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{{Short description|Novel by Russian author Vladimir Sorokin}}
{{Short description|Novel by Russian author Vladimir Sorokin}}
{{Infobox book
{{Infobox book
| name = Blue Lard
| name = Blue Lard
| image =
| image = File:Blue_Lard_book_cover.png
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Cover of the first Russian edition
| caption = Cover of the 2024 English edition by NYRB
| author = [[Vladimir Sorokin]]
| author = [[Vladimir Sorokin]]
| title_orig = {{noitalic|Голубое сало}}
| title_orig = {{noitalic|Голубое сало}}
| orig_lang_code = ru
| orig_lang_code = ru
| translator = Max Lawton
| translator = [[Max Lawton]]
| country = Russia
| country = Russia
| language = [[Russian language|Russian]]
| language = Russian
| genre = [[Novel]], [[Postmodern fiction]], [[Dystopian fiction]]
| genre = Novel, [[Postmodern fiction]], [[Dystopian fiction]]
| publisher = Ad Marginem (Russian), [[NYRB]] (English)
| publisher = Ad Marginem (Russian), [[New York Review Books|NYRB]] (English)
| pub_date = 1999
| pub_date = 1999
| english_pub_date = 2024
| english_pub_date = 2024
| pages =
| pages =
| isbn =
| isbn =
| oclc =
| oclc =
| dewey =
| dewey =
| congress =
| congress =
}}
}}
'''''Blue Lard''''' ({{lang-ru|Голубое сало|Goluboe salo}}) is a [[postmodern]] novel by [[Russian people|Russian]] writer [[Vladimir Sorokin]]. First published in 1999 by Ad Marginem.
'''''Blue Lard''''' ({{langx|ru|Голубое сало|Goluboye salo}}) is a [[postmodern]] novel by Russian writer [[Vladimir Sorokin]]. It was first published in 1999 by Ad Marginem.


==Plot==
==Plot==
The plot of the book revolves around a substance called "blue lard" that the clones of Russian writers produce when they write<ref name="NYT"> {{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/books/review/vladimir-sorokin-blue-lard.html |title=This Book Is Baffling, Debauched and Perfectly Human |last=Illingworth |first=Dustin |date= 25 February 2024 |website=www.nytimes.com |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date= 8 March 2024|quote= It begins in Russia, in 2068, when scientists have set about cloning the country’s great past writers in a clandestine Siberian lab. The novels, stories and poems these clones produce are of little importance; the scientists’ true quarry is the blue lard that forms on the clones’ bodies as they perform the “script process.”}}</ref> which is then used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.<ref name="PW">{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781681378183 |title=Blue Lard |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 12 December 2023 |website=www.publishersweekly.com |publisher=[[Publisher's Weekly]] |access-date= 8 March 2024|quote=Their crazed output turns out to be a mere by-product of the scientists’ true purpose: to produce the “blue lard” used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.}}</ref>. Some of the cloned Russian writers include [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]], [[Dostoyevsky]], [[Anna Akhmatova]] and [[Nabokov]]<ref name="PW" />. The novel takes place in two timelines: the second half of the 21st century (set in [[Siberia]] and [[Moscow]] in the future) and in an alternative timeline of 1954 (in [[Joseph Stalin]]'s Moscow and [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Third Reich]]).
The plot of the book revolves around a substance called "blue lard" that the clones of Russian writers produce when they write<ref name="NYT"> {{cite web |last=Illingworth |first=Dustin |date=25 February 2024 |title=This Book Is Baffling, Debauched and Perfectly Human |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/books/review/vladimir-sorokin-blue-lard.html |access-date=8 March 2024 |website=[[New York Times]] |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |quote=It begins in Russia, in 2068, when scientists have set about cloning the country’s great past writers in a clandestine Siberian lab. The novels, stories and poems these clones produce are of little importance; the scientists’ true quarry is the blue lard that forms on the clones’ bodies as they perform the “script process.”}}</ref> which is then used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.<ref name="PW">{{cite web |author= |date=12 December 2023 |title=Blue Lard |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781681378183 |access-date=8 March 2024 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |publisher= |quote=Their crazed output turns out to be a mere by-product of the scientists’ true purpose: to produce the “blue lard” used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.}}</ref> Some of the cloned Russian writers include [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]], [[Dostoyevsky]], [[Akhmatova]], [[Chekhov]] and [[Nabokov]].<ref name="PW" /> The novel takes place in two timelines: the second half of the 21st century (set in [[Siberia]] and Moscow in the future) and an alternative timeline of 1954 (in [[Joseph Stalin]]'s Moscow and [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Third Reich]]).

==Reception==
In June 2002, a Russian youth activist group, [[Walking Together]], threw portions of copies of the book into a toilet installed outside the [[Bolshoi Theatre]], in protest of Sorokin's collaboration with the Theatre. The group accused Sorokin of writing pornography, due to the novel's inclusion of a gay sex scene between [[Khrushchev]] and [[Stalin]]. The toilet was blown up in September 2002 by a group calling itself "The Red Partisans".<ref>{{cite news |title="Идущие вместе" подорвались на своем унитазе |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/340650 |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=Kommersant |date=12 September 2002 |language=ru}}</ref>

The novel received positive reviews from the [[New York Times]] and [[Publishers Weekly]].<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="PW"/> A review from the Financial Times stated that the book helped "cement Sorokin’s place among the greats."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weaver |first1=Courtney |title=Vladimir Sorokin’s Blue Lard and Red Pyramid — surreal Russian satire that still shocks |url=https://www.ft.com/content/065477c7-5e08-4457-92f0-b423dcd69c35 |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=15 March 2024}}</ref>

[[Larissa Volokhonsky]] stated that it was the only book she ever asked to have removed from her house.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Remnick |first1=David |title=The Translation Wars |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/11/07/the-translation-wars |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=The New Yorker |date=30 October 2005}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Lard}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Lard}}
[[Category:1999 novels]]
[[Category:1999 Russian novels]]
[[Category:Postmodern novels]]
[[Category:Postmodern novels]]
[[Category:Russian novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:NYRB Classics]]
[[Category:NYRB Classics]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 2060s]]
[[Category:Novels by Vladimir Sorokin]]

Latest revision as of 13:11, 11 November 2024

Blue Lard
Cover of the 2024 English edition by NYRB
AuthorVladimir Sorokin
Original titleГолубое сало
TranslatorMax Lawton
LanguageRussian
GenreNovel, Postmodern fiction, Dystopian fiction
PublisherAd Marginem (Russian), NYRB (English)
Publication date
1999
Publication placeRussia
Published in English
2024

Blue Lard (Russian: Голубое сало, romanized: Goluboye salo) is a postmodern novel by Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin. It was first published in 1999 by Ad Marginem.

Plot

[edit]

The plot of the book revolves around a substance called "blue lard" that the clones of Russian writers produce when they write[1] which is then used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.[2] Some of the cloned Russian writers include Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Akhmatova, Chekhov and Nabokov.[2] The novel takes place in two timelines: the second half of the 21st century (set in Siberia and Moscow in the future) and an alternative timeline of 1954 (in Joseph Stalin's Moscow and Adolf Hitler's Third Reich).

Reception

[edit]

In June 2002, a Russian youth activist group, Walking Together, threw portions of copies of the book into a toilet installed outside the Bolshoi Theatre, in protest of Sorokin's collaboration with the Theatre. The group accused Sorokin of writing pornography, due to the novel's inclusion of a gay sex scene between Khrushchev and Stalin. The toilet was blown up in September 2002 by a group calling itself "The Red Partisans".[3]

The novel received positive reviews from the New York Times and Publishers Weekly.[1][2] A review from the Financial Times stated that the book helped "cement Sorokin’s place among the greats."[4]

Larissa Volokhonsky stated that it was the only book she ever asked to have removed from her house.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Illingworth, Dustin (25 February 2024). "This Book Is Baffling, Debauched and Perfectly Human". New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2024. It begins in Russia, in 2068, when scientists have set about cloning the country's great past writers in a clandestine Siberian lab. The novels, stories and poems these clones produce are of little importance; the scientists' true quarry is the blue lard that forms on the clones' bodies as they perform the "script process."
  2. ^ a b c "Blue Lard". Publishers Weekly. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024. Their crazed output turns out to be a mere by-product of the scientists' true purpose: to produce the "blue lard" used to power a hidden reactor on the moon.
  3. ^ ""Идущие вместе" подорвались на своем унитазе". Kommersant (in Russian). 12 September 2002. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  4. ^ Weaver, Courtney (15 March 2024). "Vladimir Sorokin's Blue Lard and Red Pyramid — surreal Russian satire that still shocks". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  5. ^ Remnick, David (30 October 2005). "The Translation Wars". The New Yorker. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
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