As part of the Russian Booker Literary Prize, the jury meets in full three times. At the first meeting, experts draw up a "long list" of authors eligible to participate in the competition. Then the six best ones are selected from them - short list. And already at the third meeting, the winner is called. The long list of "Russian Booker" -2012 was announced on July 12, it included 24 authors.
Opens the list of special correspondent of the "Russian reporter" Marina Akhmedova with the book "Diary of a suicide bomber. Khadizh." This is a story about the growing up of a girl who has become a suicide bomber. The novel is based on real facts compiled by a journalist.
The work of another award nominee, Yuri Buida, is also based on real events. In “Blue Blood”, he takes as a basis the life story of actress Valentina Karavaeva, giving the heroine of the novel a different name, but similar, very rich and tragic, fate.
Dmitry Bykov with the book "Ostromov, or Sorcerer's Apprentice" claims the prize. This is the final novel of the trilogy, in which the writer returns to the eternal theme of the “extra man”.
The story of a man who has reached an impasse is shown in the novel of the next nominee - Valery Bylinsky. “Adaptation” is a book that critics hardly fit into the genre features of the novel, but the theme of the narrative is consistent with this large form. The author explores the psychology of man in an existential crisis.
Andrei Volos is nominated with the second part of the Soviet-era sunset trilogy - the novel "Chairman". A study of history can be called the work of another author on the list - Jacob Gordin. In the book "The Soldier and His Empire, " he talks about the fate of the hero of the Napoleonic Wars A.P. Ermolova.
Returns to recent history, George Davydov, who in the novel "Pied Piper" writes about a man who saw in the Bolshevik leaders of rats. The hero sees his mission in the extermination of these "animals."
The essence of Andrei Dmitriev’s novel “Peasant and Teenager” is already reflected in the title itself. This is a novel about the interaction of people from different worlds, different and at the same time somewhat similar.
Oleg Zayonchkovsky has already hit the short lists of Russian Booker. This time he is presented with the novel "Zagul" - about a man who went into a zapul and suddenly became a real hero of a detective story.
Alexander Ilichevsky was also nominated for the prize, became her laureate with the book "Matisse". In 2012, the author was included in the long list with the novel "Anarchists" about a successful businessman who decided to down-shift and left for the village to devote himself to painting.
Two nominees of the Russian Booker address traditional topics. N. Kryshchuk in "Your life is no longer beautiful" writes about death, and A. Melikhov in the book "And there is no retribution to them" - about the revenge of his son for the death of his father.
A. Kurchatkin and E. Limonov talk about the fate of the writer in our country. Kurchatkin in the novel "Flight of the Bumblebee" writes about a fictional hero, and Limonov - about his fate.
The work of the following three nominees combines color and saturation (event and figurative). S. Nosov in the book "Francoise, or The Way to the Glacier" writes about the heroes who went to India to meet with a brahmana. E. Popov in "Arbyte, or Broad Canvas" demonstrates the genre of the Internet novel. In Popov, “Dance to Death” intertwines themes of fear, tragedy, and humor.
The following four novels are united by the theme of madness, chaos, and the complexity of relationships. Z. Prilepin in "The Black Monkey" shows this on the example of one person. O. Slavnikova in the "Easy Head" - of man and society. A. Slapovsky in The Big Book of Changes and M. Stepnov in Women of Lazarus write about the complex interweaving of the fate of several heroes.
At the end of the list are the novels of three nominees - A. Terekhov (“Germans”), A. Chepelov (“Before Europe”), V. Yagarovova (“The First Brick Project”). The authors investigate different topics, but there is a common theme in these works Approach: Writers, in the context of current events, discuss eternal moral values.
