Victor Pelevin's The Return of Bluebeard merges history, espionage and reincarnation
Victor Pelevin's new novel, The Return of Bluebeard, was released on April 23. The plot reinterprets the story of American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Engaging with current events is both a hallmark of the writer's creative method and a marketing strategy to draw in a broad readership.
The Return of Bluebeard expands on the universe introduced in Pelevin's 2019 collection The Art of Light Touches and is structured in three parts: The Return of Bluebeard, Abraham's Pyramid, and The Song of the Penguin. The author presents them as a condensed retelling of the works of Konstantin Golgofsky, a practitioner of holotropic breathing who discovers that in a past life he was Gilles de Rais—a comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc, accused of ritual murders and the real-life inspiration for the fairy-tale villain Bluebeard, the aristocrat who murdered his wives. To unravel his past, Golgofsky collaborates with the CIA and embarks on a journey through the UK, the US, France, and Israel, where he stumbles upon a secret laboratory run by physicist Zhenya Epstein.
Konstantin Milchin, editor-in-chief of Yandex Books, argues that Pelevin's ability to weave contemporary themes into his work stems from his carefully cultivated reputation: "Years later, you realize the strategic brilliance of releasing a novel every twelve months, each one a commentary on the burning issues of the day. Pelevin has conditioned us to expect these reflections, so now, whenever a major international or domestic scandal erupts, many can't help but wonder: What will Viktor Olegovich have to say about this? That said, the new novel isn't really about Epstein—it's more about the influence of Western philosophy on fragile Russian minds and the consequences of rejecting it."
Russian writer, literary critic, and translator Mikhail Visel, in an interview with Expert, noted that he has followed Pelevin's work for years: "I'm convinced that, despite his cultivated image as a Daoist and Buddhist living somewhere in a virtual realm—whether Bali or elsewhere—Victor is, in fact, meticulously sifting through the media landscape, drawing inspiration for his new works from it. Not so much from ancient sacred or philosophical texts, but from what we call the news cycle—and what we, as journalists, help create. Yet for all that, Pelevin is not an esotericist; he's a mainstream author."
Mikhail Vizel notes that Viktor Pelevin's initial print runs reach tens of thousands of copies—an unprecedented figure for a contemporary Russian author—and this compels him to exercise extreme caution in his literary and creative expression, as both devoted fans and sharp critics scrutinize his every move. "For him, this isn't a marketing ploy but the foundation of his creative method, which has kept him compelling for over 30 years," Vizel explains. "He takes raw reality—across its many layers: once it was computer games, then social media and virtual worlds, public scandals like the Epstein island affair—and transforms it into literary prose in a way only he can. That's why we love him."
