Dmitry Gudkov: "Literary parallels"

“I like the parallels. Today they are literary. A Moscow teacher is fired for taking his students to a performance of Huxley’s Brave New World. And the writer Lukyanenko is creating a website in support of Sobyanin,” the politician reports on his Facebook page.

“Well, everything is clear about Huxley. Caliban saw himself in the mirror - and the mirror cracked with shame. The quality of Moscow education and the freedom of pedagogical creativity have been confirmed by deeds.

But with Lukyanenko, of course, it’s more interesting. I’ll say this not even as a candidate for mayor, but as a person who once loved his books: “The Boy and the Darkness,” “Island of Rus',” and everywhere else. A writer cannot support power. Simply because he can't. The entire history of literature suggests that if you write anything other than denunciations, and at the same time glorify the Tsar or the Secretary General, then your books will not survive you.

Of course, it’s not for me to ask Lukyanenko “who are you with, masters of culture?”, but the answer is still known: either the masters or the authorities.

I hope that when the opposition comes to this very power, not a single writer will create sites in my support. I want to read their books, not their hymns."