A review by steveatwaywords
The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is my first Pelevin, and it will hardly be my last read by him. Fresh and ironic, even while playing with old myths and themes, Pelevin finds a surreal space to critique Russian politics and culture with vulgar abandon, all while speculating (sometimes ham-handedly) on human behavior with psychology and Buddhism.

If I am to critique the read, it is only in its closure, which works overhard to relate a "thematic secret" out loud to the reader and to which too little groundwork had been laid. This is not an awkwardly surprised Life of Pi-esque epiphany, but one that--were the novel to have been built from the concept, might have found the narrative moving differently. The opening Prologue, to apologize for this, seems glued on as an afterthought. 

Nevertheless, the reading was fresh enough--its subjects and language "naked" enough--that read as political satire or as straight (adult) fantasy, it was satisfying, and even at times engrossing.
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