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The Sacred Book of the Werewolf (Paperback)

by Victor Pelevin (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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  • This item: The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (21 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571227988
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571227983
  • Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 15.2 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 26,425 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > P > Pelevin, Victor
    #8 in  Books > Horror > Genres & Characters > Werewolves

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Product Description

Review

"An astonishing new novel from the 'Zen Buddhist Will Self of the former Evil Empire' (Independent)."


Product Description

A. Huli, the heroine of Victor Pelevin's latest book, is beautiful, slender and curiously foxlike. She lives in Moscow and works as a classy prostitute in the city's premier hotels. But when a client goes inexplicably and fatally berserk at the sight of her in his luxury suite, A. Huli has to leave in a hurry. She decides to explore new avenues and place an ad on the internet - and that's when the trouble really starts. Victor Pelevin's new work of fiction is both a supernatural love story and an outrageously funny satirical portrait of modern Russia. With all his characteristic humour and metaphysical ambition, Pelevin introduces us to an unforgettable cast of perverts, former KGB agents, oil tycoons and amorous werewolves.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Heads and Tails, 30 Mar 2008
By T. R. Cowdret "Tommy C" (Nottingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I am a tentative fan of Pelevin's work. This book contains all that his readers expect of him and, for this reader, some of the problems that were present in his previous novels.
I love the cultural reference points which are at times flippant but almost always build to create very precise and apt analogies. I was particularly impressed by Pelevin's continuous reference to Bulgakov's 'A Dog's Heart' (which has some close plot similarities with 'The Sacred Book . . .').
Especially towards the end, however, I felt that the philosophical aspects of the book became too dense and were, to put it simply, confusing. I hold similar reservations concerning Pelevin's earlier novel 'The Clay Machine Gun.'
I enjoyed this book on the whole, however, and would certainly recommend it to readers with an interest in philosophy.
Maybe this is a bit of an anal point, but I was interested in how the title has been translated. On the cover the book is titled 'The Sacred Book of THE Werewolf' whereas on the title page inside the book the second pronoun is missing. Obviously Russian is a language without pronouns so I was wondering where this confusion arose. Re-reading those sentences, I realise how ridiculous this sounds. Oh well.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars pelevin does it again, only weirder!, 26 Feb 2008
This book is similar to The Clay Machine Gun, in that it focuses on metaphysics, indeed, it seems to be one long metaphysical conversation at times. It is written with Pelevin's usual poetic gift for prose and it adds occasional touches of humour which are in tune with the story's sexual overtones. But I should stress that although the story is about a millenia-old prostitute, the tone is rarely tawdry. It is essentially a love/reality transcendence tail (tee hee) albeit involving a werewolf and a foxy distant Chinese relative. The tone is fairly dark at times, but this may largely be due to the presence of Nordic mythology motifs, which, if you've read the Edda, are obviously nuts!
I would also urge you to purchase it, if merely for the fact that his publishers might get round to printing his other books if this sells well!

Also, the other review for this book is actually about Numbers, which hasn't been published yet, so don't expect any bankers and Pokemon. This is about werewolves, werefoxes and the FSB, fun!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A fox's tail, 16 Jan 2009
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
"The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" is one of those rare books that truly and completely defies classifiation.

Rather than a straightforward fiction or genre story, Victor Pelevin's symbolism-crammed book hops from one style to another -- Eastern mysticism, Russian urban fantasy, inhuman love story, wildly funny satire and postmodern exploration of Russia's place in a post-Soviet world. Despite the wealth of symbolism and a heavy dose of Buddhist philosophy woven in,, it's not stuffy or boring -- instead it's a wickedly funny personal journey that slowly slips into a bittersweet pathos as our shapechanging heroine learns some truths of the universe.

A Hua-li is a werefox -- an ancient, genderless creature with a hypnotic tail, a currently obscene name, who feeds off the energy emanated by humans during sex. She's also a virgin, and is starting to get an "old maid complex."

And to stay energized, she works as a prostitute in Russia -- she doesn't have actual sex with her clients, but manipulates them with her tail. But after some disastrous encounters, she finds herself being investigated by the Russian authorities -- and particularly by the handsome Alexander, a werewolf who transforms and molests A Hua-li. She's shocked but captivated by the young werewolf, and soon they're in the middle of a passionate affair. Yeah, great message to be sending.

The subject of the super-werewolf prophecy comes up when A Hua-Li's older sister and her flaky English aristocrat hubby come for a visit, with said hubby intent on becoming the super-werewolf himself. And A Hua-Li sees the werewolves being used to call oil from a dry well. But when a shocking change comes over her werewolf paramour, A Hua-Li must reexamine their relationship as she keeps her lover safe -- and reveal what the prophecy of the super-werewolf truly means.

Buddhism, wereanimals, aristocrat/chicken-hunting, mass media, Rainbow Streams, Nabokov, DVD sex games and hypnotic tails who contain all the truth of the universe. Victor Pelevin has a knack for bizarre postmodern fiction that is rarely seen outside a Haruki Murakami book -- and "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" is like a brightly coloured mosaic of randomly sized and shaped pieces, which nevertheless manage to fit together. It's a weird and sometimes confusing ride, but somehow it all clicks at the end.

Along that ride, we're privy to A Hua-Li's intricate meditations on everything from sex to watermelons -- often described in carefully numbered lists. Pelevin fills his meandering storyline with literary allusions (hello, Nabokov!) and infuses it with plenty of wry humour ("We foxes are keen hunters of English aristocrats and chickens"). There's even a hilarious scene where Alexander and A Hua-Li contemplate what DVD movies they should play out as their sex games ("Listen, how old are you, twelve?" "Okay, let's forget the Matrix").

Yet he has a knack for hauntingly memorable scenes as well. Any creature as ancient as A Hua-li will have a sense of bittersweetness in their life, and her view of her lover's shocking transformation and his subsequent fear and confusion are striking. And as the book winds toward its esoteric end, Pelevin unrolls a heavy swathe of Buddhist philosophy that finally explains who/what the super-werewolf is, and what the prophecy means. Let's just say that it's not your average "chosen savior of Group X" prophecy.

And modern Russia, as Pelevin paints it, is all grimy cold urbanity speckled with American products and foreign businessmen. He injects a lot of symbolism (Alexander, the oil well, the super-werewolf, the hypnotic tails that can reveal the true nature of things) as well as a mocking satirical edge (a doomed aristocrat's nonsensical ramblings about how HE can become the super-werewolf without any enlightenment).

The one thing I didn't like? A Hua-li being raped by Alexander and immediately falling for him.

But A Hua-Li is a pretty oxymoronic character -- she can be ruthless and manipulative yet loving and sweet, has the enthusiasm of the young nymphet she pretends to be yet is ancient and experienced beyond even her own measure. And Alexander is her total opposite -- rough, brash, traditional yet modern, and possessing a straightforward mind that struggles with the more unusual spiritual paths of the "super-werewolf." And then there's A Hua-Li's sister -- merciless and wickedly funny, especially since she marries British aristos in order to "hunt" them.

"The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" is a bizarre crazy-quilt of genres -- a sort of symbolic Buddhist urban-fantasy satire, with a mingling of bittersweet and hilarious. Definitely a memorable read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Pelevin at his best
I read this book in Russian and think it's Pelevin's best novel. The story is very original and "post-modern": the main character is a "New Russian" banker whose life... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2006 by ianis76

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