Chapaev and Emptiness

The author himself characterizes the novel "Chapaev and Emptiness" as follows: "This is the first work in world literature, the action of which takes place in absolute emptiness." In fact, it takes place in 1919 in Chapaev's division, in which the main character, the decadent poet Pyotr Emptiness, serves as a commissar. And also in our days. And also, as always with Pelevin, in the virtual space, where the main character meets Kawabata, Schwarzenegger, "simply Maria"...

According to critics, Chapaev and Emptiness is “the first serious Zen Buddhist novel in Russian literature.”