Vladimir Viktorovich Orlov (russian: Влади́мир Ви́кторович Орло́в; 31 August 1936 – 5 August 2014) was a Russian novelist, notable for his fantasy novel ''

Danilov, the Violist Danilov, the Violist (russian: Альти́ст Дани́лов, ''Al'tist Danilov'') is a 1980 urban fantasy novel by Soviet Russian author Vladimir Orlov. It revolves around the misadventures of a half-demon violist named Danilov. It is consi ...

''. Orlov was born in Moscow, but during

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 opposin ...

was evacuated to Mari El. Between 1954 and 1959, he was a student at the Faculty of Journalism of the Moscow State University. Subsequently, he took a job as a reporter with the

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ...

working at the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam and Tayshet- Abakan railroad, and at the same time started to write short stories, mainly under influence of

Vasily Aksyonov Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov ( rus, Васи́лий Па́влович Аксёнов, p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ɐˈksʲɵnəf; August 20, 1932 – July 6, 2009) was a Soviet and Russian novelist. He became known in the West as the autho ...

. He published his book of short stories "Doroga dlinoy v sem' santimetrov" (The Seven Centimetre road) in 1960 and the novel "Solyony Arbuz" (The salted watermelon) in 1965. In 1969, Orlov published his novel, ''Posle dozhdichka v chetverg''(After the Rain on Thursday), and decided to become a full-time writer. Between 1969 and 1975, all the books Orlov submitted for publication were rejected for ideological reasons. In 1975 he published the novel "Proishestviye v Nikolskom" (''An incident in Nikolskoye''), a psychological drama about the rape of a girl by her classmates and the legal proceedings afterwards. In 1980, Orlov published ''

'', which immediately gained popularity. The protagonist of the novel, Danilov, is a kind-hearted and lazy half-demon who cannot decide whether he is more a demon or a human, and runs into a trouble with his demon superiors (who demand that he should be an enemy of humans, or face execution). The novel is full of mythical creatures such as domovoi. The fantasy genre was not common in the Soviet Union at the time, and this added to the popularity of the novel, which eventually became the first part of the ''Ostankino Stories'' cycle. Two more novels followed to complete the cycle: ' (1988) and ''Shevrikuka'' (1997). The cycle genre is considered to be

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

influenced by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, Fyodor Sologub and

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

. ''Danilov, the Violist'' was compared with Doctor Faustus by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

since both novels study the diabolic and human origins of artistic creativity., and with Bulgakov's

Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version, with several chapters cut by ...

. In the 1990s and the 2000s, Orlov was teaching at the

Maxim Gorky Literature Institute The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow. History The insti ...

in Moscow. Orlov died on August 5, 2014. He left behind a widow, Lidiya, with whom he had lived for nearly 60 years, and a son, Leonid Orlov, who as of 2014 was working as a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlov, Vladimir 1936 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Russian writers Russian male novelists Magic realism writers 20th-century novelists Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery 20th-century Russian male writers Soviet fantasy writers