I don't like the popular proverb "Success is 1% of inspiration and 99% of perspiration". And not only because, according to rumors, some of Thomas Edison's inventions don't belong to him at all.
The thing is different: in the Russian translation, this phrase is almost always replaced by "Genius is 1% of talent and 99% of labor". And all three nouns acquire a completely different meaning. No one disputes with "labor". But 1% of the talent? A genius? Are you serious?! Just not in creativity! At least in the 50/50 ratio.
Perhaps that is why in recent years there are a lot of bad writers, mediocre photographers, mediocre artists, voiceless singers… They all armed themselves with a Russian "translation" of a quote by Thomas Edison. Although, it seems to me that the vast majority of these "artists" don't even suspect its existence.
Fortunately, there are exceptions. This is exactly what Yulia Volkodav is and her dilogy "Fans", consisting of the novels "Fans. There is enough happiness for everyone" and "Fans. Happiness for an encore". It's not difficult to guess about the prototype of the main character, Vsevolod Alekseevich Tumanov. A talented novelist writes about a talented singer who became a legend of the Soviet, and then, Russian pop music. And not only about him.
For the most part of "modern Russian prose" (as it's called now) doesn't seem to me important and valuable. As well as modern Russian cinema. They both show, with great pathos, things that are obvious to everyone who has preserved intelligence. And they pass it off as a deep revelation. I just want to send a message: "Guys, it's better to write fantasy." Although, in my opinion, it's much more difficult to be original in the genre of fantasy or science fiction…
And at some point I was completely disappointed in the prospects of Russian literature. That might be realistic, solid, worthwhile.
What a great my joy was when in the spring of 2020, during the quarantine, I caught the first book of the dilogy – "Fans. There is enough happiness for everyone." From the introductory fragment, I realized that this is the author whose appearance I have been waiting for so long. And when I read the whole book, and then read the other work of the author…
Many people will disagree with me, but I am deeply convinced that "real" literature should be socially significant. Without a theme and an idea, any novel is just a set of cute and readable phrases. By the way, many (almost all) modern authors of the realistic genre sin by this. "They write beautifully," but about nothing. Only when something really touches and interests you, you can write well. And in the works, this falsity is often felt – written not for the sake of an idea, but for the sake of lines.
Yulia is a model for me of how to create prose. This is the rare case when there is a Theme, an Idea, a Plot. And not just the ability to exquisitely put words into sentences.
I write this way because I have read both the epic "Wolf of the Soviet Stage", and the masterpiece "Maestro", and the fundamental "Kigel of the Soviet Union". Books that move us to the times when songs were written on the poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Nikolai Dobronravov. When the songs had melodies, lyrics, and meaning. However, as in literature.
Recently I reviewed the performance of Lev Valerianovich in 1972, at the International Festival in Sopot, with the composition "For that guy". This song wined the first prize, it is stunning, deep, full of sorrow, gratitude and hope.
It is impossible to listen to this song without tears. "Twenty years is not enough for the universe..." - yes, twenty, thirty, and even fifty are not enough. And there were a lot of such songs at that time – real ones. That's why we still love and listen to them.
I'm impressed by the author's works in many ways also because Yulia Volkodav is a writer of my age. Even my year of birth. If we had been born 5, especially 10 years earlier – we would have more consciously caught both the fading communism and the troubled 90s. – that hungry time of "real freedom". In addition, we come from not small, but provincial and southern cities. Therefore, the real political unrest of those years and the "queues at McDonald's" have passed us by. But we caught the times when the honored masters of the Soviet stage didn't look grotesque.
If we were born 5, especially 10 years later – we wouldn't see and even think about many things, and perhaps we would perceive life differently.
But I'm glad that we are people of our generation, and "Fans. There is enough happiness for everyone" - is a book about us. With the "Fans" you again rush through the children's 90s, the contradictory young 2000s and adult 2010s, with their hope for the best. We are all "Sashka" in some way. Or rather, everything, but not everything.
Who among us didn't hang posters from the magazines "Cool" and "All Stars" up on the walls? Didn't you sit at the TV, watching the performances of your favorite bands and singers to record them on videotape, and then review it to the holes? Who didn't run to the tape recorder to have time to press "record" when the song we liked started playing on the radio? I remember I even had a "thick" notebook where I pasted articles and notes about the Spice girls, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet boys. And yes, I was seriously going to go to America, become a famous singer and meet Nick Carter.
But we have grown up, the vector of interests has changed, and the attachments of childhood and adolescence have remained nothing more than pleasant memories.
These are not the heroines of "Fans". Both Sasha, Tonya, and Nurai have different psychological and social portraits. And they come to a passion for the creativity and personality of Tumanov in different ways. Each of them has it's own story, which the author masterfully and realistically intertwines. The character traits of the heroines are even more clearly manifested in their interaction. Also, through the narration, we observe the evolution of their attitude to Tumanov.
The choice of an idol for the heroines of "Fans", at first sight, may seem strange. But personally, he didn't surprise me at all. If we talk about the Russian musical reality of those years, then this choice is absolutely obvious.
But the author managed to answer: "Why?". So that it's clear to all readers. Especially on the example of Sasha, when the image of Tumanov is presented in contrast with the images of her coevals. And the passion for the main character is stronger than anything else, pushes her forward, forcing her to look for her place under the sun (more precisely, closer to the" treasure") and helping to overcome difficulties.
Who among us in those years could even think of entering the best medical university in the country and apply for a budget? That's the same thing.
The novel shows us what true fans would like to be. Cause what does an idol mean without fans?
What would I like to change in the work? Rather, to supplement and expand. I didn't have enough pages in Tony's story, but this is, as it's said now, a "personal trigger". Her line with Tumanov is my favorite in the novel.
I like how the author showed the main character. Not only as a great artist. Plausible, without embellishing, with all the passions and shortcomings, but at the same time delicately and carefully. So that both the heroines, and the reader after them, retain respect and love for their idol. Not everyone will pass this path to the end with dignity. But everyone will find their own happiness. There is enough for everyone.
"Fans. Happiness for an encore " is a book, for the most part, about love and care, but it also raises other important topics. About how it's not easy to live with a creative person. Especially if he is used to being adored and worshipped. I can't help noting how clearly the author managed to embody the artist's longing for the stage, his desire to grasp the ghost of his former glory. And that a real artist remains such under any circumstances, even when the best times are in the distant past.
Because nothing can replace the joy of creating for a person of art. To be needed by the public. To shine - with talent and dignity. Only at such moments the hero feels life in it's entirety.
But, first of all, for me this is a novel about the infinite power of love. About the highest manifestation of it, when the main thing is not your feelings, but his happiness and comfort. Especially if you understand that your idol is far from a saint. And has never been. Very few people are capable of such a feeling – both in literature and in life.
There are books that need to be told about. And the dilogy "Fans" definitely belongs to them.