A lot of letters

On May 29, they will announce the short list of "Big Book"

The Long List BK-2017 included 32 books and two manuscripts, everything is even, calmly, without surprises and the obvious leader.

Almost everything that was worth attention fell into it, and, perhaps, something more than that. It would not be superfluous to be interesting, albeit the notorious “Chinesist” by Elena Chizhova , written in the genre of alternative history, his absence is on the conscience of experts.

First about trends, brands and accents.

Trends, they are also brands, mostly all are the same: Victor Pelevin is the lord of the memes and the Lord of the discourse; Vladimir Sorokin - Gourmet words and expert on the subconscious; Lev Danilkin , mythrapee, was added to them.

Donbass and everything that is connected with him, while it is difficult to consider a full -fledged trend, but there is a clear presence of it: if not in words, then in thoughts it is definitely felt. The hero of the Patriot Andrei Rubanov half a half rushing to Donetsk, however, he still leaves for more distant and coffder. The “executed bell” is artistic journalism, or journalistic prose, dedicated to the Donbass, which is in a state of disaster, and people have to live inside this disaster.

The leading trend of the year is a lot of letters. The works of a significant number of semi -finalists have an epic scope of both the plan and in the amount of written. Contrary to all publishing trades-marketers who are sure that the modern public is afraid of multi-page opus. However, time and sore topics requires space, therefore - seven hundred pages (no less!), Otherwise, do not understand.

Another relatively new towing that has intensified this year - serious literature becomes a stall for dedication. All of us are society, readers, writers, critics, journalists - free or involuntary slaves of anniversaries and other “information reasons”. Now even thick books are written to the dates. Of course, there is also the magic of numbers, from which there is no way: the calendar reminds-in the yard of the 17th year.

Therefore, "Lenin. Pantocur of sunny dust dust » Lev Danilkin - oh, for a reason. Now, if the book appeared, say, in 2015, there was no talk of conjuncturalism: inspiration could roll at the most inappropriate time. But when the idea to reload and actualize Ilyich coincides with the centenary of the great October, then what ... not to disappear to such a reason! As a result, a weighty brick in the outlandish genre fell on the reader - a “postmodern life”. Read entertaining. Moreover, it is possible that thanks to Leo Danilkin, his reputation, charisma and subtle instincts on the ideas “the most humane” will become a fashionable meme.

The results of the last twentieth century are summarized by Alexei Slapovsky , his “unknown” subtitles “Roman of the age of 1917-2017”. The centennial history of the Smirnov family in diaries, dialogs, stories, letters and documents, there is already the term for this genre - “Datafikshn”. Of course, immersion is undertaken in order to understand the causal relationships and features of the Russian mentality, to understand why "we are moving in one and unconditionally true direction, but at the same time everyone will indicate in their direction." The answer, it seems, is in the name. Here we were driving and arrived-from the unknown through unpredictability and again to the unknown.

Modern Russian writers, like predecessors, try to find answers to eternal Russian questions. But a significant clarification: the very "who is to blame?" And "What to do?" They were subjected to some important modification. Now this question is edited and sounds noticeably like this: "Why do we have everything - so?" The answer is very often, like the question, philosophical-Gritical: "And therefore ..."

The perception has already been accustomed to the “Danish” algorithm that even the “secret year”, which Mikhail Gigaloshvili has completely long-standing about the times-1575, by inertia, you begin to be subjected to there, on the anniversary of the great October. More than seven hundred pages of the next Russian turmoil, high aspirations, good intentions, dirty bloody deeds, once again, are not very joyful for an obvious, not too joyful thought: half a thousand cadets have passed, but the power does not change.

Another observation: a pronounced presence of several epic-historical novels at once. It seems that romanticizing, mythologize and in every possible way to adapt reality is becoming more and more popular. Not from a good life, of course. In addition to the contradictory Ivan the Terrible, the pantocrator of Lenin, there is a fictional biography of Nestor Makhno in Nomakh Igor Malyshev . The "city of Brezhnev" Shamil Idiatullin about the beginning of the utopian era. And also the epic "falcon line" of Sergey Samsonov . Samsonov is a special writer, it doesn’t look like anyone, his dense monolithic texts are not everyone’s teeth. It is all the more interesting to a mass of technical details, and in fact a completely fabulous narrative about the almost sacred confrontation of two aces of the air battle - the Soviet Stalin Falcon and the German pilot - subordinate to the clear internal rhythm. However, if you tune in to its wave, coincide and read, then acts bewitching.

Now the alignment itself.

“Kozyr” books for a short list of BK-2017, this time, we have five. The “Secret Year” of Mikhail Gigaloshvili , “Manaraga” by Vladimir Sorokin , “Lenin” Lev Danilkin , “Patriot” by Andrei Rubanov. And be sure (otherwise shame!) “Look at him” Anna Starobinsky is a real horror: a true merciless book about tragic motherhood, pain, moral costs of domestic medicine and courage to breathe after loss.

A separate line about the brilliant Alexander Genis , whose book, without a doubt, would take a worthy place in the short list. Unfortunately, his “reverse address” turned out to be “outside the rules and outside the game” and leaves the process for technical reasons: he was published in the “Novaya Gazeta”.

Of course, the “Mafusail lamp ...” Victor Pelevin and the “Babi Wind” Dina Rubina are always trump cards, their new works are always noticeable, but there is a feeling that this is not their year.

The experience of past years shows that experts are invariably favorable to the work of Yuri Buyda, Alexander Melikhov, Andrei Hales, Dmitry Danilov, Alexei Slapovsky . The book of one of them is likely to be a short, I suppose-“Leaving Arkady” Yuri Buida.

BC has a tradition: to diversify the finals with a fresh, usually not too promoted name, more often not metropolitan, which is fair. Who will turn out to be such a joker, an unexpected “map” from a long -leaved deck? Oleg Ermakov’s “Tungus Song - Origia Siberian“ Twin Pix ”? Informate "Petrovs in the flu and around him" Alexei Salnikov ? The excellent novel by Dmitry Novikov “Golosyanaya Flame” is the Karelian suite, which they have already managed to classify as “new soilism”? Or “there was no Addroll in the Soviet Union Olga Braininger - a psychodel from an emigrant life? Or maybe the promising novel of education “V.N.L (Vera. Nadezhda. Love)” Sergey Avilov ? The history of the disease with an anamnesis in the book of Anna Kozlova "F20"? ...

Knowing how difficult it is for experts to choose, it makes no sense to guess.

Our version of the short list of the big book-2017 looks like this.

• Sergey Avilov "V.N.L. (Vera. Hope. Love) "

• Mikhail Gigolashvili "Secret Year"

• Yuri Buida "Leaving Arkady"

• Leo Danilkin “Lenin. Pantocur of sunny dust dust "

• Boris Evseev "Executed Bell"

• Oleg Ermakov "Tungus Song"

• Dmitry Novikov "Golosyan Flame"

• Andrey Rubanov "Patriot"

• Sergey Samsonov "Falcon line"

• Vladimir Sorokin "Manaraga"

• Anna Starobinets "Look at him"

Clarisa Pulson - especially for "New"