...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Generation P

807 statements
157 feature instances
2 referencing feature instances

Generation P	type	TVTItem
Generation P	label	Generation P
Generation P	page	GenerationP
Generation P	comment	Generation P, published in 1999, is the most significant novel of the famous Russian writer Victor Pelevin. It gained a considerable popularity and had a lasting influence on the Russian literature.Its protagonist, Babylen (Vavilen in original text) Tatarsky, a literature student, becomes an advertising copywriter, makes a quick career in this trade and later assumes the function a of a (symbolic) husband of a Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar becoming the avatar of Marduk, the living god of advertisment in his own right. It turns out that the humanity in this universe is ruled by Illuminati from media corporations through news and advertisements.The film of the book lingered in the development hell for years until it was finished in 2011. All roles were performed by the memetic Russian actors. Babylen Tatarsky was played by Vladimir Epifantsev of the notorious The Green Elephant fame. Sergei Shnurov, the vocalist of Leningrad, played Guireev. Vladimir Menshov played Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin.
Generation P	fetched	2023-11-29T13:00:43Z
Generation P	parsed	2023-11-29T13:00:43Z
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to BigGuy: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to BookOfEcclesiastes: Not a Feature - ITEM
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to BookOfPsalms: Not a Feature - ITEM
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to Foil: Not a Feature - IGNORE
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to PlotArmour: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to PutOnTheBus: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to SnobsVsSlobs: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to TheNineties: Not a Feature - IGNORE
Generation P	processingComment	Dropped link to TheTempest: Not a Feature - ITEM
Generation P	processingUnknown	BigGuy
Generation P	processingUnknown	PlotArmour
Generation P	processingUnknown	PutOnTheBus
Generation P	processingUnknown	SnobsVsSlobs
Generation P	isPartOf	DBTropes
Generation P / int_1282bf4f	type	No Celebrities Were Harmed
Generation P / int_1282bf4f	comment	No Celebrities Were Harmed: Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin is a spoof of the actual Soviet TV anchor Farid Seiful-Mulyukov who specialised in the coverage of foreign affairs (exposing the evils of the Western capitalism, praising friendly pro-socialist third-world regimes and such on TV). He was a fairly big name in the Soviet Union, after its collapse people did not have any reason to know him - even for his memorable name. Pelevin scoffs the prototype even more, making Farsuk a German by origin who had to assume Tatar identity and name to make a career in the Soviet Russia. Of course in reality Seiful-Mulyukov was a born Tatar. Also Farsuk sounds very much like "barsuk" which is the Russian for "badger", not a very honoured animal. While Farseykin is derived from Farce. Thus while the middle part of the name is similar both times, Pelevin ridiculises the first and the third part.
Generation P / int_1282bf4f	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1282bf4f	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1282bf4f
Generation P / int_12b796e	type	Phoney Call
Generation P / int_12b796e	comment	Phoney Call: Its version for the pager. When Tatarsky is at the meeting with his first client, Morkovin sends a message "welcome to route 666" to his pager. His colleague asks him, whether the message is from Video International (a big Russia advertising company). Tatarsky replies that he told those losers not to call him any more and this message is from Slava Zaytsev (the most acclaimed Russian couturier with a kitschy image) but they won't have meeting today because he's engaged now. Of course it is all a ruse to impress a client in the room.
Generation P / int_12b796e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_12b796e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_12b796e
Generation P / int_1b3b48f3	type	David Versus Goliath
Generation P / int_1b3b48f3	comment	David Versus Goliath: That's how the encounter of Wee Vova and Hussein can be described. Wee Vova is a big guy while Hussein is small and lean. However Hussein manages to hold his ground in his clash with Wee Vova using a hand grenade.
Generation P / int_1b3b48f3	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1b3b48f3	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1b3b48f3
Generation P / int_1b70ccc6	type	The Cynic
Generation P / int_1b70ccc6	comment	The Cynic: Tatarsky believed that after a year's work as a seller at the stall he had developped the highest degree of cynicism. see also Excellent Judge of Character.
Generation P / int_1b70ccc6	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1b70ccc6	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1b70ccc6
Generation P / int_1c445e86	type	Poor Communication Kills
Generation P / int_1c445e86	comment	Poor Communication Kills: When Tatarsky by chance meets in the pub an agent of Narodaya Volya (see No Such Agency), he whispers to him the name of his secret service. The agent promply gives a signal to his bodyguards to kill the indiscrete busybody. Tatarsky barely escapes the pub, then the guards of Azadovsly intervene and overpower the bodyguards, beating them to a pulp. However Vavilen runs away, abandoning the party and visits the ziggurat which he has already mounted once.
Generation P / int_1c445e86	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1c445e86	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1c445e86
Generation P / int_1c77ec26	type	The Voice
Generation P / int_1c77ec26	comment	The Voice: During Tatarsky's first trip under fly-agarics, as he ascends the ziggurat, he is talked to by the voice. Later this trope is subverted as The Voice turns out to be a tremendous Surruf.
Generation P / int_1c77ec26	featureApplicability	-0.3
Generation P / int_1c77ec26	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1c77ec26
Generation P / int_1c79ae8c	type	Those Two Guys
Generation P / int_1c79ae8c	comment	Those Two Guys: Seryozha, the western-minded advertising copywriter and Malyuta, his patriotic Russophile counterpart. Pelevin sarcastically remarks that their adverts were actually undistinguishable. Later Malyuta forms such a couple with Sasha Blo and these two guys play a not insignificant tole in the denouement.
Generation P / int_1c79ae8c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1c79ae8c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1c79ae8c
Generation P / int_1d18887f	type	Pay Evil unto Evil
Generation P / int_1d18887f	comment	Pay Evil unto Evil: A businessman orders from Tatarsky a concept of an advertisng campaign for his Tampako soft drinks enterprise but rejects it only to later implement a fairly similar conception, not paying a due remuneration to Babylen. Later Tatarsky sees that very businessman in the den of a gangster, obviously kidnapped. He does nothing to help him.
Generation P / int_1d18887f	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1d18887f	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1d18887f
Generation P / int_1f8038da	type	It's Snowing Cocaine
Generation P / int_1f8038da	comment	It's Snowing Cocaine: On the floor carpet in the Azadovsky's cabinet. The boss himself constantly consumes the powder of life and treats his visitors (Tatarsky and Morkovin) to the same precious substance.
Generation P / int_1f8038da	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_1f8038da	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_1f8038da
Generation P / int_20a14df0	type	Wrong Genre Savvy
Generation P / int_20a14df0	comment	Wrong Genre Savvy: Seryozha, the Western-minded (as opposed to the russophile Malyuta) advertising copywriter. As he is a great admirer of the Westen practices, his work is reduced to translating western slogans and passing them for his own. Also he has an adviser from the West who definitely knows all tropes and memes of that great civilisation. Except that he consults the Pakistani Ali, his cocaine dealer, who indeed has lived for long time in LA. Seryozha is an episodic character though and nothing happens to him. Also Seryozha tries to look as a real Westerner. Because of that he dresses in the way which makes him look very Russian and in an obsolete way.
Generation P / int_20a14df0	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_20a14df0	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_20a14df0
Generation P / int_23473ae7	type	Adaptation Expansion
Generation P / int_23473ae7	comment	Adaptation Expansion: The book Generation P had been published just several months before Putin was brought to power in Russia. Hence Pelevin could not reflect this very important development. In the film version its creators did not miss the chance to treat the crucial presidential elections Generation P-style. Here Azadovsky, Tatarsky and Co find a model for their virtual candidate for Russian presidency. It is Kolya Smirnov, a boorish chaffeur of Tatarsky (absent in the novel). His 3-D model is produced, Azadovsly's organisation heavily promotes it on TV and people indeed elect him/it as a president.
Generation P / int_23473ae7	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_23473ae7	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_23473ae7
Generation P / int_23be181a	type	Patriotic Fervor
Generation P / int_23be181a	comment	Patriotic Fervor: For Wee Vova the gangster.
Generation P / int_23be181a	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_23be181a	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_23be181a
Generation P / int_2439b588	type	As the Good Book Says...
Generation P / int_2439b588	comment	As the Good Book Says...: Tatarsky is keen on quotes from the Book of Ecclesiastes. In the end he also cites Psalm 14:5 in a commercial for Coca-Cola and against PepsiCo.
Generation P / int_2439b588	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2439b588	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2439b588
Generation P / int_26d2817c	type	Russian Reversal
Generation P / int_26d2817c	comment	Russian Reversal: Once a salesgirl in the metaphysical store "Path to yourself" applies it when Tatarsky asks her one question too many:
Generation P / int_26d2817c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_26d2817c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_26d2817c
Generation P / int_28ae9dbf	type	Pen Name
Generation P / int_28ae9dbf	comment	Pen Name: Saha Blo is actually named Eduard Debirsyan.
Generation P / int_28ae9dbf	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_28ae9dbf	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_28ae9dbf
Generation P / int_2a154192	type	Impossibly Tacky Clothes
Generation P / int_2a154192	comment	Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Once Tatarsky is made to wear an infamous red jacket for a meeting with a promising client to look more imposing. This piece of the clothing was stereotyped to be worn by brainless nouveau riches in The '90s and became laughed at nearly immediately. Azadovsky appears to be usually dressed this way:
Generation P / int_2a154192	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2a154192	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2a154192
Generation P / int_2a44899	type	Plot Armor
Generation P / int_2a44899	comment	Plot Armor: Tatarsky obviously has one. He cannot be killed as the whole of novel is centered around him. It is no spoiler that in the end he survives even though around him characters are dropping like flies.
Generation P / int_2a44899	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2a44899	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2a44899
Generation P / int_2b5ea43c	type	Bland-Name Product
Generation P / int_2b5ea43c	comment	Bland-Name Product: Used for politicians. While the source novel openly mentions Chubais and Lebed, famous Russian piliticaisn, in the movie they are renamed to very generic surnames, like Smirnov and Petrov.
Generation P / int_2b5ea43c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2b5ea43c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2b5ea43c
Generation P / int_2e6a41e0	type	Gratuitous English
Generation P / int_2e6a41e0	comment	Gratuitous English: Original advert slogans in English are justified. However the novel has several instances of this. Like using the word loser written in Latin letters instead of the existing Russian equivalent or at least the Cyrillic transliteration. Of course Tropes Are Tools and Pelevin has his reasons for this.
Generation P / int_2e6a41e0	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2e6a41e0	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2e6a41e0
Generation P / int_2f540567	type	Pop Culture Symbology
Generation P / int_2f540567	comment	Pop Culture Symbology: The Babylonian goddess Ishtar is represented in the physical world by the totality of advertising images.
Generation P / int_2f540567	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2f540567	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2f540567
Generation P / int_2f75473	type	Number of the Beast
Generation P / int_2f75473	comment	Number of the Beast: When Babylen begins working with Morkovin, he sents to his pager the message "Welcome to the route 666". Implying there is something demonic in the job in advertising.
Generation P / int_2f75473	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_2f75473	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_2f75473
Generation P / int_318a8a83	type	Initiation Ceremony
Generation P / int_318a8a83	comment	Initiation Ceremony: In the penultimate chapter Tatarsky is initiated by Azadovsky and Farsuk into the Chaldean Guild - the group of The Illuminati who rule Russia. It is a routine procedure but for one moment: Vavilen should look into the Ishtar's sacred eye so that she determines whether she recognises her husband, Marduk, in him. Azadovsky is the current husband and believes that the Great Goddess does not need a new one. If this is the case Tatarsly would go on working as a full-fledged member of the Ancient Conspiracy. However, Ishtar signals that Tatarsky is her new consort. Azadovsky is immediately strangled and Vavilen is proclaimed god.
Generation P / int_318a8a83	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_318a8a83	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_318a8a83
Generation P / int_325a15f1	type	Rags to Royalty
Generation P / int_325a15f1	comment	Rags to Royalty: Both Azadovsky and Tatarsky start as regular Soviet men, i.e. quite poor. Each of them becomes a living god .
Generation P / int_325a15f1	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_325a15f1	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_325a15f1
Generation P / int_3439a6b5	type	A God Is You
Generation P / int_3439a6b5	comment	A God Is You: That's how Tatarsky is greeted after his predecessor, Azadovsky, is strangled by the jumping rope and he becomes the virtual husband of Ishtar.
Generation P / int_3439a6b5	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3439a6b5	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3439a6b5
Generation P / int_35858a0b	type	Open the Door and See All the People
Generation P / int_35858a0b	comment	Open the Door and See All the People: Tatarky is blindfolded. When his blindfold is taken off and the lights are on, it turns out he is completely naked in a big hall where a reception in his honor is gong on. The guests (including females) watch his nudity unimpressed, hardly noticing it.
Generation P / int_35858a0b	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_35858a0b	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_35858a0b
Generation P / int_35e9f6f8	type	Executive Excess
Generation P / int_35e9f6f8	comment	Executive Excess: Azadovsky relished in this. In his office he consumes cocaine straight off his carpet. He wears extremely tasteless clothes. Also he can kill his subordinate if the latter defrauds him.
Generation P / int_35e9f6f8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_35e9f6f8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_35e9f6f8
Generation P / int_3618ebb9	type	TheSixties
Generation P / int_3618ebb9	comment	This strange naming is due to the fact that Tatarsky's father belonged to a significant generation of ''shestidesyatniki'' or The sixtiers. They abhored Stalinism and wished to return to the early Soviet ideals ("of the democratic socialism"), those of Lenin (who ruled only in 1917-1922 until he became incapacitated), considering Stalinism a mere deviation. Aksenov (1932-2009) was a writer, very fashionable in the sixties among the said sixtiers. In The '70s all hopes were dropped.
Generation P / int_3618ebb9	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3618ebb9	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3618ebb9
Generation P / int_372bc105	type	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism
Generation P / int_372bc105	comment	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The novel is 100% cynicism. Idealism is completely absent. Once, when Tatarsky after an especially bad trip decides to speak to God (in this case meaning an Orthodox Christian God, not Ancient Mesopotamian deities), he at first repents his lifestyle. But then he begins to swag and gives the God marketing recommendations (fat donation from a rich businessman or gangster is more important than many small contributions from the poor, thus God and his servants should make the successful people their principal target audience). Tatarsky also tries to create a cool ad slogan for the Christian supreme being. Thus one fit of idealism immediately turns into more of the same.
Generation P / int_372bc105	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_372bc105	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_372bc105
Generation P / int_3773f8d5	type	Status Cell Phone
Generation P / int_3773f8d5	comment	Status Cell Phone: After Tatarsky becomes a living god, replacing Azadovsky, Farsul gives him the little black cellphone of the deceased. It look like a regular Philips model except that it has only one button shaped like a golden eye. When the hero pushes the button, responds Alla, the secretary of Azadovsly who is ready to serve the new boss.
Generation P / int_3773f8d5	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3773f8d5	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3773f8d5
Generation P / int_39994bd9	type	Bazaar of the Bizarre
Generation P / int_39994bd9	comment	Bazaar of the Bizarre: The shop called Path to Yourself trading in various religion-related and esoteric items is a version of this. There you can acquire both a Che Guevara T-shirt and a planchette to summon the spirit of the said Che Guevara.
Generation P / int_39994bd9	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_39994bd9	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_39994bd9
Generation P / int_3a1c2171	type	The Man Behind the Man
Generation P / int_3a1c2171	comment	The Man Behind the Man: Tatarsky knows Azadovsky as his big boss. However Azadovsky near the ending mentions that another person runs the things. Enter Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin. Then in the dialogue with Tatarsky, Farsuk confesses, that there is some entity above him as well. However he ostensibly does not know who they are and recommends Tatarsky to stop thinkng about that.
Generation P / int_3a1c2171	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3a1c2171	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3a1c2171
Generation P / int_3aec9e5e	type	Properly Paranoid
Generation P / int_3aec9e5e	comment	The latter part is explained by Azadovsky. He randomly scoffs that Tatarsky should be on the payroll of Berezovsky and Raduev, because Berezovsky in this video promises to build a mosque and Raduev talks like a professor. Even though both are obviously villanous they still look too good for Azadovsky. However after the first criticism he generally approves of the footage but with his own alterations.
Generation P / int_3aec9e5e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3aec9e5e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3aec9e5e
Generation P / int_3c0a4666	type	Noodle Incident
Generation P / int_3c0a4666	comment	Noodle Incident: Wee Vova the gangster is nicknamed "The Nietzschean" due to some unspecified event in the past which visibly embarasses him now. It is both a mocking and a hint that he has an element of Wicked Cultured to him (though not much). Also Pelevin made references to Friedrich Nietzsche in his previous novel Buddha's Little Finger.
Generation P / int_3c0a4666	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3c0a4666	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3c0a4666
Generation P / int_3e5f74c	type	Take That, Critics!
Generation P / int_3e5f74c	comment	Take That, Critics!: At times Pelevin is very blunt. A literary critic Pavel Bisinsky who is a character in a commercial for Gucci for men perfume, where he falls into the pit latrine full of liquid excrement (slogan: Be European, smell better) is obviously a revenge to Pavel Basinsky who earlier had been very negative of Buddha's Little Finger, a previous novel by Pelevin. Funnily enough in a later interview Basinsky confessed that Generation P was the only work by Pelevin he really liked. Moreover he considered it the principal (Russian) novel of The '90s.
Generation P / int_3e5f74c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_3e5f74c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_3e5f74c
Generation P / int_40bb59d0	type	Blatant Lies
Generation P / int_40bb59d0	comment	Blatant Lies: Tatarsky is sort of kidnapped by Hussein, the Chechen, who employed him in the past and whom he left without notice. Hussein asks the hero where he works now. Tatsrky answers that he is involved in the flower business with Azerbaijanis, called Rafik and Eldar. Of course soon Khanin calls him, Hussein takes his cell phone and the truth is more or less revealed. Anyway Wee Vova arrives to the scene and rescues him.
Generation P / int_40bb59d0	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_40bb59d0	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_40bb59d0
Generation P / int_44990492	type	Parody Commercial
Generation P / int_44990492	comment	Parody Commercial: Many of those. In his first experience Tatarsky writes a script of a commercial for the cofectionery business which includes the quote from Ecclesiastes 1:4. That's because when Babylen converses with the physics teacher-turned-businessowner the latter confesses that he is very anxious about the general post-Soviet instability, never knowing what would happen tomorrow. The plot of the advert offered by Babylen includes the solid rock which remains on its spot while the rest of the earth collapses and goes under the water. This draft pleased the customer and he indeed bought the script. Complete with the Gratuitous Latin slogan on the unshakable rock: Much later he cooks a slogan for Davidoff Lights cigarettes simply taking a famous quote from the same book: His script for Ariel Laundry Detergent is predictably based on The Tempest. Here the girl Miranda prefers the product branded Ariel to the other, generic, detergent, called Caliban. Tatarsky's script for the Nescafe Gold commerical is about a young man with hard face who makes a car with a crooked banker inside explode, then pours the coffee from the thermos into his cup and savours it. Also there is a script for the commercial for Calvin Klein (not by Tatarsky, found in the archive of Pugin after his death): Malyuta the jingoist Russian copyrighter has his moments too. In his script for the Nike commercial the last American prisoners in Vietnam work in the sweatshop, sewing the Nike runners. Suddenly they get discontent and start knocking on their tables with the shoes they make to protest poor living and labor conditions. Then the guard shoots some rounds in the ceiling, points at the unfinished runner and orders a prisoner: "Just do it"! Aggravated by the fact that antisemitic Malyuta added to the script in pencil that all imprisoned soldiers have curly hair and hooked noses to lampshade their ethnicity. Tatarsky on drugs creates a slogan which is a retort to Nike from Reebok: An advert for the cigarettes brand Parliament by Tatarsky is based on the famous episode when the Russian parliament was shot at from the tanks. Its slogan is borrowed from Woe from Wit. Tatarsky also made the following slogan for the tourist firm arranging trips to Acapulco: Later Sasha Blo (whose actual name is Eduard Debirsyan) asks Tatarsky to think of a slogan for the funeral home belonging to his brothers. Tatarsky notices similarity of the name Debirsyan with de Beers and comes up with a satisfying line.
Generation P / int_44990492	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_44990492	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_44990492
Generation P / int_44a1dd10	type	King Incognito
Generation P / int_44a1dd10	comment	King Incognito: Invoked by the agents of Narodnaya Volya. They keep telling unsuspecting citizens that they have recently encountered some famous statesman in disguise engaged in a mundane activity, like buying a jar of marinated tomatoes in the store. Thus said agents prove that those politicians actually exist in flesh albeit no ordinary man saw them ouside of television.
Generation P / int_44a1dd10	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_44a1dd10	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_44a1dd10
Generation P / int_45007296	type	Metaphorgotten
Generation P / int_45007296	comment	Metaphorgotten Wee Vova the gangster is very anxious to invent a viable national idea for Russia. He is concerned that people are keen only on dough. He notices that something else should be behind the dough. Just dough cannot be behind the dough because then it is not clear why one part of dough is in front while the rest of the dough is behind.
Generation P / int_45007296	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_45007296	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_45007296
Generation P / int_47198ac4	type	You Do NOT Want to Know
Generation P / int_47198ac4	comment	You Do Not Want To Know: People who gradually reveal Masquerade to Tatarsky answer some of his questions about how things are actually (clandestinely) done by The Illuminati. However oftentimes they refuse him answers, invoking this trope. In particular, when Tatarsky is already selected a living god, he asks Farsuk: "and still who is the ultimate ruler beyond all this?" Farsuk advises him not to think about that, just forget, in that case he will last longer as the living god. Farsuk himself does not live long after that, though.
Generation P / int_47198ac4	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_47198ac4	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_47198ac4
Generation P / int_47fea76b	type	Butt-Monkey
Generation P / int_47fea76b	comment	The surname of the episodic Butt-Monkey character Mikhail Nepoiman is ironical as it means exactly "Uncaught".
Generation P / int_47fea76b	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_47fea76b	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_47fea76b
Generation P / int_49f6a9e4	type	Most Writers Are Writers
Generation P / int_49f6a9e4	comment	Most Writers Are Writers: Babylen Tatarsky is a copywriter. An advertising copywriter.
Generation P / int_49f6a9e4	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_49f6a9e4	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_49f6a9e4
Generation P / int_4a59e6f7	type	One Nation Under Copyright
Generation P / int_4a59e6f7	comment	One Nation Under Copyright: Quite probably under the Interbank Committee. The state agencies (including police and military) are nowhere to be seen, bar for the tanks on TV which shoot at the White House. The president and other statesmen are seen on TV, because the footage of them is produced in the Interbank Committee, but do not exist in the real life. It appears that Russia is ruled by the media corporation headed by Azadovsky. He can administer justice, openly ordering the execution people who let him down. Even a huge real-life economic crisis is cause by the virus in the system of the Interbank Committee. When Tatarsky comes to power, it also becomes OnceNationUnderCopywriter.
Generation P / int_4a59e6f7	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_4a59e6f7	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_4a59e6f7
Generation P / int_4d45aa06	type	Banana Republic
Generation P / int_4d45aa06	comment	Banana Republic: Post-Soviet Russia according to Pelevin became exactly this in The '90s. Aggravated by the fact that the country cannot even grow any bananas and has to import them... from Finland.
Generation P / int_4d45aa06	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_4d45aa06	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_4d45aa06
Generation P / int_4fc172d5	type	Divorce Requires Death
Generation P / int_4fc172d5	comment	Divorce Requires Death: For the symbolic husband of the Great Goddess aka Ishtar. Once she sees Marduk in another man, a previous spouse is disposed of. In fact the husband still can persist until old age and the honorable retirement but for that he should always remain cool.
Generation P / int_4fc172d5	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_4fc172d5	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_4fc172d5
Generation P / int_50b05d30	type	Disproportionate Retribution
Generation P / int_50b05d30	comment	Disproportionate Retribution: Subverted in the case of Semyon Velin, the most talented designer in the whole corporation of Azadovsky. Velin digitally replaces the pack of Camel cigarettes in the hand of the (programmed) general Lebed by Gitanes. Azadovsky is furious and orders to immediately execute him. However in this novel advertising might be the only Serious Business in existence and Azadovsky has a two-year contract with J. R. Reynolds Tobacco, accoring to which Lebed should be only shown on TV holding Camel. As this contract is infringed, J.R. Reynolds Tobacco now can demand the reduction of frequencies by 100 Megaherz (see Puppet State), thus lowering the processing capacity of the megacomputer. Therefore a fraud of Semyon Velin is very costly for the whole orgaisation.
Generation P / int_50b05d30	featureApplicability	-0.3
Generation P / int_50b05d30	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_50b05d30
Generation P / int_550a5d51	type	You Are the Translated Foreign Word
Generation P / int_550a5d51	comment	You Are the Translated Foreign Word: Once Tatarsky develops a brand concept for the firm Tampako, a soft drinks producer, which does not satisfy the client. Tatarsky criticises their brand name for its similarity to Tampax which offends customers. Also Tatarsky advises them to make the main symbol of their advertising campaign a sequoia tree (as a species associated with the USA) with dollar bills for leaves. Turns out sequoia is a conifer. As a result they send a letter to his boss, demanding that this schlemazel (a bit of gratuitous Yiddish), meaning Tatarsky, would never have anything to do with their orders. Later it turns out that they actually followed Babylen's advice and indeed changed their brand name to Tampoko. Never paying him, of course.
Generation P / int_550a5d51	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_550a5d51	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_550a5d51
Generation P / int_557838d1	type	Adaptational Attractiveness
Generation P / int_557838d1	comment	Adaptational Attractiveness: Dmitry Pugin is described in the novel as a mustached man with button eyes. He is played by the handsome actor Igor Mirkurbanov and lacks any mustache.
Generation P / int_557838d1	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_557838d1	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_557838d1
Generation P / int_579d50de	type	Monster Threat Expiration
Generation P / int_579d50de	comment	Monster Threat Expiration: When Tatarsky eats an LSD stamp, he sees the Sirruf, a tremendous dragon-like monster who tortures him. When he later eats fly-agarics, he hallucinates the Sirruf in the shape of the inoffensive donkey (somehow Tatarsky still knows that it's the same Sirruf). He is mounyed by Guireev and the former monster looks sad and exhausted.
Generation P / int_579d50de	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_579d50de	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_579d50de
Generation P / int_5977de6c	type	Write What You Know
Generation P / int_5977de6c	comment	Write What You Know: In-Universe it is subverted for Sasha Blo. He writes for papers numerous articles about drugs, perversions and "cult porn movies" which can make one think that he is full of vice, worse than Marquis de Sade and Charles Manson. Sctually he is a fat, balding, not very healthy father of a family. He writes about juicy topics to pay his rent and feed his children.
Generation P / int_5977de6c	featureApplicability	-0.3
Generation P / int_5977de6c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_5977de6c
Generation P / int_5ac47fa6	type	Erudite Stoner
Generation P / int_5ac47fa6	comment	Erudite Stoner: Played straight for Guireev who is a drug user himself and also provides Tatarsky with fly-agarics. Besides, he philosophises about the existence.
Generation P / int_5ac47fa6	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_5ac47fa6	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_5ac47fa6
Generation P / int_63181d93	type	Curly Hair Is Ugly
Generation P / int_63181d93	comment	Aggravated by the fact that antisemitic Malyuta added to the script in pencil that all imprisoned soldiers have curly hair and hooked noses to lampshade their ethnicity.
Generation P / int_63181d93	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_63181d93	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_63181d93
Generation P / int_638b65bc	type	Armor Is Useless
Generation P / int_638b65bc	comment	Armor Is Useless: Invoked by the frightened Khaninm when the armoured car of his protector Wee Vova is destroyed by the Shmel flamethrower killing Wee Vova himself.
Generation P / int_638b65bc	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_638b65bc	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_638b65bc
Generation P / int_6627695f	type	Author Appeal
Generation P / int_6627695f	comment	Author Appeal: Pelevin is generally interested in Buddhism, conspiracy theories and drugs. In this particular book he is also interested in advertising and describes the plots of various commercials on its pages.
Generation P / int_6627695f	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6627695f	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6627695f
Generation P / int_66c29032	type	No Such Agency
Generation P / int_66c29032	comment	No Such Agency: Interestingly, The Masquerade which runs the things in Russia also employs a secret group of sorts. It is cynically named Narodnaya Volya or People's Will after the notorious XIX century revolutionary terrorist organisation. It is staffed by around 100 agents who visit various places frequented by ordinary people (e.g. low level pubs) and tell them that they had an encounter with famous politicians. Since actually those politicians are all created by the megacomputer, the staff of Narodnaya Volya is employed to convince people that the statesmen whom they watch on TV really exist in flesh. Of course Tatarsky meets an agent of this service once and it nearly costs him life.
Generation P / int_66c29032	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_66c29032	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_66c29032
Generation P / int_67624800	type	Disgusting Public Toilet
Generation P / int_67624800	comment	Disgusting Public Toilet: A toilet in the pub, visited by Azadovsky, accompanied by his retinue, including Tatarsky. However a certain detail in this toilet gave Babylen the idea for a cool slogan for the funeral home of Sasha Blo's brothers.
Generation P / int_67624800	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_67624800	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_67624800
Generation P / int_67b24bc8	type	Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell
Generation P / int_67b24bc8	comment	Why We Are Bummed Communism Fell: Dominant attitude in this book. Pelevin in an author filibuster rejects the Soviet system but talks even more scathingly about the post-Soviet orders.
Generation P / int_67b24bc8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_67b24bc8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_67b24bc8
Generation P / int_68cf9795	type	Ironic Nickname
Generation P / int_68cf9795	comment	Ironic Nickname: Wee Vova who is a gangster is actually a big guy.
Generation P / int_68cf9795	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_68cf9795	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_68cf9795
Generation P / int_6a42ef	type	Cynicism Catalyst
Generation P / int_6a42ef	comment	Cynicism Catalyst: The collapse of the socialist system in Russia and the emergence of the free market economy is this for the whole of land and definitely for Tatarsky. Also of importance is his year-long work as a seller at the stall owned by Chechens.
Generation P / int_6a42ef	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6a42ef	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6a42ef
Generation P / int_6b6556ee	type	Mentor Occupational Hazard
Generation P / int_6b6556ee	comment	Mentor Occupational Hazard: Subverted for Morkovin. He is the only character, who has been Tatarsky's superior,that survives in the end (though Hussein might be the second one). Also Guireev is the spiritual guru of Tatarsky and he seems to survive too.
Generation P / int_6b6556ee	featureApplicability	-0.3
Generation P / int_6b6556ee	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6b6556ee
Generation P / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
Generation P / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: Babylen/Vavilen Tatarsky's name was formed by his father from the names of Vasily Aksenov and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. By some chance it is very similar to the name of the ancient Mesopotamian metropolis Babylon (Vavilon in Russian). The surname of the episodic Butt-Monkey character Mikhail Nepoiman is ironical as it means exactly "Uncaught".
Generation P / int_6bda9a30	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6bda9a30	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6bda9a30
Generation P / int_6ce78717	type	God Couple
Generation P / int_6ce78717	comment	God Couple: Tatarsky in the denouement of the novel is considered by the Great Goddess (Ishtar) worthy of becoming her husaband (Marduk) so they form the one. Technically a 3-D model of Babylen is produced and that model becomes the spouse of Ishtar.
Generation P / int_6ce78717	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6ce78717	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6ce78717
Generation P / int_6ef09297	type	Masquerade
Generation P / int_6ef09297	comment	Masquerade: That's how the world is ruled. People behind the scene pull the strings through TV programming and advertisement, manipulating unsuspecting people. Even politicians are less than their puppets, they are actually all mere figments of advertisement. Or are they?
Generation P / int_6ef09297	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6ef09297	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6ef09297
Generation P / int_6fc21d06	type	Fiction 500
Generation P / int_6fc21d06	comment	Fiction 500: Alledgedly Azadovsky, the head of the Interbank Committee, a media corporation which seems to run the things in Russia, is insanely rich. He buys up the large collections of paintings by the most acclaimed Spanish, German and French painters. However, Tatarsky never sees the paintings themselves because Azadovsly instead of them ordered to exhibit in his gallery the receits which certify the acquisitions of his art works. Anyway, as a living god of advertising Azadovsky should be quite wealthy.
Generation P / int_6fc21d06	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_6fc21d06	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_6fc21d06
Generation P / int_7464705c	type	Arc Words
Generation P / int_7464705c	comment	Arc Words: 'This game has no name. It will never be the same.' (They are in English also in the original book). Tatarsky at first sees the inscription "This game has no name" on the gates of the ziggurat (or an abandoned Soviet rardar station) when he reaches it while first time on drugs. Very soon after that he heards The Voice in his mind which pronounces arc words in full (This game has no name. It will never be the same). Later Babylen learns that this voice belongs to the Sirruf. Later when Tatarsky comes to speak to Khanin, he sees in his office of poster of Parliament cigarettes with the slogan "It will never be the same." Once Tatarsky goes to a shop to buy trainers. When the shoes he selectes turn out to be of the "No name" make, he considers it a big coincidence which should mean something. Of course he purchases the pair on the spot. Mentioned by the Sirruf as he appears before Tatarsky after the hero has eaten a big dose of acid. In the end Farsuk tells hims that the goddess, generally known as Ishtar, is actually a No Name deity because she changes too many names and in the process lost her own.
Generation P / int_7464705c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7464705c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7464705c
Generation P / int_776a06eb	type	All Myths Are True
Generation P / int_776a06eb	comment	All Myths Are True: In this universe both the Christian God and Mesopotamian deities are implied to exist.
Generation P / int_776a06eb	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_776a06eb	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_776a06eb
Generation P / int_7a143509	type	Shell-Shocked Veteran
Generation P / int_7a143509	comment	Shell-Shocked Veteran: The camouflaged man with a bottle of vodka in his hand, whom Tatarsky once sees from Mercedes and insolently asks, where he can find a clothing store to buy a shirt. The man is livid and throws a bottle of vodka destroying the read windshield of Babylen's car.
Generation P / int_7a143509	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7a143509	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7a143509
Generation P / int_7c58fe32	type	Louis Cypher
Generation P / int_7c58fe32	comment	Louis Cypher: That's who Leonid (Legion) Azadovsky turns out to be. He observes that his actual name, Legion, is mentioned in the Bible. In fact in two gospels (Mark and Luke) Jesus exorcises a man and asks the demon who possesses the victim, what is his name. The demon answers Legion, implying that actually numerous demons possess him).
Generation P / int_7c58fe32	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7c58fe32	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7c58fe32
Generation P / int_7cbba5d3	type	Ruthless Foreign Gangsters
Generation P / int_7cbba5d3	comment	Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: Russian bandits, like Wee Vova, are implied to be less determined and cruel than Chechen gangsters.
Generation P / int_7cbba5d3	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7cbba5d3	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7cbba5d3
Generation P / int_7e95adeb	type	High-Class Call Girl
Generation P / int_7e95adeb	comment	High-Class Call Girl: Tatarsky once wakes up in his bed next to a beautiful prostitute (charging 1000 bucks a night) who is indistinguishable from Claudia Schiffer.
Generation P / int_7e95adeb	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7e95adeb	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7e95adeb
Generation P / int_7f1be21	type	Functional Addict
Generation P / int_7f1be21	comment	Functional Addict: Tatarsky remains one in the course of the novel. He consumes fly-agarics, cocaine and acid but his mind is lucid ad he is always creative.
Generation P / int_7f1be21	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7f1be21	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7f1be21
Generation P / int_7f38c0cd	type	An Offer You Can't Refuse
Generation P / int_7f38c0cd	comment	An Offer You Can't Refuse: After Tatarsky is considered by goddess Ishtar worthy of being his next husband, her present consort, Azadovsky, is brutally killed. Perplexed by his fate, Tatarsky asks Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin whether he can decline the honor. The answer is "no", so Tatarsky indeed marries the goddess (virtually).
Generation P / int_7f38c0cd	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7f38c0cd	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7f38c0cd
Generation P / int_7f8fd503	type	Lonely at the Top
Generation P / int_7f8fd503	comment	Lonely at the Top: Invoked by Azadovsky, who says that he has been alone all his life. Though one can remember that early in the novel a story is told how he came to Moscow from province, married a woman and stripped her of her appartment.
Generation P / int_7f8fd503	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_7f8fd503	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_7f8fd503
Generation P / int_823c6e3e	type	Large Ham
Generation P / int_823c6e3e	comment	Large Ham: Mikhail Efremov, playing Azadovsky, hams it up even though the character is not very cold-blooded in the novel.
Generation P / int_823c6e3e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_823c6e3e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_823c6e3e
Generation P / int_829b958e	type	Embarrassing First Name
Generation P / int_829b958e	comment	Embarrassing First Name: Appears to be a prerequisite for the candidates to the post of the goddess Ishtar's husband. Vladimir Tatarsky was named Vavilen in the Russian original (translated as Babylen). It was an acronym made by his father, formed from the names of the Soviet writer Vasily Aksenov and the politician Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. By chance it sounded nearly identical to the name of the Mesopotamian metropolis Vavilon (Russian for Babylon). When Tatarsky applied for his first civil passport, he was still a minor and received it as Babylen. However as soon as he turned 18, reaching majority, he lost his first passport, and he changed his name in the newly-received document to the regular Vladimir. But the Illuminati learnt of his actual given name. According to Khanin, it happened because Tatarsky himself shared this information with Pugin while drunk. This strange naming is due to the fact that Tatarsky's father belonged to a significant generation of ''shestidesyatniki'' or The sixtiers. They abhored Stalinism and wished to return to the early Soviet ideals ("of the democratic socialism"), those of Lenin (who ruled only in 1917-1922 until he became incapacitated), considering Stalinism a mere deviation. Aksenov (1932-2009) was a writer, very fashionable in the sixties among the said sixtiers. In The '70s all hopes were dropped. Leonid Azadovsky confesses near the ending of the book that he was actually called Legion by his jerkass father. He disliked it until he learnt that he had been mentioned in the Bible (which actually made him a Louis Cypher). Still he also changed this name for the regular one, Leonid.
Generation P / int_829b958e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_829b958e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_829b958e
Generation P / int_83445b04	type	Pun
Generation P / int_83445b04	comment	When Tatarsky comes to power, it also becomes OnceNationUnderCopywriter.
Generation P / int_83445b04	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_83445b04	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_83445b04
Generation P / int_85b5dc7	type	Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight
Generation P / int_85b5dc7	comment	Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Escalated. Wee Vova and his Russian gang arrive at the meeting with Chechens in two cars with all regular weapons. However their rivals attack their vehicles using two "Shmel" flamethrowers and poor Russian gangsters all perish.
Generation P / int_85b5dc7	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_85b5dc7	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_85b5dc7
Generation P / int_875615dd	type	Truth in Television
Generation P / int_875615dd	comment	This is somewhat of the Truth in Television as in The '90s the life of businessmen in Russia was quite risky and their mortality rate quite high.
Generation P / int_875615dd	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_875615dd	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_875615dd
Generation P / int_88e5066d	type	Trigger-Happy
Generation P / int_88e5066d	comment	Trigger-Happy: Hussein. That's why when Tatarsky meets him again, he does not run away but instead follows him to his den.
Generation P / int_88e5066d	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_88e5066d	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_88e5066d
Generation P / int_89631688	type	The Chosen One
Generation P / int_89631688	comment	The Chosen One: That's who Babylen Tatarsky is. He is destined to become a ritual husband of the goddess Ishtar and thus the patron of all advertisement.
Generation P / int_89631688	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_89631688	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_89631688
Generation P / int_8a295a46	type	Cool Car
Generation P / int_8a295a46	comment	In another episode Tatarsky is riding in a small very Cool Car of Morkovin and drinking bear. The car stops at the trafic lights and a huge jeep stops on its right. It is driven by a typical goon (low forehead, all hairy) who drinks pepsi from a plastic bottle. Suddenly Tatarsky realises that he is cooler than that macho - because his is in Morkovin's car which is definitely superior. They look at each other for some time and when the goon begins to feel angry, traffic light turns green and the cars start off.
Generation P / int_8a295a46	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8a295a46	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8a295a46
Generation P / int_8a4988bb	type	Mind Rape
Generation P / int_8a4988bb	comment	Mind Rape: That's how the Sirruf punishes Tatarsky for consuming an LSD stamp which is a pass to a very dangerous zone for a person stronger than him. Reportedly it is not a product of happy Holland but came from some terrifying land. Among other things Sirruf says that the amount of substance in the stamp is intended for five people, not one, and asks Tatarsky whether he is one person or five. Subsequently Tatarsky becomes five and all five feel so badly that they think it is great luck that all people are one and it is weird that they don't appreciate it.
Generation P / int_8a4988bb	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8a4988bb	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8a4988bb
Generation P / int_8b606a51	type	There Is No Kill Like Overkill
Generation P / int_8b606a51	comment	There Is No Kill Like Overkill: That's why Chechen gangsters dig a trench (in the middle of the city no less), put there two Shmel flamethrowers and shoot Wee Vova's armoured car, killing him on the spot.
Generation P / int_8b606a51	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8b606a51	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8b606a51
Generation P / int_8b60a09b	type	Capitalism Is Bad
Generation P / int_8b60a09b	comment	Capitalism Is Bad: Pelevin includes lengthy author filibusters disguised as character filibusters (courtesy of Che Guevara) to describe and decry the nefarious effects of the capitalism and consumerism in particular on the modern society and humans who live in it.
Generation P / int_8b60a09b	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8b60a09b	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8b60a09b
Generation P / int_8c78872	type	Writer's Block
Generation P / int_8c78872	comment	Writer's Block: Tatarsky experiences one when he is charged by Wee Vova to create the Russian national idea. (An obvious reference to regular reali-life attempts to find/invent/create the "Russian national idea"). He cannot think of anything. He summons the spirit of Fyodor Dostoevsky using the planchette but that spirit only draws several zigzags (which could also imply that the said idea is too transcendental and cannot be expressed verbally.)
Generation P / int_8c78872	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8c78872	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8c78872
Generation P / int_8e1aef2d	type	Reference Overdosed
Generation P / int_8e1aef2d	comment	Reference Overdosed: Indeed. Pelevim mentions or refers to numerous brands, books (quotes from them), concepts, memes and whatnot.
Generation P / int_8e1aef2d	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8e1aef2d	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8e1aef2d
Generation P / int_8e5c862	type	Ancient Conspiracy
Generation P / int_8e5c862	comment	Ancient Conspiracy: Its members rule the world since ancient ages. They are successors of the Chaldean guild in Babylon and now they act though the media corporation (Interbank Committee) and still worship ancient Mesopotamian gods. Thanks to their help the Illuminati nowadays control the humanity. It is not described, how they ruled the world and Russia in particular before the emergence of television.
Generation P / int_8e5c862	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_8e5c862	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_8e5c862
Generation P / int_9125c7ab	type	Advertising Disguised as News
Generation P / int_9125c7ab	comment	Advertising Disguised as News: Seems to be always the case in the book. News are a mere pretext for the product placement. E.g., once a tough general-cum-politician while interviewed for TV holds a pack of cigarettes of a certain brand. Of course the principal aim of the video is to promote that particular brand, not to inform the public about the opinions of the said general. So if a certain programmer is bribed by the competitors and digitally changes the brand of the cigarettes, held by the general, he can be killed for that machination.
Generation P / int_9125c7ab	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9125c7ab	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9125c7ab
Generation P / int_93a17805	type	Marriage to a God
Generation P / int_93a17805	comment	Marriage to a God: That's what happens to Tatarsky. He (or technically his 3D model) becomes a virtual husband of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar just after her previous husband, Azadovsky, is strangled with a jumping rope. This status requires from a spouse to appear in as many commercials as possible (both starring and as an extra). That's because the ancient conspiracy now runs the world though advertising.
Generation P / int_93a17805	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_93a17805	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_93a17805
Generation P / int_953626a3	type	Literalist Snarking
Generation P / int_953626a3	comment	Literalist Snarking: Sasha Blo writes for food numerous articles about fishy subjects published in several tabloids. Among other things he describes "cult porn films". Tatarsky would agree that those exist only if one would present him the adherents of that cult.
Generation P / int_953626a3	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_953626a3	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_953626a3
Generation P / int_96d2ce42	type	In Vino Veritas
Generation P / int_96d2ce42	comment	In Vino Veritas: Vladimir Tatarsky's secret is that he was named Babylen (Vavilen) at birth. Khanin tells him that he knows that Tatarsky is "Vava", rather than "Vova" because he revealed the fact to his former boss, Pugin, while drunk. Tatarsky does not remember telling that but admits that it might be true though not very probable.
Generation P / int_96d2ce42	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_96d2ce42	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_96d2ce42
Generation P / int_984ef9ef	type	"Not So Different" Remark
Generation P / int_984ef9ef	comment	"Not So Different" Remark: Tatarsky compares the work in the advertising industry to the prostitution. His comparison is actually unfavourable to copywriters because street hooker is payed by a john in advance and it does not matter whether he subsequently enjoys the intercourse. While an advertising copywriter has to let all these brands (like Tampako) enter his brain and soil his soul. And still if a customer does not like his advert or concept he can refuse to pay him. Khanin replies that it is true but their firm Privy Counsellor still will work on these conditions, because they can only survive that way. The narrator once notices that businessmen and mid-level gangsters are generally the same thing (in The '90s' Russia). Malyuta harbors violently anti-Western sentiment and makes Russian nationalist scripts while Seryozha, the admirer of the West, translates foreign scripts for commercials into Russian, then brings them to his boss. The resulting product from both, per Tatarsky, is generally similar.
Generation P / int_984ef9ef	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_984ef9ef	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_984ef9ef
Generation P / int_9895cff9	type	The Man Is Sticking It to the Man
Generation P / int_9895cff9	comment	The Man Is Sticking It to the Man Mentioned in regard to Che Guevara T-shirts which sell huge figures as crowds buy them to express their protest, in the process enriching the corporation producing the item.
Generation P / int_9895cff9	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9895cff9	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9895cff9
Generation P / int_98c2a8f2	type	Humans Are Cthulhu
Generation P / int_98c2a8f2	comment	Humans Are Cthulhu: Invoked by Tatarsky. Farsuk reveals to him that the main task of their conspiracy is to keep asleep the five-legged canine god Pizdets (Пиздец, translated as "the end of it all", on the global scale it might mean Armageddon, in one translation it is named "Phukkup") because if he wakes, the world would perish in the general pizdets. Later Tatarsky supposes that they all (him and other people partial to the conspiracy) might be that pizdets and they are now happening to the unsuspecting world.
Generation P / int_98c2a8f2	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_98c2a8f2	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_98c2a8f2
Generation P / int_9a0481a2	type	Dada Ad
Generation P / int_9a0481a2	comment	Dada Ad: In this novel, oversaturated with descriptions of adverts, at least one of them is that. It is a commercial for a Panasword TV set where the oldest emplyee of Panasonic (oddly enough with a katana on his belt) is presenting the new product. At one point he snatches the sword, goes berserk and wreaks havoc in the room in honor of the mikado.
Generation P / int_9a0481a2	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9a0481a2	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9a0481a2
Generation P / int_9b60b728	type	Addled Addict
Generation P / int_9b60b728	comment	Addled Addict: Azadovsky, Tatarsky's predecessor as the husband of the goddess Ishtar is impled to be this, that's why he loses his position and his life. Unlimited cocain consumption took toll on his mind.
Generation P / int_9b60b728	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9b60b728	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9b60b728
Generation P / int_9dab0a6e	type	Continuity Nod
Generation P / int_9dab0a6e	comment	Continuity Nod: In the 2006 novel Empire V, its main character who is The Chosen One, somewhat, though not quite, similar to Tatarsky, once learns that Babylen has fallen from grace with Ishtar because he did not do good as her husband. Tatarsky still retains his position but his days are numbered. Downplayed as in Empire V the world is ruled by the conspiracy of vampires, while in Generation P no vampires whatsoever are present. Hence that mention appears gratuituous. Thus in the new version of Empire V, pusblished in 2013, Tatarsky's mention is excluded.
Generation P / int_9dab0a6e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9dab0a6e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9dab0a6e
Generation P / int_9dc3f2ef	type	Evil Takes a Nap
Generation P / int_9dc3f2ef	comment	Evil Takes a Nap: A canine deity from the Mesopotamian mythology called Pizdets/Phukkup (obviously invented by Pelevin) is sleeping in the distant Northern land (thus somewhere in Russia). It should be kept hibernating or else Armageddon will happen. According to Farsuk, it is the main mission of the Chaldean guild. Farsuk also mentions that the deity has nearly awoken several times during the XX century (or at least its sleep became lighter), and one of such instances was/is in The '90s.
Generation P / int_9dc3f2ef	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9dc3f2ef	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9dc3f2ef
Generation P / int_9e8a2db8	type	Ignorance Is Bliss
Generation P / int_9e8a2db8	comment	Ignorance Is Bliss: Invoked by Morkovin, who says that oi polloi who ignore the inner proceedings (of the television and advertising world) are carefree compared to the people aware of the conspiracy, like him and Tatarsky. Therefore they have it much easier.
Generation P / int_9e8a2db8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_9e8a2db8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_9e8a2db8
Generation P / int_a4414a05	type	Adaptation Dye-Job
Generation P / int_a4414a05	comment	Adaptation Dye-Job: Azadovsky is a redhead in the novel, in the film he is played by Mikhail Efremov who has partly dark partly grey hair.
Generation P / int_a4414a05	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a4414a05	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a4414a05
Generation P / int_a448674	type	Gratuitous Latin
Generation P / int_a448674	comment	Complete with the Gratuitous Latin slogan on the unshakable rock:
Generation P / int_a448674	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a448674	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a448674
Generation P / int_a44cd048	type	Meet the New Boss
Generation P / int_a44cd048	comment	Meet the New Boss: Tatarsky. nearly immediately after the body of Azadovsky is rolled away, talks to Azadovsly's secretary, Alla, whom he also inherited. In this very conversation he lectures her just to discipline his "new" subordinate.
Generation P / int_a44cd048	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a44cd048	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a44cd048
Generation P / int_a4905771	type	Double-Meaning Title
Generation P / int_a4905771	comment	Double-Meaning Title: Suitably this novel is originally named "Generaion П". The cyrillic letter П (similar to P) can be the short for several things. This the name might mean "Generation Pizdets" (Phukkup), "Generation Pepsi" as well as "Generation Pelevin". Also this title is speculated to be a reference/parody of Generation X, 1991 debut novel by Douglas Coupland.
Generation P / int_a4905771	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a4905771	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a4905771
Generation P / int_a6cda066	type	Rule of Three
Generation P / int_a6cda066	comment	Rule of Three: Several instances. Tatarsky consumes drugs thrice. The first and the third time he eats fly-agarics (drinks a tea mae of Amanita). The second time he consumes a huge dose of acid. Tatarsky has three bosses, Pugin, Khanin and Azadovsky, all of them are killed. Also the novel plays with the trope These Questions Three.... It turns out that to marry a goddess Tatarsky, like ancient Babylonian males, does not have to answer three riddles while ascending the ziggurat. Instead he has to find in that very ziggurat three objects, connected with his life. Which he does.
Generation P / int_a6cda066	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a6cda066	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a6cda066
Generation P / int_a796d2a6	type	Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
Generation P / int_a796d2a6	comment	Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Two bodyguards of the agent of Narodnaya Volya in a dingy pub appear to have graduated from this very institution. When Tatarsky reveals the real employment of their protectee, the latter orders his goons to kill the indiscrete on the spot. They shoot at Vavilen several times but he flees scene unharmed.
Generation P / int_a796d2a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_a796d2a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_a796d2a6
Generation P / int_ab1c1cca	type	Characters Dropping Like Flies
Generation P / int_ab1c1cca	comment	Characters Dropping Like Flies: Indeed. From less than a dozen of significant characters more than a half is killed. Among them the anonymous customer who buys the very first scrpit by Tatarsky, Pugin (Tatarsky's first boss, if one does not count Morkovin who brought Babylen into business but never officially employed him), Wee Vova (a one-scene-wonder gangster), Khanin (Tatarsky's second boss), Semyon Velin (the best designer in the Interbank Committee), Azadovsky (Tatarsky's third boss), Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin (the man more influential than Azadovsky, most probably killed on the order of Tatarsky). This is somewhat of the Truth in Television as in The '90s the life of businessmen in Russia was quite risky and their mortality rate quite high.
Generation P / int_ab1c1cca	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ab1c1cca	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ab1c1cca
Generation P / int_ab5ef919	type	Hermit Guru
Generation P / int_ab5ef919	comment	Hermit Guru: Guireev is a but of this. He lives in the country though at times visits Moscow. Also he teaches Tatarsky some spiritual truths.
Generation P / int_ab5ef919	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ab5ef919	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ab5ef919
Generation P / int_abdf7d09	type	Weirdness Censor
Generation P / int_abdf7d09	comment	Weirdness Censor: Reaction to the whole person of Guireev by people who see him suits this trope to a tee. He looks so counter-culture and esoteric that others do not pay any attention to his person.
Generation P / int_abdf7d09	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_abdf7d09	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_abdf7d09
Generation P / int_aef5c283	type	Off-into-the-Distance Ending
Generation P / int_aef5c283	comment	Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Exactly this. As a ritual husband of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, Tatarsky is obliged to appear in numerous commercials, often as an extra, at times as the main hero. The book ends with the plot of his favourite advert for the Tuborg beer, called "Sta, viator". In the video Tatarsky first walks on the country road, then stops by the fence as if some idea has just occurred to him, wipes his forehead with a handkerchief and then again sets out to the horizon. The very last sentence specifies that it was rumoured that a version of this video with thirty Tatarskys following each other by the same road was shot, but it was never corroborated.
Generation P / int_aef5c283	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_aef5c283	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_aef5c283
Generation P / int_b1b48ad1	type	Foreign Language Title
Generation P / int_b1b48ad1	comment	Foreign Language Title: Mostly. Its original title is Generation П. While "generation" is obviously an English word, the letter defining the generation (П) is cyrillic. It is clearly a parody of the term "Generation X". Especially considering that П here is the first letter of the Russian taboo word "пиздец meaning "bitter end of it all" in a very expressive way.
Generation P / int_b1b48ad1	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b1b48ad1	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b1b48ad1
Generation P / int_b36ae36a	type	Collector of the Strange
Generation P / int_b36ae36a	comment	Collector of the Strange: Azadovsky buys up priceless works by old Spanish painters (Diego Velazques, Francisco de Goya et al.) as well as by German and French artists. However no pictures or statues can be seen in his personal gallery. Instead numerous receipts which confirm the purchases are hanging on its walls, while the works themselves are kept in some storehouse. That's the new trend for art collections (called monetarist minimalism) and Azadovsky honestly does not see any difference from the ordinary way because a picture always looks the same and once you examined it in detail there is nothing new to it. In any case one can always check the catalogue to see how a certain item looks.
Generation P / int_b36ae36a	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b36ae36a	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b36ae36a
Generation P / int_b53c57d5	type	Epigraph
Generation P / int_b53c57d5	comment	Epigraph: From the song Democracy by Leonard Cohen.
Generation P / int_b53c57d5	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b53c57d5	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b53c57d5
Generation P / int_b593baf1	type	Author Filibuster
Generation P / int_b593baf1	comment	A famous part of the Author Filibuster is the concept of oranus or moutharse (os, oris is 'mouth' in Latin). Oranus is the true structure of the modern society. Every modern man keen on consumption is the cell in the huge oranus orgamism in which money serves as blood and television is the nervous system.
Generation P / int_b593baf1	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b593baf1	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b593baf1
Generation P / int_b5b4b077	type	The Ace
Generation P / int_b5b4b077	comment	The Ace: Semyon Valin, the head designer of the organisation, ruled by Azadovsky. Lampshaded after his death.
Generation P / int_b5b4b077	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b5b4b077	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b5b4b077
Generation P / int_b5c47a93	type	A Degree in Useless
Generation P / int_b5c47a93	comment	A Degree in Useless: Zigzagged. It is at first implied that a diploma of the Literary Instutute, earned by Tatarsky, is worthless. In the beginning he is employed as a seller in a stall. However later his knowledge acquired in the institute helps him successfully work as a copywriter.
Generation P / int_b5c47a93	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b5c47a93	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b5c47a93
Generation P / int_b8198b96	type	Dead Man's Switch
Generation P / int_b8198b96	comment	Dead Man's Switch: Semyon Velin, who abused his post as a head designer in the Interbank Committee to make some cash, replacing brands in the political reports, devised the one. It was a dormant virus which, if not deactivated at the end of the month (by living Semyon Velin) would unleash a large-scale econimic crisis. When Azadovsky discovers the frauds of Velin, he immediately orderes him to be executed. Then a severe crisis, (the one of the August, 1998), strikes Russia.
Generation P / int_b8198b96	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b8198b96	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b8198b96
Generation P / int_b82ba58c	type	Excellent Judge of Character
Generation P / int_b82ba58c	comment	Excellent Judge of Character: Tatarsky believes that after a year's work as a seller at the stall he had acquired the ability to understand every person at first sight (and to figure out if he can shortchange him or her and by how much). See also The Cynic. Of course in the cynical world of this novel you will never be disappointed thinking the worst about all people.
Generation P / int_b82ba58c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b82ba58c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b82ba58c
Generation P / int_b9123661	type	Welcomed to the Masquerade
Generation P / int_b9123661	comment	Welcomed to the Masquerade: That's what happens to Babylen Tatarsky. It is gradually revealed to him that Russia is governed by the Ancient Conspiracy through the advertising agency Interbank Committee. In the end he is promoted to a vital element of that conspiracy.
Generation P / int_b9123661	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b9123661	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b9123661
Generation P / int_b9e90c0a	type	Vertebrate with Extra Limbs
Generation P / int_b9e90c0a	comment	Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: A very unpretty example. According to Farsuk, an ancient and very dangerous deity from Mesopotamian Mythology, named Pizdets, is sleeping in a distant (from Mesopotamia) northern land (meaning Russia). Its is a five-legged dog and his fifth leg obviously grows on the place of the regular canine's private parts. He should not wake or else everything is over for the humanity.
Generation P / int_b9e90c0a	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_b9e90c0a	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_b9e90c0a
Generation P / int_ba44639	type	Killed Offscreen
Generation P / int_ba44639	comment	Killed Offscreen: That's what happens to Khanin, the second boss of Tatarsky. Babylen learns of his death only post-factum because of the chance mention by Sasha Blo.
Generation P / int_ba44639	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ba44639	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ba44639
Generation P / int_bc00493f	type	Precision F-Strike
Generation P / int_bc00493f	comment	Precision F-Strike: In the elevator Tatarsky uses working in the Privy Counsellor advertising Agency there is a huge graffito (modeled after an advert for the whisky brand Jim Beam). It includes a big three-letter Russian word, the main profanity in the language (expressing approximately the same emotion as "fuck you"). The slogan you always get back to the basics (in English in the original) in smaller letters is added below.
Generation P / int_bc00493f	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_bc00493f	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_bc00493f
Generation P / int_be009bbc	type	Alliterative Name
Generation P / int_be009bbc	comment	Alliterative Name: Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin.
Generation P / int_be009bbc	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_be009bbc	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_be009bbc
Generation P / int_bef696dd	type	Mind Screw
Generation P / int_bef696dd	comment	Mind Screw: Media tycoon Berezovsky and Chechen terrorist Raduev are the characters in the videotape, cooked by the Azadovsky's agency on the script by Tatarsky and aimed to discredit both its heroes. In the record Berezovsky and Raduev talk about dividing the assets of the mother-Russia (including her oil wells and TV channels), which should further enrage the TV audience, for whom both these characters also served as a Hate Sink IRL note (with much more reason in the case of Raduev as he was an obvious terrorist). As this record is fabricated, the novel seems to imply that Berezovsky and Raduev are invented to misdirect the anger of the populace and do not really exist in-universe. But then Tatarsky is given two swell sums of money from two envelopes ostensibly sent to Morkovin by both Berezovsky and Raduev even though Tatarsky and Morkovin are still sure that both do not exist. In the end Morkovin once again invokes You Do Not Want To Know to Tatarsky. It is also noteworthy that both characters remunerate Morkovin and Tatarsky for the fabricated record where they are portrayed in a bad light. The latter part is explained by Azadovsky. He randomly scoffs that Tatarsky should be on the payroll of Berezovsky and Raduev, because Berezovsky in this video promises to build a mosque and Raduev talks like a professor. Even though both are obviously villanous they still look too good for Azadovsky. However after the first criticism he generally approves of the footage but with his own alterations.
Generation P / int_bef696dd	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_bef696dd	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_bef696dd
Generation P / int_c20dafaf	type	These Questions Three...
Generation P / int_c20dafaf	comment	These Questions Three...: Played with. Babylen reads in a thesis which once he picked up in the youth by chance and now found at his home, that in the Ancient Babylon one could become a spouse of the goddess Ishtar after he'd consumed some sacred fly-agarics then solved exactly three riddles in mounting the Babylonian ziggurat. Some scholars however believed that those three riddles were in fact three objects whose true meaning the applicant should have guessed correctly. Other scholars offered different interpretations. When Tatarsky ascends the ziggurat near Moscow (under the influence of fly-agarics), he also picks up on the ground three objects: an empty Parliament Menthol cigarette pack with a hologram of three palms, a three-peso Cuban coin with a portrait of Che Guevara and a pencil-sharpener in the shape of television with an eye, drawn on its screen. These three objects are all linked to the things that happened to Babylen in the novel, so it is implied that he is ready to face the great goddess and marry her.
Generation P / int_c20dafaf	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c20dafaf	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c20dafaf
Generation P / int_c303c2f4	type	Farce
Generation P / int_c303c2f4	comment	Also Farsuk sounds very much like "barsuk" which is the Russian for "badger", not a very honoured animal. While Farseykin is derived from Farce. Thus while the middle part of the name is similar both times, Pelevin ridiculises the first and the third part.
Generation P / int_c303c2f4	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c303c2f4	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c303c2f4
Generation P / int_c368c3ea	type	Spoonerism
Generation P / int_c368c3ea	comment	Spoonerism: Tatarsky starts to talk in those during the Mushroom Samba after he for the first time drinks fly-agaric tee offered by Guireev. The latter is frightened and runs away. In one English translation he pronounces phrases like: "'Li'd winker drike I watof!'" (I'd like to drink water) and "Stan gou thecation totet yell he mow? There trun rewains" (Tell me how can I go to thew station? Where trains run.)
Generation P / int_c368c3ea	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c368c3ea	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c368c3ea
Generation P / int_c3b40ab8	type	Evil Redhead
Generation P / int_c3b40ab8	comment	Evil Redhead: Azadovsky is the one.
Generation P / int_c3b40ab8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c3b40ab8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c3b40ab8
Generation P / int_c4cd07fa	type	Pyramid Power
Generation P / int_c4cd07fa	comment	Pyramid Power: Its close variation, ziggurat power, actually ziggurats predated pyramids. As ancient Mesopotamians erected pyramid-like ziggurats, the version of this structure near Moscow is a significant landmark for Tatarsky (who lives in the world still ruled by Mesopotamian gods). This ziggurat is said to be an incomplete radar station partially built for the military in the Soviet time then abandoned. At first he rises to the top of an uncompleted ziggurat under the influence of fly-agarics and has some visions there. Near the end during a trip with Azadovsky and his retinue he notices a distant ziggurat, the same as in the first case. Tatarsky is struck by this sight and then leaves the company, visits Guireev to consume fly-agarics once more and rises to the top of construction to pick up three objects he needs to marry Ishtar. Azadovsky is also prone to this. He knows about the same ziggurat and, being a magnate, wants to buy it and to build a mansion for himself out of it. That does not happen.
Generation P / int_c4cd07fa	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c4cd07fa	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c4cd07fa
Generation P / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
Generation P / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: Malyuta the jingoist Russian copywriter shares his name with Malyuta Skuratov, The Dragon of Ivan the Terrible who was reputed to be even more cruel that the tsar himself.
Generation P / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c75df49a	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c75df49a
Generation P / int_c77ad743	type	Mentor Archetype
Generation P / int_c77ad743	comment	MentorArchetype: Morkovin is the one for Tatarsky, he gives answers to his naive questions and secures his promotion in the hierarchy of The Illuminati.
Generation P / int_c77ad743	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c77ad743	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c77ad743
Generation P / int_c856e477	type	Seamless Spontaneous Lie
Generation P / int_c856e477	comment	Seamless Spontaneous Lie: Tatarsky tries this with the Chechen Husein, his former employer, telling him that he now works with Azerbaijanis, named Rafil and Eldar, in the flower business. Tatarsky hopes to get off because Azerbaijanis are implied to protect him from Chechens. However Khanin rings him and later all this is dropped.
Generation P / int_c856e477	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_c856e477	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_c856e477
Generation P / int_ca87e3ec	type	No Name Given
Generation P / int_ca87e3ec	comment	No Name Given: Tha arc words of this novel are This game has no name. It will never be the same.' Thus these two words "no name" are somewhat important in the general scheme of the Author Tract. Once Farsuk says to Tatarsky that a goddess, usually referred to as Ishtar, is actually a No Name goddess. Because since the Mesopotamian times the word to call her changed many times. So now she became a No Name brand. It is arguably more of the author trying to squeeze another mention of the words "no name" in the novel because elsewhere the goddess is simply referred to as Ishtar which people generally consider her name. Also the canine deity Pizdets (Phukkup) is a No Name brand as per Farsuk (same reason as with Ishtar). However considering that he is called by a very strong Russian expletive one simply cannot forget his name.
Generation P / int_ca87e3ec	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ca87e3ec	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ca87e3ec
Generation P / int_caadad0e	type	Summoning Artifact
Generation P / int_caadad0e	comment	Summoning Artifact: A planchette complete with a gel pen can be used to summon the spirit of Che Guevara who then will put down his thoughts on paper charged in the planchette. Of course wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt does not harm.
Generation P / int_caadad0e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_caadad0e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_caadad0e
Generation P / int_d01cffbc	type	Badass Longcoat
Generation P / int_d01cffbc	comment	Badass Longcoat: Pugin inspired great (and irrational) respect to Tatarsky at their first meeting because he was wearing a black longcoat at the table while drinking the tea.
Generation P / int_d01cffbc	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_d01cffbc	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_d01cffbc
Generation P / int_d129e13e	type	"Eureka!" Moment
Generation P / int_d129e13e	comment	"Eureka!" Moment: Tatarsky has quite a few of these when he designs advertising slogans or posters. Such instance happens when he thinks of adverts for Parliament cigarette brand, Tampoko, a soft drinks producer-turned investment fund, and Debirsyan funeral home.
Generation P / int_d129e13e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_d129e13e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_d129e13e
Generation P / int_d71d51fd	type	The End of the World as We Know It
Generation P / int_d71d51fd	comment	The End of the World as We Know It: That's what will happen if the ever-sleeping god Pizdets awakes in the Russian tundra. Thus he should be kept in hibernation.
Generation P / int_d71d51fd	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_d71d51fd	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_d71d51fd
Generation P / int_d88e125e	type	Our Dragons Are Different
Generation P / int_d88e125e	comment	Our Dragons Are Different: The Sirruf during his first appearance is generally definied to be a dragon. He is huge in size, has mane, wings and rainbow scales.
Generation P / int_d88e125e	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_d88e125e	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_d88e125e
Generation P / int_dd45df38	type	Unfortunate Names
Generation P / int_dd45df38	comment	Unfortunate Names: Tatarsky believes that Tampoko, the juice and soft-drink brand has the one, due to its similarity to Tampax. He is ordered to create a brand concept for this company and comes with the idea to change it to Tampeko or Tampuko. The customers are ostensinly insulted. Later they still rename the firm, making it Tampako.
Generation P / int_dd45df38	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_dd45df38	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_dd45df38
Generation P / int_de7b7cbf	type	Drugs Are Bad
Generation P / int_de7b7cbf	comment	Drugs Are Bad: Invoked by the Sirruf who arrives to Tatarsky, when he consumes a strong LSD stamp, as a hallucination or indeed as a monster sent to torture the hero for eating the overdose of a drug, not intended for the consumption by humans (definitely not by one human).
Generation P / int_de7b7cbf	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_de7b7cbf	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_de7b7cbf
Generation P / int_defd0c58	type	A Taste of Their Own Medicine
Generation P / int_defd0c58	comment	A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Sasha Blo and Malyuta Skuratov strangle Azadovsky with a jumping skirt and Tatarsky probably has a moment of Alas, Poor Villain, They are mere executors though and it is Farsuk Seiful-Farseykin who organised it all. Farsuk then puts Azadovsky's dead body in a huge green ball and orders to roll it away. Soon Farsuk is killed in his stairwell, mysteriously smothered by the jumping rope. At his funeral Tatarsky consoles his grieving widow and throws a small green ball in his coffin. Might be, that Tatarsky did not only wish to avenge the death of his predecessor but also wanted to get rid of The Man Behind the Man, as Farsuk was said to actually control Azadovsky during his rule. It needs to be mentioned that Tatarsky as a god immediately dismisses Malyuta from his organisation. Though it might be not due to his involvement in the strangling of Azadovsky. The reason can be his messing with other people's scripts in accordance with his Russian nationalist-patriotic agenda.
Generation P / int_defd0c58	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_defd0c58	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_defd0c58
Generation P / int_e069fae8	type	Bad Guy Bar
Generation P / int_e069fae8	comment	Bad Guy Bar: The terrible pub once visited by Azadosky with a company of subordinates (including Tatarsky and Sasha Blo).
Generation P / int_e069fae8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e069fae8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e069fae8
Generation P / int_e0aed924	type	No Antagonist
Generation P / int_e0aed924	comment	No Antagonist: Most probably the novel plays this trope straight. Tatarsky never experiences regular hostility from any other character. The best candidate for Big Bad, Azadovsky, is fairly friendly to Tatarsky, especially considering that he is not the kindest of the lot. Tatarsky to an extent becomes his protege. It can be argued that the actual antagonist in this novel is the whole situation in post-Soviet Russia with its materialism, soaring crime, lack of positive values and poverty.
Generation P / int_e0aed924	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e0aed924	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e0aed924
Generation P / int_e1fa8421	type	Dead Person Conversation
Generation P / int_e1fa8421	comment	Dead Person Conversation: In one scene Tatasky manages to get in touch with none else than Che Guevara. The deceased Argentinian revolutionary makes some scathing comments about the nature of capitalism and consumerism.
Generation P / int_e1fa8421	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e1fa8421	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e1fa8421
Generation P / int_e20e7076	type	Newhart Phonecall
Generation P / int_e20e7076	comment	Newhart Phone Call: Both Azadovsky and Tatarsky have one each: When Hussein brings Tatarsky to his place (essentially kidnapping him), Babylen's phone starts to ring. Husein tekes the phone from Tatarsy and speaks to Khanin, then to Wee Vova (who most probably explans him in tough expressions that Tatarsky is under his protection). At some point the dialog becomes heated. One can read only the lines of Husein but can also guess what Wee Vova says. Azadovsky during the job interview of Tatarsky receives some calls. First he shouts into the phone: Have you found? (a bit) then search!!. Then another call follows and he says Great. Did you make the control?. Of course "the control shot" is implied here. The whole deal is obviously about the goons of Azadovsky finding and killing someone. In the end Tatarsky already in the status of the living god orders Alla to dismiss Malyuta. Then (after a bit) he says "because he spoils other people's drafts and we lose money. And you, Alla, should not ask me why when I order you to do something, but jot everything down"
Generation P / int_e20e7076	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e20e7076	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e20e7076
Generation P / int_e7ae07f5	type	Briefcase Full of Money
Generation P / int_e7ae07f5	comment	Briefcase Full of Money: Mentioned in one of the tirades by Che Guevara:
Generation P / int_e7ae07f5	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e7ae07f5	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e7ae07f5
Generation P / int_e82bc849	type	Milkman Conspiracy
Generation P / int_e82bc849	comment	Milkman Conspiracy: Played with. Media corporation might be more influential than titular milkmen however in this book they run all the things drawing their strength from ancient gods who rule through them. Army, secret services and bureaucracy are not mentioned. Gangsters still appear but are promptly killed off and never mentioned afterwards.
Generation P / int_e82bc849	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e82bc849	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e82bc849
Generation P / int_e866f3b8	type	Puppet State
Generation P / int_e866f3b8	comment	Puppet State: Russia is in fact this. It is heavily dependent on the USA in the field of IT, crucial for the emulation of its political system. Americans provide Russians (their mass-media cum advertising agencies) with the computer "frequency" of a certain value. This value determins the processing capacity of the megacomputer (also produced by the American company Silicon Graphics and shipped to Russia) which is used to make videos featuring Russian politicians, including the president himself. Thus when USA want to punish Russia (e.g. for its position in the Kosovo conflict) they implement sanctions, lowering the frequency, used by the megacomputer in Russia. Then the quality of the TV picture worsens and Russian politicians look much less convincing.
Generation P / int_e866f3b8	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e866f3b8	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e866f3b8
Generation P / int_e88e8a8f	type	Writer on Board
Generation P / int_e88e8a8f	comment	Writer on Board: Pelevin expresses his own opinions quite frequently in this book.
Generation P / int_e88e8a8f	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_e88e8a8f	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_e88e8a8f
Generation P / int_ebb900a7	type	Resignations Not Accepted
Generation P / int_ebb900a7	comment	Resignations Not Accepted: Tatarsky gets hired by the Chechens. Having worked with them for a year he meets Morkovin, his college mate, who invites him to change the field. Tatarsky promptly quits his job without notifying his boss Hussein because it is widely accepted that Chechens demand a solid severance from the outsiders who join their business and then try to leave it. It is noteworthy that Tatarsky worked for Chechens as a mere seller in a stall for wages. Much later Tatarsky meets Husein (when he deliberately goes near his stall which he avoided until then). Husein essentially kidnaps him although without violence, by mere intimidation. Then Wee Vova comes and sets Babylen free. Everything ends good for Tatarsky because of Plot Armour but Wee Vova sets an appointment with Hussein next day and perishes in the fire of a flamethrower.
Generation P / int_ebb900a7	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ebb900a7	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ebb900a7
Generation P / int_ee7a60e9	type	One-Steve Limit
Generation P / int_ee7a60e9	comment	One-Steve Limit: Wee Vova is formally a namesake of Vladimir Tatarsky. Except that Vladimir Tatarsky was originally named Vavilen at his birth and is generally remembered as such.
Generation P / int_ee7a60e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_ee7a60e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_ee7a60e9
Generation P / int_eef90616	type	Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick
Generation P / int_eef90616	comment	Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: A quite literary example of this. A TV anchor (who is none else than Azadovsky in make-up) tells that the Russian parliament has approved the minimal basket of goods for the a citizen. It includes "20 kilos of pasta, a centner of potatoes, 6 kilos of pork, a padded coat, a pair of shoes, an ushanka and a Sony Black Trinitron television."
Generation P / int_eef90616	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_eef90616	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_eef90616
Generation P / int_f0089082	type	Early-Bird Cameo
Generation P / int_f0089082	comment	Early-Bird Cameo: Azadovsky is actually mentioned much earlier than he appears in person. Lena, an episodic character, relates Tatarsky about how he arrived to Moscow from Dnepropetrovsk and wooed her sister so that she registered him in her Moscow apartment. Later still Azadovsky invited from province his own sister with children and registered them in the same flat. After that Azadovsky performed a real estate swap (as according to the Soviet law the official registration in a flat meant the right for its share) so that he remained with his own apartment in the capital while Lena's sister found herself in a small room on the outskirts of Moscow. Lena actually admires Azadovsky and is sure that he will go far. She is especially delighted that he sent his sister with children back to the province immediately after the end of the operation.
Generation P / int_f0089082	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_f0089082	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_f0089082
Generation P / int_f4a3140c	type	Survival Mantra
Generation P / int_f4a3140c	comment	Survival Mantra: Played for Laughs. When Tatarsky during a very bad acid trip somewhat collects himself, he calls Guireev, his spiritual guru, and asks for a mantra against the drug overdose. Guireev at first refuses, because a mantra should be conferred but later caves in and tells Om melafefon bva kha sha. Babylen starts to repeat the words and soon a burning bush emerges in his room. Then a hand sticks out of this bush and hands him out a cucumber. Next day Guireev confesses that the "mantra" actually means "Please, give me another cucumber" in Hebrew, currently studied by his wife. Because no-one can give an actual mantra without conferring.
Generation P / int_f4a3140c	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_f4a3140c	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_f4a3140c
Generation P / int_f511ea9b	type	Product Placement
Generation P / int_f511ea9b	comment	Product Placement: Naturally Pelevin mentions plenties of actually existing brands in this novel.
Generation P / int_f511ea9b	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_f511ea9b	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_f511ea9b
Generation P / int_f7d4f121	type	Mushroom Samba
Generation P / int_f7d4f121	comment	Mushroom Samba: The novel has three instances of this. Tatarsky consumes an LSD stamp as well as fly-agarics purchased from Guireev (twice) and has various, at times nighmarish, experiences. When Tatarsky first drinks the fly-agarics tea, prepared by Guireev, he soon starts hallucinating and speaks in spoonerisms. Later he mounts a ziggurat and hallucinates on its top level. When he takes an LSD stamp, it turns out that this drug was supposed for someone more powerful than him (also for five of them). He is visited and tormented by the Mesopotamian monster mushkhushshu or sirrush (its name in this novel is given as Sirruf). The hellish creature explains that his stamp is a pass to a place Babylen is not strong enough to tread. A mind torture ensues. When Tatarsky eats fly-agarics once more, things play out relatively tame. He does not lose his tongue. Instead, he ascends the same ziggurat once more finding three objects on his way. It means that he is ripe for marrying Ishtar. Also Tatarsky is fond of cocaine.
Generation P / int_f7d4f121	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_f7d4f121	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_f7d4f121
Generation P / int_f88600be	type	Higher Understanding Through Drugs
Generation P / int_f88600be	comment	Higher Understanding Through Drugs: Tatarsky manages to reach it indeed. Various substances provide him with some pieces of knowledge. During his first trip from fly-agarics tea he manages to invent a good commercial slogan for the Parliament cigarettes brand which is approved and payed for by his boss.
Generation P / int_f88600be	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_f88600be	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_f88600be
Generation P / int_fec2b522	type	Happy Ending
Generation P / int_fec2b522	comment	Happy Ending: Generally. Babylen Tatarsky reaches the very top of the power structure in the Masquerade. He is now the virtual husband of the goddess Ishtar and the chief of all advertising industry.
Generation P / int_fec2b522	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_fec2b522	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_fec2b522
Generation P / int_name	type	ItemName
Generation P / int_name	comment
Generation P / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Generation P / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Generation P	hasFeature	Generation P / int_name
Generation P / int_name	itemName	Generation P

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

	Generation P	hasFeature	Ignorance Is Bliss / int_8aec4a0b
	Generation P	hasFeature	Ouija Board / int_8aec4a0b

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.