7 August 1985 year
Vladimir Sorokin, a writer and artist, was born in Bykovo, Moscow Region. He was a prominent figure in Sots Art and Conceptualism in contemporary Russian literature.
The Great Wall grows and grows, fencing Russia off from external enemies. And the sovereign's oprichniks are tearing our internal enemies to pieces. After all, beyond the Great Wall are the damned cyberpunks who illegally suck our gas, hypocritical Catholics, shameless Protestants, insane Buddhists, evil Muslims, and simply corrupt atheists.
The works of this Booker Prize nominee and winner of the national NOS and Bolshaya Kniga awards have repeatedly sparked widespread controversy and become the subject of public debate. Sorokin's work particularly triggered the pro-Kremlin "Walking Together" movement, which in the early 2000s publicly burned and tossed his books.
One thing I can say: it's always very warm near book bonfires. A warm fire, this one. And it was even warmer eighteen years ago. Back then, our people burned their foreign passports on Red Square. What a bonfire it was! It made a strong impression on me, a teenager. In January, in the bitter cold, at the Tsar's call, people carried their foreign passports to the country's main square and threw them into the fire. They carried and carried. People came from other cities to burn the legacy of the White Troubles in Moscow, the capital. To swear allegiance to the Tsar.
In 2006, Sorokin wrote "Day of the Oprichnik" — a dystopian novella that explored what awaits Russia if it continues on the course it took in the 2000s. The action takes place in 2028, when Russia is cut off from the world by the Great Russian Wall. The country has survived the Red, White, and Grey Troubles, and finally, the Renaissance of Rus' has arrived. The country is under autocracy and the lawless police. A monument to Malyuta Skuratov stands on Lubyanka Square.
- Glory to you, Lord...
— The Lord has nothing to do with it. Thank the Tsar.
At the time, many perceived the book as satire. Now, many see it as a prophecy.
— What will happen to Russia?
He is silent and looks attentively.
I wait with trepidation.
- It will be fine.
