The Yellow Arrow

I really like this novel - one my favourites. For those who see only the post-soviet Russia in it, I must say it's not. It's about all of us, no matter who and where you are. It's about people whose life is scheduled in advance, who keeps going on a circular route from home to work 24/7 with no stops to enjoy the beauty of life. Even if one got a penthouse in Hawaii and a Lexus in his garage - he's still on the train - it's just he switched a public wagon to ? couchette. The novel is telling that every day's routine cannot bring happiness - sooner or later the train will hit the ruined bridge. The only way to stop this, author sees in getting off the train - put yourself above the dull routine and listen to the wind, cricket's chirr and your own footsteps. One may think of even a more sophisticated interpretation - the train is a life, and the off-track is an after-life. That's the beauty of Pelevin's works - they are full of hints and allusions so one may find thousands of ways to understand them.

This book takes the Buddhist view of the world, and translates it into words that westerners might understand. Instead of the usual mysticism that accompanies Buddhist texts in Western languages (arising mostly from the fact that the translators have no idea what the text means, they just translate the words), this book explains the Buddhist metaphor in concrete objects. Instead of "Carma", there is a "thought that pulls the next one after it, as a locomotive pulls the train". If you are familiar with Zen practices of Koan, you will most certainly see it in this book. The train that never stops represents the wheel of Samsara - the vicious cycle of rebirth and death.Apart from the translated Buddhist metaphor, the writing is excellently light and alive.

"The Yellow Arrow", a ninety-two page novella, was the first of Victor Pelevin's books to appear in English translation and provides an excellent introduction to one of Russia's finest contemporary writers."The Yellow Arrow" of the title is "a train traveling towards a ruined bridge." It is a train, however, that appears to have no beginning and no end. It is a train that makes no stops. From this simple premise, Pelevin elaborates a sometimes absurd, sometimes mystical, parable of life in Russian society. Or is it life in general? Either way, the narrative works on many levels and provides an entertaining and, for those who like, metaphysically speculative foray into where we're all headed."The Yellow Arrow" is essentially the story of one passenger-Andrei's-life on the train. Told in the third person, the reader lives inside the mind of Andre, thinking what he thinks, seeing what he sees, experiencing what he experiences. Andrei becomes the protagonist for open-ended speculation about the meaning of life on the train. Thus, early in the narrative, Andrei sits in the restaurant car of the train and speculates (in a passage that is typical Pelevin and that provides a resonant connection to the meaning of "The Yellow Express"): "Watching the hot sunlight falling on the table-cloth covered with sticky blotches and crumbs, Andrei was suddenly struck by the thought of what a genuine tragedy it was for millions of light rays to set out on their journey from the surface of the sun, go hurtling through the infinite void of space and pierce the mile-thick sky of Earth, only to be extinguished in the revolting remains of yesterday's soup. Maybe these yellow arrows slanting in through the window were conscious, hoped for something better-and realized that their hopes were groundless, giving them all the necessary ingredients for suffering."The train becomes a deep-seated metaphor for lives in society, for those who live those lives with unquestioning acceptance and for those who don't-those who wonder about the train and about whether there is anything else, anything outside the train. Thus, Andrei's friend, Khan, draws a distinction between those like him and Andrei, who reflect and question where they are and what they're doing, and those who do not: "A normal passenger never thinks of himself as a passenger. So if you know you're a passenger, you no longer are one. They could never imagine it's impossible to get off this train. Nothing else exists for them, apart from the train." But whether or not anything exists outside the train, whether you can get off the train, is less important than what is in your head. As Khan suggests to Andrei, "It doesn't matter in the least whether anything else exists apart from our train. What matters is that we can live as though there is something else. As though it really is possible to get off. That's the only difference. But if you try to explain that difference to any of the passengers, they w

The Yellow Arrow is a slim volume that is powerful - written as a long metaphor or parable of contemporary Russia and of mankind as a whole. There is a strong mystical element in the story; unlike some literature that has a mystical undercurrent, the book remains concrete and `realistic'. The story line is of living on a train - a train on an endless journey - with passengers who are often unaware that they are on a train. "Outside the train" is where the dead are pushed. Fascinating premise, extremely well done.

Ouite a remarkable work of fiction Pelevin has created.As you read this book, you will feel the same detachment and disillusionment the narrator feels. What is really "out there"? Abominable Snowmen? Read the book and "enjoy the ride".