re:mote voices

Title:Omon Ra
Author: Victor Pelevin
Publisher:Faber & Faber

All Omon ever dreamed about as a child was becoming a cosmonaut. When he is old enough, he and his best friend join the Russian Air Force. At the seies of admission tests and interviews, both talk passionately of their dreams of going to the moon. This is the Cold War, a war of propaganda, where America and Russia try and out do each other. While America plan to send a man to the moon, Russia mocks their imperialist folly - Russia will not risk the lives of good communists, instead they will send a machine to the moon and it will drive around and conduct experiments! However as Omon and his friend find out, this is a bluff, Russia doesn't have that kind of technology. Instead Omon finds himself part of a top secret team, who will man a mission to the moon!

Omon Ra was the first novel by Russian novelist Victor Pelevin, and it is more highly focussed and easier to follow than his later novel The Clay Machine Fun, which I read previously. Omon Ra is a novel about Russia, about what drove the country - the bravery, the propaganda, and the competition. While it is a short novel, Omon Ra is an intense read with that, full of detail that creates a sense of authenticity and absuridty. Omon Ra is a memorable novel filled with a sincere good humour.