Headcrusher (original) (raw)
A Russian cyberthriller that has been a huge hit in Russia and now looks set to be an international cult novel.
26-year-old Vadim hates his job in the PR department of Latvia’s biggest bank. He spends his time playing his favourite shoot-em-up computer game, "Headcrusher," and composing insulting emails about his bosses. When his manager catches him writing one such email, Vadim is so overcome with rage that he kills him. Then he kills the bank’s security guard too, because he has seen him disposing of the body. Bumping people off comes to seem as easy as playing a computer game (or moving money between bank accounts) and Vadim embarks on a killing spree, putting paid to anyone who annoys him. But, as he becomes embroiled in the murky activities of the corrupt bank, which is laundering money for Mafia criminals, he starts to lose touch with reality. Where does truth end and fantasy begin – and is life just one big computer game?
This high-octane debut novel has the energy of a Tarantino film, the game-playing of The Matrix and the philosophical quirkiness of Fight Club . Nothing quite like it has come out of Russia before. It has been a major bestseller there and has been picked up by publishers around the world.
GenresFiction
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
41 reviews1 follower
Da ne bude neke zabune - ovde nema nikavog cyberpunka, sem pseudo - ima neke igrice i nekog pisanja u nekom txt fajlu u nekom skrivenom folderu na poslu u radno vreme, ali nista od VR i RL se ne preplice pre je neki usputni lajt motiv za popunjavanje praznine u prici
Male ali slabe pozajmice od Peljevina u satiricnoj kritici stanja i drustva - cak jedno direktno pominjanje "Generacije P" kad junak tj autor nepotrebno (postmoderno) preterano nabraja ljude artikle i sve i svasta tj Nista na ulici i u prodavnicama Znaci nema nista ni blizu peljevinovskog kalibra, neke sitne naznake ljutne na post-komnisticko prevelikog upadanje u konzumerizam...
Solidno je prikazano smaranje zaposljenog ugovorca koji traljavo radi nekakav marketing u sluzbi pri velikoj banci, cela ta struktura bahatih shefova i poniznih sluzbenika, portira i direktora nije losa, a opet nista specijalno novo - vidjeno od raznih autora (Mnogo bolje kod Thomas Ligotti u romanu "Nedovršeni posao")
Radnja u jednom trenutku (oko trecine romana) krece u meni neocekivanom pravcu 'Kventin-Tarantinovskog" krimi trilera punog (maltene bezrazlozne) pucnjave te ubistava i iz kojih se nas junak izvlaci, andjeoski -maltene bez povreda uz neku puku i slucajnu srecu, znaci "cudom" prezivljava i sve u knjizi polako postaje neki hong-kongshki kaubojac sa hepiendom :)
za prvenac dovoljno, nisam siguran da bih bas jurisao da ih citam dalje Mozda ko zna...
Author 2 books13 followers
So ... this isn't really on the level of either book it mentions on the cover (Fight Club or American Psycho). There just really isn't as much depth to the characters - any of them. It is obviously influenced by 'video game culture,' but in a very generic way. I was especially disappointed by the sometimes-bravado of the protagonist, when he expounds on complex social theories, but his lines of thought are never really more than superficially-examined or followed. The action scenes were both unrealistic (does no one fight back?) and confusingly-written at times, with time/space jumps that I think were intended to heighten the action, but which just left me wondering wtf had just happened.
Overall, not terrible, but not very good either. There was some good potential in this idea, but I think it was squandered in the haphazard execution.
1,779 reviews45 followers
Голову ломать, как и хэнд крашить, занятие, способное заинтересовать особенно трепетные натуры, чья тяга к литературному творчеству разбивается о непонимание читателя, не готового внимать всему на свете, мало имеющему отношение к его обыденности. Внимать потоку порнографии со страниц произведений, ещё и хвалить его – скорее тянет на склонность к явным нарушениям с психикой, либо стремлением восхвалять недалёкость собственной способности к умению адекватно размышлять над предлагаемой к вниманию информацией. Грубо говоря, пользуясь тюремной терминологией Гарроса и Евдокимова, писатели парафинят читателя, делая из полезного обществу человека латентного изгоя, чьё место у параши, ибо никто не сможет понять, что хорошего в любовании отбросами.
70 reviews1 follower
• set in Latvia (but written by two Russian authors), Headcrusher follows Vadim - an employee at a huge bank who writes bullshit sales pitches and pamphlets
• Vadim is disillusioned by capitalism and materialism and escapes into a violent video game called Headcrusher
• as the book goes on, it becomes apparent that Vadim's grasp on reality is tenuous at best with a throw away comment made about his history in a sanitarium
• Vadim unexpectedly and impulsively murders his boss and continues on a spree of murders ranging from amateur to organised, at one point uncovering an organised crime ring
This is essentially the Russian version of American Psycho. Brilliant read, but make no mistake violent and gory 🪓
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
16 reviews
3 за текст и еще +0.5 за концовку.
Headcrusher is by a duo named Garros-Evdokimov. This is almost technopunk, combining an incredibly violent videogame, and yet another gormless individual who suddenly goes berserk and commits a series of murders. Set in the Russia of the early 1990s when limitless money was available to the amoral and the corrupt, this book combines social criticism with dark humour; the plot is scarcely credible, but the murders follow a logical inevitability as the anti-hero, Vadim, knocks off one person after another, launders money on a vast scale, learns all about single malt whisky, and bonks beautiful women. It’s all described in a very laconic style, almost stream-of-consciousness, hilarious to boot. Rush out and grab it ASAP.
134 reviews5 followers
This book is essentially the equivalent of a Russian knock-off of Fight Club, but nowhere near as good. The idea of exploring a man's frustration with materialism in post-communism Latvia sounds interesting and at times it is. There are times it's a real thought provoking page turner, but these times are few and far between and it often borders on incomprehensible. It's one of the most uneven books I can remember reading, that is to say it does have its good sections, but overall a thumbs down for me.
4 reviews
Very convincing description of current post soviet society. After this introduction, the authors dropped to a fantasy. They described the fight against all the evil around them, like in a computer games. And of course they win in that game. The reality in transition states is really ugly and you have the way to cope with it, someone with reading as me, someone with dreaming as the authors of this book. Suggest for reading.
9 reviews
I just found it really hard to read, I stuck it out but it seems like an esoteric thesaurus was used to translate it. The story itself was interesting but didn't live up to my expectations. I think if they didn't try so hard to use so many rarely used words.
25 reviews2 followers
It didn't hold my attention very well. I often have difficulty with texts translated from Russian; somehow they seem both edgy and stodgy at once. The plot is pretty zany though.
99 reviews1 follower
Took a punt on this by title & cover blurb. Strange but thoroughly enjoyable.
39 reviews4 followers
Vrlo dobra psihodelično-prozna knjiga. Preporuka
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews