Review
“The main preoccupation of this young writer is identity and war. … He is concerned with representing wider problems in society through an individual life.” – Fest Magazine (Edinburgh)
“One is infected with the author’s energy and his passionate aspiration to get some sense into his life, to act, to live for the sake of a goal…” Literary Russia
“This Chechen boy created a portrait of dissident youth in the best traditions of Tolstoy and Turgenev.” – Eduard Limonov
“I think SENSE will be of interest to the English-speaking reader for its intimate vision of the world of a confused adolescent in a threatening and dangerous world.
This young and courageous author has a sense of irony and humor and manages to distance himself from his hero’s social preoccupations and hyperbole. The book’s appeal is in its youthful immediacy.” – Arch Tait, the translator of Sense
"Stumbling on a book like SENSE is like rummaging around at Vincent Boot and Shoe and finding a pair of Robert Clergerie alligator loafers for 12.99. Or actually, more like finding some funky, kick-ass Derek Lam booties.
A little novel by a very young but award-winning Chechnyan author, SENSE is about the alienation of Artur, who intends to become a great revolutionary activist, thinker, and writer.
Set in today's Moscow, it's a wonderfully colorful guide to the current political atmosphere there, as well as its glittery/gritty world of nightclubbing Russotrash, rappers, gangsters, and intellectual poseurs who are in huge contrast to the Russian heroes of history. Or are they?
Artur tries to find his place, and his efforts are really funny. Wry, whip-smart, and perceptive, Khasavov's work brings to mind Dostoevsky, Kafka, and the great classic samizdat novel, Moscow Circles by Benedikt Erofeev. Dude is to watch. Added bonus: translation is by Arch Tait, who translates many of the best contemporary Russian writers. (Square Books Newsletter, Oxford Mississippi)
Book Description
SENSE is the name of the organization launched by a Narcissistic 20-year-old boy who wants to live for the sake of a lofty goal but is unable to fit into any socio-cultural framework. He yearns for glory and finally decides that the only way to win it is to stage a revolution.
SENSE paints an ironic picture of Russia’s political life today and shows to what limits an indifferent and hypocritical society can push a romantically-minded young person. It is about a young man’s rebellious search for identity and his attempts to find some sense in the chaos around him. In his attempts to find co-thinkers the protagonist meets ex-prisoners of Guantanamo, some National Bolsheviks, the Islamic Committee, and the Youth Union “Hurray!”
The protagonist, called Artur, is an idealist who wants to live for the sake of a lofty goal. Through the eyes of a person who is unable to fit into any socio-cultural framework because of his lameness, and against the background of the present-day political situation, the author shows the limits to which an indifferent and hypocritical society can push a romantically-minded and well-meaning young person.
He examines the world map and decides that Turkmenistan would be the best place for his revolutionary plan. He starts looking for followers prepared to die for a great cause and soon finds them among the members of present-day radical political organizations. He visits three such organizations: the National Bolsheviks, the Islamic Committee, and the Youth Union “Hurray!” He describes their gatherings vividly and with a strong dose of irony. He meets ex-prisoners of Guantanamo, who talk to him about the imminent battle of good and evil and the fight against the infidels. He witnesses the attack of Nashi-fighters on the National Bolsheviks. Finally he visits the office of the Kremlin-supported youth movement “Hurray!” where he is offered free use of all their facilities because “everything has been generously paid for.”
In the final part the hero muses over the goals of his movement as he finds on his desk a curious political program – which mysteriously materialized there -- called “Outlines of the Future State”. It starts with a chapter on “reform of public heating” suggesting that houses should be heated with human excrement. The other proposed reforms are in the same absurdist style: to decree that all people should walk about naked, to ban the family and education, etc. Finally Artur drafts 136 young people and leads them to the Karakum Desert. For all of them it makes no difference what they are fighting for – the main thing is to break away from their bleak everyday existence and find glory.
