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"Big Book" did not open new names

On December 5, 2023, a solemn ceremony was held in Pashkov’s house, at which the names of the laureates of the XVIII season of the National Literary Prize “Big Book” were named.

Of the 15 finalists, three winners were chosen. No, these were not unexpected or unknown names - the three laureates were painfully familiar to everyone.

Three good writers - Alexei Salnikov, Yuri Buida and Evgeny Vodolazkin. All of them do not need any confirmations of creative viability, because readers have long had no doubt. Evgeny Vodolazkin, for example, “took” the “big book” several times: the first place for the “Lavr” in 2013 and the second place for the “aviator” in 2016. In 2019, with the Brisben novel, and in 2021 with the “Execution of the Island” he was included in the short list ... there is something permanent (and even inertial) in its inclusion in premium lists. This does not make it worse or better, but puts it under attack. He, of course, will withstand the blow, but the sediment will remain (even despite the fact that Vodolazkin has long earned and suffered his place in the literary process of the 21st century, dissatisfied with the decision of the jury of the Big Book Prize - a critical quantity).

For Alexei Salnikov, who took third place, you can be happy. His Occultoreger is a charming city fantasy, the book of Nilheimanovsky, very fascinating and loved by readers. Many fans of Salnikov, who gave his hearts to him after the bestseller “Petrova in the flu and around him,” supported this decision of the jury. A few years ago, the “Petrians in the flu”, although they received the National Bestseller Award and the critical prize of Nose, could not win the “Big Book”. This time everything turned out at last.

But with Yuri Buyda, as with Evgeny Vodolazkin, the jury “BC” is also familiar for 10 years - a small anniversary. In 2013, Buida was awarded the third place of the “Big Book” for the novel “Thief, Spy and killer”. In 2023, Buida became a silver medalist with the Gift of Speech - the jury paid for his romance as many as 527 points against 608 points awarded to Vodolazkin, and 514 - Salnikov. Read the novel about how the most important business publication was established about the Russian business (a hint of Kommersant, it seems, everyone was considered) and how the media managers lived, it turned out to be difficult, but it remains only to complain.

In Longlist, declared back in April of this year, there was 51 applicants for the victory: Gala Uzryutov, and Kirill Ryabov, and Ksenia Burzhskaya, and Ragim Jafarov, and Mikhail Baru, and Islam Hanipaev, and Andrei Tavrov, and many others. All of them have never been awarded the Big Book Award and can hardly compete with the master. Some of them is too controversial, someone inconvenient, someone ineveral, someone unknown-in the end we get acquaintances and safe, but a little fed.

The most bold solution ended up symbolically in the specialization of the “Generation Choice” (established in 2022 “In order to popularize modern prose in the youth environment and increase interest in domestic literature” ). Last season, Sergey Belyakov was the laureate with the documentary novel “Parisian Boys in Stalin Moscow”, and this was the reward of Oksana Vasyakina and Rosa-the final book of her auto-fiction-trilogy published in the publishing house “New Literary Review”.

K.P.