Krasnoyarsk Writer Alexander Bushkov Is The Most Read Russian Author



If you happen to run into him on the street, it will probably not cross your mind that this man, of no heroic appearance, is the very famous Krasnoyarsk writer Alexander Bushkov. His books have become best-sellers in 1997, and according to the sales vmes, have broken through to land at the top of the 'hit parade' for Russian books.
There are a lot of rumours about Bushkov:
- that he himself is either a former cop or a former special service officer. This is because he has a vast knowledge in very specific areas of the noble art of espionage.
- that Bushkov is not real, but a team of writers hiding behind a pen name. This is because he is a prolific writer.
- and finally, that Bushkov is in fact Bushkov, but he can't possibly live in Krasnoyarsk, and is writing someplace not far from St. Petersburg about his tough detectives.
It is true, though, that Alexander Bushkov lives in the Krasnoyarsk suburb, Academy Town. He composes his works in the kitchen while smoking like crazy. His education is limited to a secondary school. He had a variety of work experiences. He was a poan, then a dock worker, a geologist-explorer, then unemployed, and finally a writer.
In Bushkov's novels, the actions are set in the Shantarskaya Guberniya (a pseudonym for Krasnoyarsk) where special service wars are going on, invisible to the rest of the world. The characters are a warrior-diver the first-rank captain Kyrill Mazur (e Hunt for Piranha', 'The Trace of Piranha', 'The Hook for Piranha'), former Brezhnev's bodyguard Danil Chersky ('That's What the Wolves are For'), and a white collar investigator Dasha Shevchuk, nick-named 'Red'('She is Rabid', 'A Trap for the Rabid'). They are one-man heroes , and they live their lives according to the whole-world-is-at-war-against-you principle. They crack head-breaking intrigues of the mighty. Yet they manage to survive, despite the fact that they are surrounded by cheap politicia ns, killers, drugged cops, double agents and other 'goodies'.
Some say that Bushkov is intrigued with such strong and willful characters, because he never served in the army. This resulted in illusions about the military which he still retains, just as when we read about teen-age boys staring with delight and enat the paratroopers and the marines who live nearby. Others thoughtfully reason that maybe this is the consequence of some sort of complex _ a person creates in his imagination the things that he himself lacks. Alexander Bushkov simply believes that the time has come for a new genre of heroes to be born. We have been fed too long with a stereotype man who had no 'core', but was loved by the intelligentsia. All we had was unwanted people _Bazarovs -- Rudins _ flights in dreams and in reality. This wi ll do no good, he says, because a weak person is capable of nothing. He will not alter the world. He will not defend his friends. Just nothing.
His plots are boldly twisted and are very conditional in character. The author warns of the fact, that the characters are made up, and the coincidences are only accidental. Despite this, every citizen of Shantarsk and its suburbs, is trying witheat pleasure to grasp the meaning of the hints that explicitly suggest some real people who live locally, and who can be politicians, bandits or cultural personalities. Just to mention one, the character of Shantarsk Sovereign's Overseer, by the name of Moskaletz, says a lot ... The prototypes, of course, tend not to recognise themselves. It would be wrong to believe though, that the phenomenon of Bushkov's all Russia popularity can be explained by his acute satirical escapades which deal with Shantarsk themes of regional si gnificance. Why would an uncle John from a Tambov town care who is depicted by the character of say, Moskaletz or poet Solnyshkin? Besides, Bushkov's publisher Nikolay Peretyatiko states that only a minimal amount of his books is sold in our region.
Although Alexander Bushkov is one of the most read authors in Russia today, in every way possible he refutes the reproaches of producing commercial literature. I just try to write exciting books, he says. Literature should not be dull, whatever yorite - a novel or a philosophical treatise. You should write with your heart.
In general, Bushkov's life in literature has been rough. At the beginning he might have been put to jail for sponging. The same thing happened to Brodsky. he adds. But his friends-psychiatrists saved him from prison, having diagnosed him as schizopnic. Schizophrenics were not subject to prison charges. That happened in 1986. Then in the science fiction world (science fiction writing was the beginning of his career, and he still writes it for personal pleasure) he fell out with so-called Strugatzky e group _ a well-known group of Russian science fiction writers led by Strugatzkye brothers. It was as if they had lowered the rail crossing gate before him. It was for the first time that he ceased to exist for several years. Then he broke through , but quarrelled again, with democratic intelligentsia this time. It is even worse than the Communists, says Bushkov, a small bunch, but very loudmouthed. Since then, I have, kind of, not existed. Nothing on TV, or in newspapers. The books are sold in the millions. The Moscow media interviews me a lot. For the Territory, though, it is as if I do not exist.
However, there are all reasons for the mutual fierce 'dislike' to grow between him and the democrats. Bushkov highly respects Stalin, and he does not conceal it. An ideal state order, according to Bushkov, is an empire. In this sense, he calls Aleder Prokhanov, Eduard Limonov, Alexander Nevzorov and Oleg Patschenko kindred spirits. One of the outstanding features of any empire is a quiet kindness to all the living, that need not be murdered. Just think, how brutal and atrocious are the small na tions now. Not to mention Chechnya, you can take Baltic Republics as an example _they behave like Papuans. These are the peoples that have never had any traditions of an empire, or even of statehood, and as a result we get here more than nationalism, we get the wildest chauvinism. The lack of a being-a-state experience equals malice; an empire, on the contrary, means the retaining of some kindness. It may be a paradox, but it is a matter of fact. It looks like Bushkov's 'imperial' idea will crystallis e in the sequel of his fantasy series about major-paratrooper Savroga ( A Knight from Nowhere, Flying Islands ), who happened to be taken to the unknown past. He became a Lord and an Earl in that past. He fights with the Satan himself, and is a part of s ecret battles of the special services of the time. Svaroga is doomed to become an Emperor, and, as the author says, it is the most sad thing that can happen to him. When he becomes an Emperor, he will realise that it is just impossible to rule in the ma nner that would differ from Stalin's way of ruling. Well, you can be sitting and speculating -- oh, how miserable the peasants are, how sorry you feel for them, how hungry they are.. But when you become the King, and these oppressed peasants get togethe r in a crowd to demand things known to be unacceptable _ to dismiss all, to tear everything down, and to break into a pastoral with singing and dancing, and let there be no state _ so, what do you do about them? Well, right as they are, and good people, but they need to be disciplined. It is easy and simple to defeat monsters, to chase ghosts, but to be an Emperor, when you can do everything, and yet, can do nothing, is far more difficult.
Also, Bushkov doesn't like Astafyev. There is nothing surprising about it, though. Just because a rising 'sun' rarely has good feelings for a setting 'sun'. As a matter of fact, Bushkov speaks a lot and willingly about the writer, the Hero of Socialisabour . There are two Astafyevs. One is who fought in the war and wrote quite good books. The other liked to hang on his chest the Hero Star and Lenin's Order, and then, not having taken these orders and stars off, suddenly exclaimed, 'Oh, how I dislikes communists, they are so bad!' Remembered suddenly! I could be angry and pushing speakin g of him like this. It is because my generation has never accepted anything from either Brezhnev, Gorbachev or Eltzin, though they tried to shove something, to feed us up. Those who didn't take have some right to speak. If you are a Socialist Labour Hero , then be so courteous to do what American Veterans did, when they demonstrated against the war in Vietnam . They came to the White House, tore off all the orders and badges that had been hung on their chests/coats, threw them over the fence, and said _ now we will criticise you.
Nevertheless, despite his escapades, besides his caustic remarks and his irony, a reader will find in Bushkov's books the very thing that would always make people take up the pen_extra-worldly longing for eternity, as well as the possibility for the ngs that can't come true. Only in his first books like 'Labyrinth' or 'Provincial Chronicles of the Early Autumn' this idea is very explicit, whereas in today's novels it is masterly hidden between the lines of his prose. But, probably, the most terribl e thing that happens is when you finally reach your goal. One of the earliest Bushkov's works - 'How a Middle-Aged Knight Intended to Stand Against a Dragon'- has just the theme. The story ends with scaring words, 'He grew unhappy, his dreams had come tr ue.'
Lots of those, who had started with me, took to drink and came to naught, but I am, thank God... What keeps you going? My stubbornness.