Omon Ra
by Pelevin, Victor
- Used
- Condition
- New Book
- ISBN 10
- 0811213641
- ISBN 13
- 9780811213646
- Seller
-
San Francisco, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1998. New Book. Paperback. 154 pp.
Omon Ra, by the gifted Russian writer Victor Pelevin, is a pointed, dead-on-satire of the now-defunct Soviet space program, and a moving account of a cosmonaut's coming-of-age. The story is told in the beguiling voice of its young protagonist, Omon Ra, whose odd name combines a term for the Soviet special forces with the name of the sun god in Egyptian mythology. Ever since he was a boy, Omon has dreamed of flying in space. He enrolls in a training program for cosmonauts, only to learn that his first assignment will also be his last. For although the Soviet space program claims to carry out its missions with unmanned rockets, its scientists haven't yet mastered the necessary technology; so Omon is to drive a supposedly unmanned landing vehicle across the moon's surface, put in place a device that will emit the words of Lenin into space, and then remain on the moon, abandoned, until he dies. The voyage that results combines the absurdity of Soviet protocol with the wonder and pathos of space flight. As told in Pelevin's artful prose, the story of Omon's ill-fated trip to the moon has the nimbleness and buoyancy of the best contemporary Western fiction as well as the sting of great Russian satire.
Omon Ra, by the gifted Russian writer Victor Pelevin, is a pointed, dead-on-satire of the now-defunct Soviet space program, and a moving account of a cosmonaut's coming-of-age. The story is told in the beguiling voice of its young protagonist, Omon Ra, whose odd name combines a term for the Soviet special forces with the name of the sun god in Egyptian mythology. Ever since he was a boy, Omon has dreamed of flying in space. He enrolls in a training program for cosmonauts, only to learn that his first assignment will also be his last. For although the Soviet space program claims to carry out its missions with unmanned rockets, its scientists haven't yet mastered the necessary technology; so Omon is to drive a supposedly unmanned landing vehicle across the moon's surface, put in place a device that will emit the words of Lenin into space, and then remain on the moon, abandoned, until he dies. The voyage that results combines the absurdity of Soviet protocol with the wonder and pathos of space flight. As told in Pelevin's artful prose, the story of Omon's ill-fated trip to the moon has the nimbleness and buoyancy of the best contemporary Western fiction as well as the sting of great Russian satire.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Globus Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2096
- Title
- Omon Ra
- Author
- Pelevin, Victor
- Book Condition
- New New Book
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0811213641
- ISBN 13
- 9780811213646
- Publisher
- New Directions Publishing Corporation
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1998
Terms of Sale
Globus Books
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About the Seller
Globus Books
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San Francisco, California
About Globus Books
Globus Books, an independent bookstore serving San Francisco since 1971, offers a wide-ranging and always changing stock of books on all things Russia.
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