Russian Hide and Seek by Kingsley Amis 10 out of 10

 Russian Hide and Seek by Kingsley Amis

10 out of 10

This reader is an admirer of King KingSley Amis, having been ecstatic after reading each of the six masterpieces he has had the chance to finish so far, from the Magnum opus included on the All- TIME 100 Best Novels list, compiled by TIME Magazine, Lucky Jim - http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/07/lucky-jim-based-on-novel-by-kingsley.html - to the last to put down, but not least, Stanley and the Women http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/02/stanley-and-women-by-kingsley-amis-10.html, all exhilarating novels from the author that has been acclaimed as the best comedy writer of the last half of the XXth century, unique in having a son that is equally or even more admired, Martin Amis, less of a hit so far with the undersigned, who has liked Money less than any of the six books he would like to dedicate an Ode to that he have come from the pen of the father…

Russian Hide and Seek is very different from any of the mentioned two marvels or The Old Devils, Girl, 20, That Uncertain Feeling or Ending Up – notes on which are available at the address listed above, same blog, different entries – in that we are presented with a quite bleak future, in which we can still distinguish the humor, if much darker, of the comic genius, wherein following a military catastrophe, then a Pacification and the usual Soviet mishandling, botching of administration, managing roads, agriculture and everything else except spying on people – and very often killing them, as happened in real life with the man killed with Polonium, then the attempt in Salisbury, in real life – Great Britain finds itself under Russian rule, in a future where the clock is set back in time, for there could be no progress under a Russian command, especially if it will still be communist – the author is not very clear on that, indeed, there are details and descriptions that make us think that they will have given up the doctrine in its ‘pure, absolute’ form, albeit their behavior, the control they exert over the English, the events described make it clear that these are still forces of evil for the most part and reflect what we see today…invading and annexing Crimea, having a president for life and in control for what, 40 years at the helm…the list is too long to try and look at it here.

Nevertheless, in spite of the abominable, atrocious attitude of the Russians, called SHITS by the population, in general, there are some individuals ready to try a Revolution, which would change things not only in their own country, but eventually they would give control back and at some stage the independence to the English – this is one reason why the book is wonderful, for it does not stereotype the Russians as villains, but at the same time, even the heroes are plagued by indecision, a courage that is also bravado and posturing,  a tendency to act against boredom and when pressed on how would a people that has been oppressed, left without culture and religion, sent back ages, with a only a third literate, would be able to take care of the country, the revolutionaries, some of their leaders do not exactly have a proper plan, except to mention that it will be done in stages and it will take time…the daunting task is perhaps made clear when they try to organize a Festival, which will also be the occasion for the Takeover, the elimination of the future KGB boss in their part of England and the other important officials, and the attitude of those attending exposes a barbarity a descent into ignoble, dumbing decline when they understand nothing from a very simple sermon – indeed, in vicious Soviet aka communist style, the propaganda had had many decades to brainwash the masses…

Astonishing is the reaction to a production of Romeo and Juliet, devastating as well because to a large extent it is a satire, a sardonic take on what happens Now, in societies where people are as educated, knowledgeable and functional illiterate as to elect the most revolting, stupid and dangerous leaders in places like Brazil, Philippines, America – Xi, Putin and NK Kim would not check the stupidity box but they more than compensate with viciousness and tyrannical aptitudes – for when the audience looks at the classic play – granted, they will have had no recollection of it, neither do they comprehend that Shakespeare has been The Genius, as the Carlsberg beer as has it, Probably the Best in the World – they do not get the message, furthermore they catcall the Nurse and worse, albeit the text has been cut and adapted for the extremely low level of understanding that future and alas, present generations have, they are not elated, but on the contrary, they are so appalled, annoyed and offended by the play that they start attacking the stage, there is a fire, though not clearly connected with the public, and the actress playing the role of Juliet dies in it, the main character, Alexander Petrovsky does not find a way to save her and get himself out of the pit and thus abandons her to her tragic fate.

Alexander is both the hero and antihero of this marvelous novel, a man of courage, but also very – nay, too – preoccupied with his image, as if anticipating the age of Instagram when ‘influencers’ have to allow the whole world to see their breakfast with ginseng, chivalrous in some ways – when pressed, he would not share with his sister, Nina, their friend, Elizabeth, nor with Theodore Markov the details of his sexual intimacy…the latter has seen the scene, thus the coitus is admitted to eventually – but also reckless, somewhat unreliable and apparently easily played by Madame Korotchenko – in the first few scenes, the wife of the second in command of the Security apparatus in the area invites the young man to a walk, or in fact claims she needs him to guide her outside, but as soon as they are just a little away from the mansion where they enjoy a party with others, the woman jumps on him with a vigorous, intense appetite and her sexual prowess will be in part comical, but also very dangerous, perhaps deadly…

Theodore is part of the conspiracy – though this reader hates the term and what over a billion idiots do with the term, building fog and falsity around such issues as the pandemic, the masks, led by the Very stable Genius, among others – to overthrow the Russian iron clad rule and invites Alexander to join and then once he had accepted, to get the vital list of collaborators, agents of the regime that work for the Secret Police, from Madame Korotchenko, the lover of the ensign – well, he also has an English lover, a girl whose lamentable dream is to…marry the occupier and move to Moscow, after all, that is the center of the world in this dystopia, but it also highlights the fact that the Russians do not have monopoly on stupidity and other human ills and vices and the writer is more well balanced in his characters – who is the paradigm of debauchery – however much this might be encouraged, stimulated or even demanded by the authorities, that have no qualms about using anything against their enemies, perceived, invented or otherwise, including Plutonium or paying bounties to the Taliban to kill Americans in Afghanistan – Mrs. Korotchenko even brings her twelve years old daughter into the perverse, abject, monstrous sexual game she plays with Alexander and the latter does not want to debase himself to that level, only if he wants the list for the higher cause, the demonic woman requests that he plays along and bring the child, naked as she is into one of the scenes that is representative of what such a monstrous, communist, Russian regime can achieve…as for the title, we all know about the Russian roulette and this is some twisted version of that, in which soldiers have fun shooting at each other and once in a while, killing some of them…