"Sankya" was the name the young Sasha was always known by in the village. The hero Sasha has since become a member of a group of political activists headed up by the charismatic Kostenko. Or perhaps one should say lured by, for the ideological demise in Russia has mixed left with right, leaving the younger generation, not willing to subject itself to Putin’s democracy, searching for a new orientation. While Kostenko is serving time for illegal firearm possession his supporters - primarily testosterone-charged young men, flanked by ethereal, educated young girls - are rioting in Moscow or organising spectacular but somewhat juvenile demonstrations. Prilepin’s is a convincing portrayal of the fact that even these seemingly senseless activities have a real, emotional basis. Even in contemporary Russia the outcome is often fatal. The Russian police take drastic measures, locking the youngsters away in prison or beating them up on the street. The activists’ nightmare then becomes reality when Yana, with whom Kostenko is having an affair and who is adored by Sasha, throws a bag full of pasta and ketchup at the President. Now the authorities give up any pretence of legality and begin to liquidate one member after the other. Sasha takes the lead in the last big coup intended to provoke those in power.
From the official Russian perspective the novel is anything but politically correct. Yet it ought to be just as incorrect from the standpoint of Russian human rights activists. As with his cutting but astoundingly neutral portrayal of the Chechnya problem, here too Prilepin remains the observer, the observer of feelings. And again he achieves an insight into the emotional depths of the Russian soul.
Violence begets violence in modern Russia. And one knows very little about it abroad. Prilepin is an outsider himself, not allowing himself to be labelled – a former fighter in Chechnya, a loving father, a model for glossy magazines, a political activist. Where does he see himself as a highly sensitive writer in a world calling for subservience? A world in which Sasha and his activist friends are possibly the only ones who still dare to stand up to the all-pervasive authorities.