Victor Pelevin "Empire V"

The novel "Empire V" ("Empire" B. "The Tale of a Real Superman") was released in November 2006. In his name, a play of words is laid down: the word combination Empire V can be translated as Empire V, but it also plays the word "vampire" (both in Russian and English).

The protagonist of the novel - Roman Aleksandrovich Shtorkin, quite an ordinary young man. By chance, he meets a vampire named Brahma, who must commit suicide because of the defeat in a duel of vampires. Before he dies, he gives his "language" to Rome - a vampire essence that allows people to read the thoughts of other vampires by trying their blood.

So Roma ceases to be a man and becomesthe vampire. Now his name is not Roma, but Rama (by the vampiric tradition he took the name of one of the human gods), but in order to become a vampire, it's not enough just to change the name - you need to change the way of thinking. Therefore Rama is taken for studying the two main ones for vampires of sciences: glamor and discourse. Unlike people, vampires do not succumb to glamor and discourse, but must control them. This wisdom also has to be mastered by Rama.

Gradually, Rama begins to learn in the society of vampires, but the more he learns, the more he has new questions. Will Ram to become your own in the world of vampires and fully adapt to life after treatment?

Interesting Facts

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  In the text of the novel "Empire V" there are references to other works of Victor Pelevin - "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" and "Generation P" (at a meeting with the Chaldeans, Rama meets Vavilen Tatarsky, the protagonist of the novel "Generation P").


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  In addition to references to his own works, the author uses a large number of references to books, movies, other works of art classical and mass contemporary culture, from the novel "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov to the film "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino.


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  Despite the fact that the official release date of the novel is November 2, 2006, draft version of the work appeared on the Internet a month earlier, in early October. It is believed that the source of the leak was an unknown employee of the publishing house "Exmo."

Quotations from the book

"If we want to hide a certain object from people,it is enough to make sure that no one ever thought about it. For this, it is necessary to keep human thinking under control, that is, to control discourse. And the power over the discourse belongs to the one who sets the boundaries. When borders are established, beyond them you can hide the whole world. "

"There is an old idea that is oftenin fantastic and occult books: people only think that they walk on the surface of the ball and look into an infinite space, but in reality they live inside a hollow sphere, and the space they see is just an optical illusion. "

"Your office uniform does not at all show thatyou are freed from the humiliating labor of painting fences. On the contrary. She informs others that at ten in the morning you must come to the office, imagine a bucket of paint, and till seven in the evening paint an imaginary fence inside your head. With a short break for lunch. And your senior manager should be satisfied with the progress of the work, about which he will judge by the expression of optimism on your face and blush on your cheeks ... "