The final book about the literature of the time of a cultural rift: a rare case when the newest literary process is examined both comprehensively and with maximum personal immediacy.
Reviews written by a well-known writer of the present day: here the discussion is not only about the books read, but also about what they are made of and how they are made.
“Odd-Even” is at once a chronicle of literature from recent years and a confessional testimony of an era—capturing today’s disputes and, already, making out the outlines of the culture of tomorrow.
My first “Книгочёт,” devoted to the literature of the “noughts,” was published in 2012. It analyzed prose, poetry, and publicism from 1999–2012.
Thirteen more years have passed. Looking back, I understand: I was entering literature as a happy person who wanted good for everyone—if not for almost everyone. That was how youth looked.
Then maturity arrived. In 2014, a major quarrel broke out within Russian literature—it was triggered by events in Kyiv, Crimea, and Donbas; in 2022, this quarrel turned into a genuine split.
Today, the former ability to accept all literature indiscriminately has disappeared. In my new book, “Odd-Even,” I’m not going to pretend to have a benevolent view.
…But I still know how to read hungrily—and I’m still capable of being amazed by someone else’s talent.
* * *
And at the beginning of the 19th century, and at the beginning of the 20th—against the backdrop of great historical upheavals—literature could look like a secondary matter, almost a niche pursuit. But a hundred, two hundred years passed, and it became clear: what mattered most for national consciousness was happening there.
Russian poetry and prose of 1812 and 1825, of 1914 and 1920—what could be more essential?
In these texts, our national character was formed.
We are made by this literature.
Has contemporary literature reached the depth revealed in the past and the century before last? Is it commensurate with the Russian fate? Did it see today’s events in advance? Did it understand their meaning?
That is what this book will be about.