/lit/ - Literature

>>17522259
The Sacred Book of the Werewolf - Victor Pelevin (2004)
Translated by Andrew Bromfield from Russian
What was lost in translation and what didn't I understand because I didn't live in Russia through its modern changes? Probably far more than I realize. I'd say it's at least as much I was oblivious to the "dense interweaving of borrowings, imitations, rehashings, and allusions" that fill the book. The framing of the story is that it's a found novel, similar to found film genre, though the only concession to this conceit is the opening commentary by the experts who have examined it. The purpose of this commentary seems to be for grounding the events of the novel. The metapurpose seems to be the author commenting on himself, his work, and what the reader ought to expect from what they're about to read. It's also possible that the opening isn't separate from the rest and is there to trick the reader into believing that the events described occurred in-universe rather than being exclusively in the imagination of the author.
As I've previously read a Pelevin work, I knew what to expect going in. Based on the reviews many were thoroughly baffled and confounded by the disconnect from what they thought they were reading and what it turned out to be. I would advise against reading this if your interest lies primarily with the idea of werepersons or any standard notions of how it's represented by its listed genres or the synopsis on Goodreads. Yes, they're accurate descriptions but they're also misleading in that they aren't the novel's focus. There are sex scenes, but they aren't described in graphic detail. This is almost entirely about, as the author writes in the opening commentary, "pseudo-oriental pop-metaphysics". Introspection and discussion are the vast majority of the text. This isn't an overstatement.
The protagonist, a fox spirit girl, is a prostitute, as they all must be in some way or another, in the form of a "fourteen to seventeen years old - closer to fourteen" girl. Her name, A Hu-Li, is said to translates into modern Russian as "So Fucking What?", which gives an idea of the tone of the novel.
This isn't Spice & Wolf, as that began two years later, though that is an appropriate reference and comparison, at least on a superficial level. The author would seem to expect the reader to be familiar with both high and low culture, as the references dart from literary novels, videogames, sociopolitical tracts, movies, mythology/folklore, Japanese pop culture, music, and philosophy, and various others. I'm unable to say whether provide any depth or are simply namedrops. The humor is irreverent, cynical, sarcastic, and dark. In terms of comedians it has similarities with Anthony Jeselnik and Daniel Tosh.
As with the previous novel I read by him, I'm at a loss for what its rating ought to be. I'm unable to reconcile my subjective feelings with what I objectively read. This is a difficult book to recommend to others.
Rating: 4/5