Salon

On Friday the 13th, as if in a bad Hollywood movie, an avalanche descended on the Russian-language Internet. It was an archived text file with a cryptic message attached to it; the message said the file contained the text of Victor Pelevin's new novel, freshly stolen from Moscow's Eksmo publishers.

The file made the rounds with spectacular speed. It didn't mention the name of its creator, but many said it was surely Pelevin -- or at least a very clever imitator. Which was not unthinkable: Recently, a clandestine Ukrainian publishing house issued a novel under the name of Boris Akunin, one of Russia's most popular mystery writers, but the real Akunin had nothing to do with it.

In this case, however, few doubted that "Empire V" was Pelevin's own work. The text recycled most of his favorite topics and even some characters from his previous books; like much of Pelevin's recent work, the novel swarmed with obscenities, political allusions and references to the Internet subculture. Leo Kaganov, a popular satirist and blogger, observed that "anyone who can write a text so long with such a stylistic affinity with Pelevin automatically becomes Pelevin." Surprisingly, nobody has yet made any scientific attempts to identify the author, although such checks are relatively easy to do.

Two theories about the file's provenance were suggested. One held that it had been a genuine leak from Eksmo. Supporting this was the fact that the text contained technical details such as gaps for pictures and directions for setters and proofreaders. The second theory was conspiratorial: Purportedly, the whole affair was a Pelevin-Eksmo PR stunt cooked up to whet the public's appetite. Later, the publishers would say the online version was somehow "wrong," so Pelevin fans should buy the book anyway.

On Tuesday, Eksmo director Leonid Shkurovich confirmed that the stolen text was, indeed, Pelevin's. His reaction seemed to support both theories. On the one hand, he said the Internet version was "a draft copy, later significantly reworked by the author." On the other hand, Eksmo filed complaints with various law enforcement agencies, seeking damages and even criminal prosecution of the culprits. Such nervous behavior seems to be more consistent with a genuine leak -- or, going further into the depths of conspiracy theory, a sinister attempt to curb free speech online.

It is sad that the scandal, both online and offline, revolves around a very bad book, far below the standard of Pelevin's earlier work. Good literature is not the stuff that scandals are made of, but sometimes it can be a welcome bonus. This time, no cigar.