Day of the Oprichnik (Penguin Modern Classics)

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First published in 2006, Sorokin's novel imagines a totalitarian Russia under a tsar a.k.a. Putin in 2027, and you probably have to call it a dystopian satire, but looking at the genocide campaign in Ukraine, fueled by soldiers and mercenaries hired to disregard all rules and to turn the region into a real-life torture and gore hell, it's not far off from our reality. The plot is structured around one day in the life of Andrej Danilowitsch Komjaga, who, as the narrator, takes us along for a day in his life as a Oprichnik, so a member of the elite unit that helps to keep the state running by means of, you know, murder, rape, violence, degradation, fear, and general ruthlessness - if that rings a bell, it's probably because people tend to mysteriously disappear and / or die in Russia if they dare to speak up.

On December 3, 1564, Ivan IV departed Moscow on pilgrimage. While such journeys were routine for the throne, Ivan neglected to set in place the usual arrangements for rule in his absence. Moreover, an unusually large personal guard, a significant number of boyars, and the treasury accompanied him. [9] But the thing is, гойда is not a benign little word. I didn’t have any medieval Russian texts on hand — and probably could not read them if I did — but I did find works by several authors, starting with Nikolai Karamzin writing in the early 1800s and ending with Alexei Tolstoy writing in the 1940s. The action in most of them takes place during the time of Ivan the Terrible, and all have crowds shouting Гойда ! Гойда ! But they are clearly not calling to march “Onward!” or “Forward!” They’re calling for blood. In fact, it's the first time I've read anything by a Russian writer who isn't pushing up daisies. It made me realise this: all the best Russian writers are in the land of the dead, and I'd much rather read a poorly translated Bulgakov or Nabokov when it comes to satire than a superbly translated Sorokin. Sorokin's book is a sleek and darting fish . . . Day of the Oprichnik . . . should attract the readership [Sorokin] deserves . . . He has a fearless imagination willing to be put to most grotesque and energetic use.” —Alexander Nazaryan, The New Republic

A Novel

The song "Dog and Broom" on Arghoslent's Hornets of the Pogrom album focuses specifically on the Oprichniki, and makes reference to their actions during the 1570 Novgorod Massacre. The low-budget Dystopian sci-fi film The Syndicate , directed by Tibor Takács and starring Rutger Hauer (!). It is actually set 20 Minutes into the Future, but its predictions and overall mood are very much based on the Russian Nineties. Might this be something of a Sorokin moment in the Anglophone world? Is the pope German?” —Stephen Kotkin, The New York Times Book Review Sorokin [is] one of Russia's funniest, smartest and most confounding living writers.” —Elaine Blair, The Nation Isabel De Madariaga, Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia (London: Yale University Press, 2005), 176–78; Andrei Pavlov and Maureen Perrie, Ivan the Terrible (London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003), 112–13.

There are so, so many of these italicized words and phrases in the book, many of which just seem odd or distracting or emphasizing the wrong word. (“I’ve seen many book and manuscript bonfires—in our courtyard, and in the Secret Department.”) I have every confidence in the world in Jamey Gambrell’s translation (she also did Sorokin’s The Queue and The Ice Trilogy, so she definitely knows his work and style), but I am curious as to how these worked in the original Russian. Sometimes punctuation and other forms of emphasis don’t always translate exactly . . . Mr. Dugin makes a brief appearance in the shape of an “old jester” named Duga. When Her Majesty swans away from her meeting with Komiaga in a soft cloud of balalaika music and flattery, she finds a crowd of “hangers-on” who bow and scrape: In medieval Russian poetry known as the bylina, the hero was usually a bogatyr (knight) who had to go a quest for a tsar or princess; echoes of this tradition were found in the Socialist Realist Soviet literature, which usually featured a worker hero who like the bogatyr had to perform a mission that was much like a quest for Communism. [18] Much of the style of the book is a satire of the Socialist Realist style as Komyaga has to perform a quest of sorts to uphold the power of the state and annihilate his own identity over the course of a 24-hour period. [19] Through Komyaga is successful in his quest, his success is also his failure as the white stallion that symbolizes freedom is more farther away from him at the end of the novel than it was at the beginning of the novel. As the white stallion runs away, Komiage cries out "My white stallion, wait! Don't run away...where are you going?" [11] See also [ edit ] Poyarok recorded it in the Secret Department, when they were torturing the Far Eastern general. It could even wake a corpse.

The New Russia in fiction

Fedka removes the tray and kneels, holding his arm out. Leaning on it, I rise. Fedka smells worse in the morning than in the evening. That's the truth of his body, and there's nothing to be done about it. Birch branches and steam baths won't help. Stretching and creaking, I walk over to the iconostasis, light the lampion, and kneel. I say my morning prayers, bow low. Fedka stands behind me; he yawns and crosses himself.

As you can see, in all the texts I found, “Гойда !” was not a quaint ye olde russky way of getting the crowd warmed up to go forward to victory. It was a way of getting their blood racing to go maim and kill. Okhlobystin’s Бойся, мы идём! Гойда! Гойда!” is more like “Be afraid! We are coming! Kill! Kill!” Vladimir Sorokin's dilogy of dystopias The Day of Oprichnik and The Sugar Kremlin describes future Russia as a mix of New Russia and pre- Peter The Great Muscovite Tsarist Russia, with a large dose of Cyberpunk and Postmodernism. Professor Isabel de Madariaga (1919–2014) expanded this idea to explain the oprichnina as Ivan's attempt to subordinate all independent social classes to the autocracy. [8] Establishment [ edit ] Last Friday there was a big event on Red Square in Moscow to celebrate (sic) the new Russian regions (sic), i.e., Ukrainian land annexed (on paper) by Russia. One of the headliners was Ivan Okhlobystin, an actor-cum-Orthodox-priest-cum-political-rabblerouser, who got the crowd worked up shouting what he described as старорусское междометие (an old Russian exclamation): Гойда ! Isabel De Madariaga, Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia (London: Yale University Press, 2005), 202–08, 231–32; Andrei Pavlov and Maureen Perrie, Ivan the Terrible (London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003), 130–34.

a b c d e f Nelson, Victoria (16 February 2019). "His Majesty: On Vladimir Sorokin's "Day of the Oprichnik" ". Los Angeles Review of Books . Retrieved 25 July 2020.

Over the course of one day, Andrei Komiaga will bear witness to—and participate in—brutal executions; extravagant parties; meetings with ballerinas, soothsayers, and even the czarina. He will rape and pillage, and he will be moved to tears by the sweetly sung songs of his homeland. He will consume an arsenal of drugs and denounce threats to his great nation’s morals. And he will fall in love—perhaps even with a number of his colleagues. In the Novgorod incident, the Oprichniks killed an estimated 1500 "big people" (nobles), although the actual number of victims is unknown. [9] Appearances in modern media [ edit ] The street in the town: people fleeing at the arrival of the Oprichniki (set to the opera The Oprichnik by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1911) This work is—passionate, and absolutely necessary. It gives us more strength to overcome the enemies of the Russian state. Even this succulent work requires a certain seriousness. You have to start and finish by seniority. Oprichnik ( Russian: опри́чник, IPA: [ɐˈprʲitɕnʲɪk], man aside; plural Oprichniki) was the designation given to a member of the Oprichnina, a bodyguard corps [1]Isabel de Madariaga, Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia (London: Yale University Press, 2005), 364–65, 368–70. Filimonova, Tatiana (January 2014). "Chinese Russia: Imperial Consciousness in Vladimir Sorokin's Writing". Region. 3 (2): 219–244. doi: 10.1353/reg.2014.0019. S2CID 129509290. I go into the outer vestibule. The servants have all lined up—the farmyard workers, the cook, the chef, the yardman, the game warden, the guards, the housekeeper: Andrew, Christopher (2018). The Secret World- a History of Intelligence. Yale University Press. pp.141–157. ISBN 978-0-300-23844-0.