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WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS

The purpose of this reading group is to provide a space to discuss the books with others who’ve read them. Many of us write reviews here on WWE, but we are limited in what we can say because we don’t want to spoil anyone’s reading experience. In this forum, we can write without that fear, so please join our discussion or lurk if you wish, but be aware that you might learn more than you wish if you have not read the book.

I’m using Emil’s suggestion as a guideline, but other respondents please feel free to shape your discussion as you wish.

 1. Initial Impression of Omon Ra

Pelevin’s ability to switch gears in the book was done masterfully. The book begins as a realistic and fairly typical coming-of-age narrative in which Omon and Mitiok are set on a path to leave their less-than-desirable families and become cosmonauts.  And then comes the scene (you know the one) in which most of the boys at the Zaraisk flying school are drugged have their legs amputated while they sleep. Omon’s reaction was:

I was struck by horror: where Slava’s legs should have been, the blanket fell straight down in an abrupt step, and the freshly starched blanket cover was stained with red blotches like the marks left on cotton towels by watermelon juice. (33)

From this moment, absurdity piles upon absurdity as Pelevin puts forth a scathing critique of governments, bureaucracies, military organizations, and other power structures. I thought the book bogged down a little bit during the training period of the cosmonauts, but it certainly picked up again when the rocket “took off.” There we saw Omon and the other cosmonauts facing their mortality and learned the big secret that the whole Soviet space program was a farce.

The section that I wish that I understood better is the “reincarnation check” one.  Pelevin (and the translator) demonstrate some virtuoso writing in Mitiok’s monologue, showing his “journey” from the Sumerian Ninhursag to the Roman Sextius to the Nazi Vögel von Richthofen. The monologue is rich with symbolism (mirrors, caps, gods, modes of transportation) that carries from speaker to speaker and culture to culture, which indicates Pelevin’s depth of cultural knowledge.

I wish I understood the importance of the “reincarnation check” in the Soviet space program. I’m surprised that the Soviets in this book would believe in reincarnation especially since the program’s underpinnings of scientific atheism are so much in the forefront. Also, I don’t understand why Mitiok failed this reincarnation check and was killed. Clearly, he was not killed because he had been reincarnated because Omon had been reincarnated too. When Omon is returned to his room, the warrant officers say “Here, take back your Egyptian” (75). While this statement could just be a reference to Omon’s adopted last name Ra, it seems to indicate that one of Omon’s former lives was Egyptian. Perhaps the reason that Mitiok fails is that one of his incarnations is “Nazi scum” (32). Other readers, what are your thoughts on this section?

2. Themes

The main themes as I see them are:

a) a (justified) distrust of authority: the cosmonauts are manipulated, mutilated, and murdered so that the government can stage an elaborate farce of space travel and a moon landing.

b) heroism/masculinity: the main way the cosmonauts are manipulated is through the call to heroic action for the Motherland. All of this is very tied up in the performance masculine identity. As a note, the only woman in the whole text is Omon’s aunt. No one seems to have mothers, wives, sisters, etc.

c) mortality: this, of course, is connected to the heroism theme. For these cosmonauts being a hero does not mean risking their lives but instead knowingly giving their lives to the cause of the moon landing.

d) Ra/sun god: See below.

3. Most Interesting Theme

The most obvious theme is, of course, the Amun-Ra theme. Pelevin begins by playing with this theme. Omon’s father names him O. M. O. N. after the acronym for the Russian special police in order to give the boy an advantage in the future: “If you join the police, with a name like that…” (1). I read in a review (sorry I don’t remember where) that this is an anachronism because the OMON were not developed until after the space race and could not have been Omon’s father’s inspiration when Omon was born.

Besides the anachronistic OMON, the title reflects the Egyptian god Amun-Ra. The appellation Amun-Ra really reflects a composite god Amun (the creator god) and Ra (the sun god). Each had a geographical area of importance and as Egypt became a more cohesive kingdom, the worship of these gods combined; however, from what I have read, the stories attached to each god remained distinct. Therefore, each god was seen as an aspect of the deity. Amun was the hidden god, connected with hidden power, things that exist outside the natural world. An ancient Egyptian writing about him says: “He is too secret to uncover his awesomeness, he is too great to investigate, too powerful to know” (qtd. in The Way to Eternity, Barnes and Noble Books, 29). (He sounds a bit like the U.S.S.R. in its height, doesn’t he? or maybe Amun is the OMON?) Ra, however, is the very visible sun god, who is portrayed with the head of a falcon.

Omon never mentions any connection with Amun, the hidden god, but finds a connection with Ra, through this falcon connection: “Probably I liked him because he had a falcon’s head, and pilots and cosmonauts and all sorts of heroes were often called falcons” (68).  Using one of his aunt’s books as a source, Omon copies down Ra’s story:

        In the morning Ra, illuminating the earth, sails along the heavenly Nile on the barque Manjet; in the evening he transfers to the barque Mesektet and descends into the underworld, where he does battle with the forces of darkness as he sails along the nether Nile; and in the morning he reappears on the horizon. (67-8)

He adopts Ra as his last name, as he sees himself as “Omon Ra, the faithful falcon of the Motherland” (69). Ironically, this manifestation of a sun god is being trained to travel to the moon.

Yet, the moon is not the moon, and we can read Ra’s story as a sophisticated foreshadowing of Omon’s discovery of the truth behind the Soviet space program. This Ra does not travel to the moon, but to the “nether Nile” of an abandoned subway track, on his own Mesektet, or moonwalker, where he does indeed “battle with the forces of darkness,” literally and metaphorically. From the beginning of the book, the space program has been surprisingly chthonic. It was physically underground as well as hidden from the public. When Omon realizes the farce behind his beliefs, he begins his journey upward towards the earth, the light and truth. The novel ends with Oman still underground, on a subway, traveling in an unknown direction. Pelevin leaves us with an image of him looking at a map: “I had to decide where to go. I looked up at the metro diagram on the wall beside the emergency-stop handle, and began to work out where exactly on the red line I was” (154). There is hope in this ending because for the first time Omon gets to make his own decisions and work things out for himself.

4. Favorite Moment

There are some really great passages in this book that summarize the Soviet use of dialectic as an avenue to present falsehoods rather than a way to investigate truths. These are the passages that I kept going back to read—most of them are about the construction of a hero.

However, my favorite moment is the one just before Omon tries to kill himself. He remembers the story about the father and son who dress as bears so that Kissinger and the Soviet leaders can shoot at them. The son is killed when Kissinger attacks the “bear” with a knife. The father is forced to lie as if he is dead beside his son, who is bleeding to death, because the Soviets will not give up the façade. Omon says: “and as I pressed the trigger, I suddenly realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kissinger had very well known what he was stabbing at” (139). At the moment of his “death,” Omon realizes that he and all of the people of the Soviet Union have been used and exploited to keep up the Soviet façade that its technological advances are equal to those of the United States. The Soviets need to project that they have nuclear and space travel capabilities when in reality they do not. This realization that his leaders are really Kissingers allows him to survive when he awakes and must protect himself from their attacks.

I must admit that I like this book much better since I started writing about it. I appreciate the ways that Pelevin repeats symbols and themes. He provides the reader with clues to the denouement throughout the narrative that only become obvious by moving backwards in the text.

I've found myself rereading the book a second time, both to further appreciate the points made above, as well as to try to clarify my thinking about what I think is a fifth main theme (which I'm still working on articulating).  In so doing, I've come to realize just how dense and carefully constructed the book is.  It's really quite something, especially considering that it's a book that can be enjoyably breezed through in a couple of hours.  Everything is linked and every little detail seems to have a meaning, even though we may not understand what that meaning is (with cultural differences sometimes being a further barrier).

Lastly, it really goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow: Omon Ra is an absurdist masterpiece!  (Absurd is a word I'll be using a lot when talking about this book.)    The whole book is screamingly funny but in such a dead-pan way.

I've done some general web research on the Soviet space program and found a few things that may be of interest:

The Wikipedia article shows that the actual Soviet program had a strong absurdist side to it, one that surely inspired Pelevin in the writing of Omon Ra (see the Internal competition and After Korolyov sections).

Amusingly, it also turns out that the Soviets have their own inverted version of our own Moon landing conspiracy theories. The Soviet version is Lost Cosmonauts, cosmonauts launched but never acknowledged.  Again, Pelevin and his Russian readers surely know of these theories, theories that add a yet another dimension to the absurdity of Omon Ra.

Cosmonauts Number Zero, an article from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (May 1994) by Nina Chugunova is a fascinating and heart wrenching "inside story" of Soviet "Space test pilots", who were for all intents and purposes subjects for extreme and horrific medical tests.  The article also provides some broader context, briefly examining Soviet views on heroism (Overcoming impossible conditions was considered good for the soul) and the space program (The adventure in the cosmos was supposed to present an exact image of the nation, like an anniversary portrait - and always an ideal image on the Soviet television screen.  In essence, space had replaced religion).  And then there's this from a survivor's notebook: It is better to fly like a falcon for half a year than to crawl like a turtle through a lifetime.

Some other cultural tidbit's I've turned up from ever-useful Wikipedia: 

Alexey Maresyev (31) (also mentioned in Cosmonauts Number Zero) really was a celebrated war hero who continued to shoot down Nazis even after losing his feet.

 ... a glimpse of a sight from some long-ago summer of my schooldays - the archways of the shop Children's World by the Lubyanka. (38)  Lubyanka is the KGB headquarters/prison, located across the street from the popular toy store Children's World (another name for Lubanka is "Adult's World" because of this proximity).  Later, when starting the chapter on page 51, I think most Moscovites know perfectly well what's going on deep below their feet during those hours when they're queuing at the Children's World  we learn that the underground rocket training center is located deep within the KGB's torture complex.

BTW, the end of the Kalinka passage on pg 48 in which the typical fate of trainee pilots is explained (A third us us take to drink, and another third ... end up committing suicide) is borne out in Cosmonauts Number Zero:  Almost all resorted to the "traditional Russian method of fighting anguish and depression" - drinking.  ...  Boris Pashkin hanged himself. Igor Dikov threw himself out the window.

Going back to Rhonda's excellent intro, I'll just touch on a few things for now:

That "reincarnation check", yes, hmmm.  I suppose that an obvious and simplistic answer might be that it's Pelevin's absurdist version of some sort of idiological "purity test".  Another would be that it's related to actual medical tests that actual cosmonauts had to pass (Cosmonauts Number Zero shows pilots being subjected to a "vestibular probe" test).  Neither of these explanations even begins to justify the attention that Pelevin devotes to this section of the text.  My best guess is that it has something to do with Pelevin's interest in Buddhism.  Anyhow, Mitiok doomed himself early on when he wanted to punch the ugly face of the man who designed the rocket with the man sealed inside (16).

Another thing that mystified me was the episode with the tortured Japanese pilot (93) and cosmonaut dog Laika (94).  It was so... random.

The explication of Amun-Ra was so insightful and helpful - thanks!!!  So much of that went clean over my head.

A favorite moment for me was:  ... touched me so profoundly I almost wept, and at these moments I stopped thinking that all Communists were cunning, mean, and self-serving (57).

@ Rhonda:  I've read most of what's been translated of Pelevin, including Babylon/Homo Zapiens twice by accident, having purchased and read it under each title.     It's been nine years I last read it, so my memories of it are pretty fuzzy and unhelpful, but it's my other favorite of his, joining Omon Ra, which I've liked even better with rereading and with the insights here.  Really, almost all of his books are great:  Buddha's Little Finger/The Clay Machine-Gun, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, The Helmet of Horror:  The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Hall of the Singing Caryatids, The Yellow Arrow, all great.  The Life of Insects and The Blue Lantern (a collection, of which 4 by Pelevin is a subset) were good but not great.  A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories (collection) is being saved for a rainy day...

Back to the "reincarnation check" issue, I've come up with a crazy theory.  What if Mitiok is a Christ figure?  There are a variety of gods and god figures sprinkled throughout the text: Ra himself, the Sumerian gods (I Wikied them, but had no epiphanies), Lenin (like some incorporeal god rippling across the surface of the world which he had created (14) (perhaps more on the oft cited Lenin in another post)); Christ could easily be another.

Some possible clues:

Mitiok filled the glass ... with a dark-red liquid and held it out to me. (22) (last supper).

In the Roman section of Mitiok's reincarnation session, when he is Sextius, there's a bit that connects him to Christianity:  he really is from Galilee, that Maximus.  They meet at his house and breathe some kind of smoke.  Then he goes up on the roof wearing nothing but his sandals and crows like a cock - as soon as I saw it I knew they were Christians (84) (a St. Peter allusion?).  Later, Sextius is told This is your place, under the marble lamb (85) (sacrifice).

This is the bit that feels the weakest - I don't really understand what's going on here.  Pelevin carefully dates this Roman reincarnation section to about 100 AD through references to Domitian (83) and Nerva (84), but I'm not sure of the significance.  The person he is speaking to (his inquisitor?) can read a man's heart (83) and wears a Phrygian cap (86), where, according to Wikipedia, In late Republican Rome, the cap of freedmen served as a symbol of freedom from tyranny.  Again, I'm not quite sure how this all fits together.

The words "reincarnation check" could themselves be a clue - perhaps they are are checking to see if one of their prospective cosmonauts is Christ reincarnated?  The reincarnation check is conducted by a man dressed in a strange black robe (74), as are the warrent officers who bring back Omon after the test, saying Here, take back your Egyptian (75), who here are almost certainly refering to Omon in his Amun-Ra identity.  The robes clearly have some sort of religious/ceremonial meaning.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there's this from the blind Colonel Urchagin to Omon on Mitiok: I know how hard it was for you to lose your friend and learn that ever since you were a child you had been ... arm in arm with a cunning and experienced enemy - I won't even pronounce his name (149).  The Communist party (and Lenin) were famously antipathetic to religion.  Throughout the book, whenever gods are mentioned, even in innocuous figures of speech, Communist party figures challenge the speaker (even when "Sextius" says glory be to Isis and Serepis (84) (further reinforcing the idea that this dialog is occurring with his Communist inquisitor)).  Why can't his name be spoken?  The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that Mitiok is Christ.

What do you all think of this theory?

On other literary allusions, I think I'm on fairly firm ground in thinking that Alice in Wonderland is repeatedly referenced here, in both a surrealistic "down the rabbit hole" (and out again) manner, but especially with the consumption of food and drink (the boiled fruit say EAT ME, EAT ME). 

That's enough for now, but more on this anon...

Apologies for whatever formatting appears below. I wrote a response in Word and pasted it in. Then I saw that all the apostrophes and quotation marks were gone, so I used the edit function. Then all the formatting when away went I reposted. There were all sorts of html-y things. So whatever happens below. I do know how to use apostrophes!

@Engelbrecht

I read your post this morning and have been thinking about it all day. Let me see if I can interpret what you are saying in this way: The Soviets believe that each life is a consciousness that is available to be reincarnated—with several stops along a continuum. Pelevin shows this consciousness’s stops in the Near Eastern stop (Sumer? Akkadia?)  A further stop down the continuum is Christ (but we don’t see that one). However, Pelevin lets the readers know that Sextius is the next reincarnation of this Christ consciousness by the situation in time (late first century CE) and by the textual references to Christ. The final stop that the readers see is a very un-Christ-like member of the Nazi Party. While this seems very counter intuitive to those of us in the Western world, Christianity and fascism are the big enemies of communism.  Mixing this continuum with your Mitiok passages of his Christ echoes that you’ve offered, would you say that this is where you were going?

I’m still puzzling over the first stop. Do you think that Ninhursag could be a traitor? or a misbehaving slave? Here’s how I read this section: There is definitely a change in the power structure in this section. On page 80, “It was Queen Shubad herself who garrisoned the troops here, as protection against Meskalamdug.” And then on the next page: “Our prince is a prince no longer, but the great king Abaraggi!”  At this point, Ninhursag and Namtura seem to move up in society. Ninhursag becomes the Nuun of the great king. (I can’t find a definition of that word. I tried the OED.)  Then he is taken to a cave and given beer. He awakes in the North Tower (in prison?) and is asking its lord to intercede for him and to “tell them what happened” (82). He refuses to give away his seal. He begs again and then we get the story of Ninlil and Enlil, the Sumerian creation myth, which dovetails into the discussion of Hecate and Selene (the moon goddesses).

 The mentioning of ears being cut off is what brings me to the idea of a slave (but he says he is a priest and a Nuun, whatever that is. Can slaves be either? I doubt it.). However, he says on page 81 “I was sitting with Namtura—you know him, his ears were cut off—“ Later, he says “No, I never offered any sacrifices, either. Don’t. I am now the Nuun of the great king Abaraggi, it is not such a simple matter to have my ears cut off, you need a royal decree” (81). The code of Hammurabi says that if a slave denies that his master is his master then his ears will be cut off. Also if a slave hits his master, then his ears will be cut off. Maybe traitors were treated the same way. However, the second passage seems to allude to the fact that at one point the Lord of the North Tower could have cut off Ninhursag’s ears, but now Ninhursag’s status as Nuun means he needs a royal decree.

I’ve noticed another thing through my umpteenth rereading of this section. Mitiok and his previous selves almost always use the wrong oaths, which might show that they are not really a part of the current program, always outsiders in some way.

At the beginning of his interview, Mitiok says “All those skulls on the shelves, my God—lined up just like books. And all with labels, look…No, I didn’t mean that” (78). Is his interviewer asking him about his oath and he says he doesn’t mean it as a real oath?  Later he says “It’s just a turn of phrase I picked up from my grandmother. I’m a scientific atheist” (79). The interviewer must have asked him about it again.

 In the Akkadian section, the worship much have changed with the change of ruler: “Great Urshu! I thought. I mean, Great Anu!” (82) and then “No one gives away their own seal, by U…Anu the Intercessor!” (82-83). In the Roman section,  “how the times have changed, glory be to Isis and Serapis! It’s no accident… Why no, what do you mean, Father Senator, I swear by Hercules! I picked that up in Athens, the place is just packed with Egyptians” (84).  He slips one other time and catches himself as he did before.

Finally in the Nazi section, he swears by the Holy Virgin Mary and must explain: “it’s just that I lived in Italy as a child.” (87). In all four incarnations, he displays some sort of devotion to the “wrong” religion, which could be a danger to each state. Perhaps his plausible reasons for adopting wrong gods/oaths show that he is very suggestible and imprecise in his speech, which might show a weakness in character. Perhaps he is the wrong kind of suggestible that the Soviet program wants.

I wasn’t planning on writing this long thing, but the more I wrote the faster the ideas came. (I wish I could get my students to believe this is true when I tell them to “just write&rdquo.