey Gambrell

Things You Might Like

• A dystopian novel with a setting that’s not England or the USA
• A book that is decidedly modern Russian
• The inventive drug usage
• A return to the Czars

Things You Might Not Like

• Figuring out what the hell the italics are all about
• The shifts to poetry
• Lack of “redemption”

Conclusion
Vladimir Sorokin’s Day of the Oprichnik is a dystopian Russian spy novel and satire. Worth reading if you’re a fan of Orwell or Zamyatin.

4 out of 5 Speeding Mercedovs

Aaron Simon

***

Hi class. Today we’re going to jump from Victorian-era London to future-era Russia in Vladimir Sorokin’s Day of the Oprichnik, translated by Jamey Gambrell.

It’s a short book that takes place over the course of one workday in the life of Andre Danilovich Komiaga, a member of the Czar’s KGB-like police force, the oprichniks. In this 191-page novel, we’re treated to exotic drug use, arson in the name of the state, arson in the name of lust, bribery, some interesting bonding mechanisms, and cars with stuffed dog heads on as hood ornaments.

To be honest, aside from the technology and political aspect of the book, it’d be a story that would rate little more than a “meh,” but Sorokin’s treatment of future Russia is interesting enough to warrant a look by any interested parties.

See, there’s something odd about Russia from the American perspective. Something odd in the sense that you have to try and figure out exactly why our two countries hate each other. (This, of course, only applies to a post-Soviet relationship. Before that, it would be fairly easy to understand why the two countries hated each other, and why that was a bad thing.)

But hey, this isn’t a detailed analysis of two nations’ political relations—that would be boring.

(NOTE: When I first wrote this, it was just that, with a note tacked on the end that said, “Good book. Read.” Jon reached through the internet and strangled me, so I changed it.)

Day of the Oprichnik is a worthwhile read because it takes the future-dystopian genre and sets it in a place that’s not England or America. Sorokin nails the balance of backstory and the pace of an espionage novel, something that’s incredibly hard to do.

As far as being a work of dystopian fiction goes, the hallmark of the genre is a repressive state where the head is revered as an extremely benevolent extension of the people, even when his government does little more than use the people as resources to be harvested. And, boy, this book checks that box. The book opens with the destruction of  a noble’s house and the rape of his wife, then cuts to blood, drugs, and talk of purging an entire region of the country.

All this, seen through the eyes of one of the oprichniks, is nothing more than the Czar being nice and protecting the people from themselves, and, in that sense, one could call the book’s mechanics clichéd. However, I would contend that the premise and basis of the book—czars revolting and taking control of Russia, and basing the whole shebang on czars and Premiers past—is a great way to go about it. After all, do we really need more Big Brother clones?

See, dystopian literature is kind of like sci-fi. A screenwriting professor once told my class: “I don’t want to see sci-fi in here. You can write it on your own time, but if you turn it in here, I’m going to fail it, because you’ll turn something in that’s too focused on world-building instead of story-telling.”

Now, whether or not that’s a legitimate criticism of sci-fi screenplays, short stories, or novels, I’ll leave to you. (Personally, I think there’s good and bad sci-fi, just as everything else. And bad sci-fi, as I’ve said again and again, fails because of many reasons, one of which happens to be focus on backstory—or world-building.)

So, with that in mind, it’s always a good thing to see an author hit the mark with a solid story set in a strange new environment.

And, of course, there must be credit given to the translator. I know nothing of Russian, so it may be entirely possible that there are very few similarities—in terms of idioms or even modes of thought translated into writing—that link Russian and English; but as a reader of this translation, you won’t even think about it. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is the role of the translator. As they say: When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.

The one thing that got me, that really, really cheesed me off, was the italics. Now, this is a thing you’ll notice when you read the book, but there are words that are italicized throughout the novel. And it’s not like they’re meant to be emphasized. (Or maybe they are.) Because if you were to emphasize the words, it would sound like you’re a Tourette’s sufferer really trying to keep your tics in check.

However, there’s probably A Point to it, and I’m just too damn stupid to get it. If, however, you think you know the Point, then please let me know!

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