The Sublimes

The plot of the novel "Shatuny" revolves around seemingly unmotivated murders committed by the main character, Fyodor Sonnov. However, Fyodor, while committing these senseless crimes, pursues a specific goal: to understand the eternal mystery of death through "empirical" means. He perceives the visible world as an illusion. Fyodor unexpectedly encounters a group of Moscow intellectuals and metaphysicians, whose existence awakens in him greater interest than the characters of his mundane life. This acquaintance shapes the plot of the novel.

The theme of "Shatuny" is murder for the sake of penetrating the mystery of the soul of the murdered, and thus into the otherworldly realm. The author reveals the depth of philosophical searches through a brutal, often painful prose that can be horrifying upon re-reading. At the same time, Mamleev's aspirations have a positive foundation: by diving into darkness, he seeks to manifest the light of the human soul and foster its growth.

The first versions of the novel "Shatuny" appeared in samizdat in 1966. At that time, there could be no question of an official publication of the novel in the USSR, even though there was nothing "political" about it; the novel did not meet moral and ethical criteria. Later, when Yuri Mamleev presented this novel to a major New York publishing house, the response was harsh: "The world is not ready for this book." The novel was officially published for the first time in Chicago in 1980 in a version shortened by a third, titled "The Sky Above Hell." "The world is not ready to read this novel. And I would not want to live in a world that would be ready to read this novel," a New York critic remarked about the abridged version of "Shatuny."