''Omon Ra'' (russian: «Омон Ра») is a short
novel by
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n writer
Victor Pelevin
Victor Olegovich Pelevin ( rus, Виктор Олегович Пелевин, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐˈlʲɛɡəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈlʲevʲɪn; born 22 November 1962) is a Russian fiction writer. His novels include ''Omon Ra'' (1992), ''The Life of Insects ...
, published in 1992 by the
Tekst Publishing House in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. It was the first novel by Pelevin, who until then was known for his short stories.
Pelevin traces the absurd fate of the
protagonist Omon, named by his policeman father (after
OMON
OMON (russian: ОМОН – Отряд Мобильный Особого Назначения , translit = Otryad Mobil'nyy Osobogo Naznacheniya , translation = Special Purpose Mobile Unit, , previously ru , Отряд Милиции Осо ...
,
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
and Russian
special police force
Special police usually describes a police force or unit within a police force whose duties and responsibilities are significantly different from other forces in the same country or from other police in the same force, although there is no consiste ...
s, pronounced "
Amon
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...
"), placing him in circumstances that are both fantastic and at the same time have recognizable everyday detail. Pelevin uses this story to illustrate the underlying absurdity of the Soviet establishment with its fixation on "heroic achievements", especially in those fields of human endeavor which could be favorably presented to the outside world—science, the military, and most significantly
space exploration.
The book met with a significant success in the early post-Soviet cultural landscape and continues to be reprinted. An excerpt under the name "Lunokhod" was published in 1991 in the magazine ''Knowledge is Power'' and in the collection ''Blue Lantern''. A variation of the book was published in the magazine ''The Banner'' in 1992. In 1993 the book was awarded with two literary prizes, the "Interpresson" and the "Bronze Snail".
Plot summary
The book is narrated in the first person. It is a coming-of-age story, or ''
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
''. The protagonist is Omon Krivomazov, who was born in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The plot traces his life from early childhood. In his teenage years, the realization strikes him that he must break free of Earth's gravity to free himself of the demands of the Soviet society and the rigid ideological confines of the state. After finishing high school, he immediately enrolls in a military academy. Omon soon finds that the academy does not, in fact, create future pilots, but instead exposes cadets to a series of treacherous trials, beginning with the amputation of both of their feet. The goal of the trials is to manifest Soviet heroism in the cadets. These amputations come as a reference to a famous Soviet ace-pilot
Alexey Maresyev
Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev (russian: Алексей Петрович Маресьев; 5 May 1916 – 19 May 2001) was a Russian military pilot who became a Soviet fighter ace during World War II despite becoming a double amputee.
Biog ...
, who, despite being badly injured in a plane crash after a dogfight, managed to return to Soviet-controlled territory on his own. During his 18-day-long journey, his injuries deteriorated so badly that both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee. Desperate to return to his fighter pilot career, he subjected himself to nearly a year of physical therapy and exercise to master control of his prosthetic devices. He succeeded and returned to flying in June 1943.
Before any intentional amputation can occur, Omon and his friend are whisked out of the academy into a top-secret installation, located under
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
headquarters in Moscow. There, they start preparing for a supposedly uncrewed mission to the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
. Omon is told that to substitute for researching, building and launching an automated probe, the Party prefers to use people, trained for "heroism", to fulfill the tasks nominally performed by machines, such as rocket stage separation, space vehicle course correction and so on.
Soon Omon indeed seems to be launched to the Moon, strapped into a seat inside a
Lunokhod
Lunokhod ( rus, Луноход, p=lʊnɐˈxot, "Moonwalker") was a series of Soviet robotic lunar rovers designed to land on the Moon between 1969 and 1977. Lunokhod 1 was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on an extraterrestrial ...
, which he is meant to drive like a bicycle on the lunar surface. He is the final piece in a multi-stage mission to deliver a radio beacon to a specific point on the Moon and activate it. This he does, even though once he leaves the confines of the hermetically sealed Lunokhod, his protection against the vacuum and the interstellar cold consists of a cotton-filled overcoat and "special hydrocompensatory tampons" stuffed up his nose. However, when the time comes for Omon to shoot himself after he places the beacon, according to his orders, the gun he was given for the purpose misfires. Omon finds himself not on the Moon at all, but in an abandoned subway tunnel, where he had been driving his Lunokhod all along, ignoring all signs which might have given him a clue as to his real whereabouts. He tries to escape and is chased and shot at, but he manages to find his way into the "normal" world again, coming up into one of the stations of the
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first ...
.
One of Omon's "teachers" explains the idea behind the charade: even if the fact that the Soviet Union is a champion of peaceful space exploration holds true only inside a person's head (namely, the hero's; no one knows of him or his mission apart from its organizers), this is not any different from it being the reality. The reality, when it concerns subjects not capable of being experienced, is in fact only a perception formed in people's consciousness, and can be manipulated to the extent that the question of "true" version of events becomes meaningless.
Title
The title, ''Omon Ra'', refers to the main character's given and chosen names. Omon's first name comes from the acronym for a branch of the Russian police force. It was given to him by his father.
Ra is an allusion to the Egyptian Sun god, whose body is human and whose head is that of a
falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
. Omon bestowed this surname upon himself, inspired by the fact that the word falcon was sometimes applied to cosmonauts and heroes. Ra is connected with the Egyptian myth of the sun orbiting the earth, which connects to Omon's obsession with spaceflight. Later, Ra becomes his call sign for the lunar mission. Together these names relate to Omon's dream of flight and the absurd military system he must go through to achieve it.
Major characters
;Omon Ra (Omon Krivomazov): Raised by the Soviet apparatus due to his apathetic aunt and absent father, Omon dreams of becoming a cosmonaut. He enters the Soviet space program and is selected for a special program. In the novel, Pelevin gives sacred significance in the eyes of the philistines of the time being described to the personalities of the era who are the reference points, these are:
Alexei Maresiev,
Alexander Matrosov
Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov (russian: Алекса́ндр Матве́евич Матро́сов, ba, Шәкирйән Юныс улы Мөхәмәтйәнов, uk, Олександр Матвійович Матросов; February 5, 1924 ...
, and the literary character
Pavel Korchagin. With these people in one way or another associate themselves with the flight school cadets, teachers, the leadership of the special mission and its participants. At the same time, the main character, Omon Krivomazov, in contrast to everything else around him, associates himself with the
Egyptian sun god Ra. Throughout the story, the hero unconsciously searches for the divine beginning, the soul, which is marked by a reference to
Dostoyevsky's novel in his surname. It is this beginning, and by no means the heroic one, that turns out to be the main one, and ultimately helps Omon to escape from the space of "doom for the feat". Pelevin characterizes the hero's inner world with signs - details: there is the invariable "soup with macaroni stars", burlesquely indicating the desire for heights, and the plasticine cosmonaut from the plywood rocket in the canteen - a
simulacrum
A simulacrum (plural: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin '' simulacrum'', which means "likeness, semblance") is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, u ...
of the space feat.
;Mitiok: Omon's friend, who also dreams of going into space. He was executed after the "reincarnational test" which revealed that he had been a Nazi officer in his previous life.
;Colonel Urchagin: Blind and paralyzed graduate of the military political academy named after Pavel Korchagin, the protagonist of the novel ''
How the Steel was Tempered
''How the Steel Was Tempered'' (russian: Как закалялась сталь, ''Kak zakalyalas' stal) or ''The Making of a Hero'', is a socialist realist novel written by Nikolai Ostrovsky (1904–1936). With 36.4 million copies sold, it is ...
'' (his injury is the reference to the author of the novel
Nikolai Ostrovsky
Nikolai Alexeevich Ostrovsky (russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Остро́вский; uk, Мико́ла Олексі́йович Остро́вський; 29 September 1904 – 22 December 1936) was a Soviet socialist realist w ...
, who also became blind and paralyzed due to his illness), he is the idealistic leader of the Soviet space program. He tells Omon that “just one pure soul is enough for the banner of triumphant socialism to be unfurled on the surface of the distant moon.”
[Plevin, Victor. ''Omon Ra''. New Directions. 1998. 150.]
Themes
Throughout much of the novel, Pelevin establishes space travel as a metaphor for maturation and heroism as one for responsibility. In the beginning of the novel, Omon straddles the boundary between childhood and adulthood. He yearns to become a cosmonaut and a hero; however, when he has the opportunity to do so, he realizes that heroism is nothing but a glorified illusion. Although children believe that the world holds an infinite number of opportunities for adults, they eventually learn that the responsibility adults have is extremely constraining rather than liberating.
Adaptations
Marcel Dorney's theatrical adaptation of ''Omon Ra'' was performed by the Restaged Histories Project in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Australia in 2006.
References
{{reflist
External links
Pelevin.Nov.Ru- "Omon Ra" text (Russian)
New Directions- publishing house providing English translations of some of the Pelevin's books
"Empire and Moon"Review of Omon Ra stage production in ''RealTime'' 72 (April–May 2006), 42.
1993 novels
Novels by Victor Pelevin
Novels set in Moscow
Soviet science fiction novels
Counterculture of the 1990s
20th-century Russian novels