Contemplator (Sozertsatel)

This is a collection of Russian author Igor Adamatsky's philosophical snapshots, novels and stories, on intellectual survival in the Soviet Empire. Heroes of the book defy sever circumstances and pressure of temptation to preserve the truth. The works included in the collection are "Ekivoka" (on the people who never capitulate under insistence of society), "Sokraschenije" (on those how chosen other realities), "Virus Frajberga" (on those who never fails), "Pravo Svobodnogo Poliota" (t's that one freedom that nothing can take away from you), "Uteshitel'" (on sources of emphatic intelligence), "Cherdak" (on social lunacy of the State), "I byl vecher, i bylo utro" (fantasies of creative contemplations), "Provincialy" (on suppression of individualism), "Ishod" (on space-time network of events and acccidents), "Kanikuly v Avguste" (recollections of early days), "PriTchudy" (ultra-short stories, quanta of apprehension). The author belongs to the generation of the Russian writers, who were born in the pre-war years and whose spiritual attitude, aesthetical position, and ethical ideals form an essential constituent of the Russian intelligentsia. They were always in internal and external opposition to ideology and social order of the existed Soviet regime. The characters of the novels symbolise non-acceptance and resistance. Very flesh of the works resides in classical culture and philosophy, hence the complexity of language, which requires reader's sufficient preparation for the perception of Russian culture. All heroes of the novels --- whatever tests and twist of their fate emerged in their lives --- search for humaneness of this reckless and idiotic world. All personages of the book not only survived in the dramatic and surrealistic world but also contributed to the crash of the Soviet empire. The novels are timeless: time barely plays any role in these narratives, and therefore they are received as unquestionably contemporary.