Broken. Chronicles of a Plummeting Civilization

The genre of urban novels with a touch of the supernatural has long and firmly taken its place in the minds and hearts of readers. From «The Master and Margarita» to «The Altiist Danilov» — the intervention of devilish forces in the life and daily routine of humanity traditionally occurs in Moscow. Indeed, in Kirill Lyapunov's debut novel, the infernal does not have a human embodiment, but lurks in the most mundane and familiar things. «Kitchen conversations have long been a favorite in Russia. Here, in the warmth and comfort of home, intimate matters are shared, philosophical concepts collide, and disputes about the fate of the world are held over a cup of strong tea, or even a shot of something stronger. And although the main setting of most of the novel is not a kitchen, but a psychotherapist's office, the feeling of homely coziness remains quite palpable. Comfortable armchairs, the pleasing view of the old Moscow landscape outside the windows, aromatic tea in cups brewed to the taste of the interlocutor — from the very beginning, the author spares no detail in describing the scene of the forthcoming action, which is as suitable as can be for heart-to-heart conversations. But heart-to-heart conversations do not happen. And although for the main character, experienced psychologist Arkady Kuznetsov, this is not a surprise, the impossibility of true, human contact with his interlocutors weighs heavily on him. One by one, clients pass before him — a procession of typical people of the modern era with their quite ordinary problems, which under the attentive gaze of a professional repeatedly turn out to be somehow inauthentic, like imaginary quantities in a math textbook. From a millennial fashionista, seriously afraid for the fragility of his personality when faced with the necessity of earning a living, to an elderly drug addict, whose joys of life are doled out by his domineering mother — they all seem not to be people, but simulacra, wax figures from Madame Tussauds museum. And even when the main character manages to unearth beneath their artificial, superficial facade their true, weak and helpless self — it seems they are more frightened than pleased by this, trying to quickly forget about it. And we cannot help but ponder along with the hero: what