Omon Ra

Victor Pelevin’s short science fiction novel, Omon Ra (1992), provides a satirical take on the now-obsolete Soviet Space Program. It follows a young man with dreams of becoming an astronaut who realizes that the training is not what he expected it to be. Pelevin’s first full-length novel, it received widespread critical praise upon its English publication. Pelevin is the author of numerous science fiction short stories. Critics note his works, including Omon Ra, involve the typical science fiction genre conventions fused together with multi-layered postmodernism.

The book takes place in post-World War II Moscow. Omon Krivomazov, whose father named him after the Soviet secret police, begins talking about his childhood in Soviet Russia. He complains that he is not allowed to have his own thoughts and he is always worried that someone is watching him. It is a stifling environment to grow up in.

As a teenager, Omon has an epiphany. He decides there is only one way to break free of Soviet Russia, and that is by leaving the planet. Not wanting to live on Earth anymore, he declares that he will become an astronaut. His parents don’t take him seriously at first, but this doesn’t deter him. The moment Omon graduates high school, he enrolls in the military academy, taking his dreams of space exploration with him.



When Omon arrives at the academy, however, he realizes that it’s not what he signed up for. Instead of training him to escape the rigidity of Earth’s gravity and Soviet Russia, the academy maims and tortures its aspiring cadets. Space exploration is the last thing on the academy’s mind—all they want are strong cadets with the will to survive at any cost.

Omon’s first brush with danger comes at the very start of his military career. Before Omon is accepted into training, he must submit to having both feet amputated. Omon wonders how amputating his feet can possibly be a good idea, but what is more surprising to the soldiers is that he even asks. Apparently, Omon should already know the story of Alexey Maresyev, a skilled pilot who found his way back to Soviet-controlled land after suffering major injuries in a plane crash.

Omon learns more about Alexey from the other cadets. Alexey didn’t just save himself from a plane wreckage—he lost both his feet after walking for almost three weeks. He returned to flying after a year of rehabilitation therapy and exercise, once he learned to use his prosthetic limbs. He got back in the pilot’s seat and he has never looked back. This is the spirit the soldiers want to see from their cadets; unless Omon loses his limbs, he is not dedicated enough.



Omon agrees to the amputation but he wants to delay it for a time. He wants to spend more time deciding what branch of the military is right for him, because he secretly has no intention of losing his feet. He may even run away, abandoning the whole idea. However, before he can flee, Omon is selected for a secret mission; he is ushered away to a secret facility beneath a government building in Moscow.

Omon and his friend learn that they are off to the Moon. First, they must help prepare the shuttle for launch. Omon must learn to do all the tasks normally left to machines and technology, because the whole experience should be authentic. The scientists involved don’t believe in machines—instead, they believe in people. What Omon realizes, however, is that the scientists don’t believe he is any better than a machine.

The scientists strap Omon into a shuttle, launching him toward the moon. Once he arrives, he must exit the shuttle and drive along the Moon’s surface in a Lunokhod. He drives the Lunokhod across the Moon, but he is not sure why he is doing it or what the end goal is. Driving aimless across the lunar surface, he realizes that leaving Earth doesn’t make anything better.



Finally, he learns that he should leave the Lunokhod and place a radio beacon on the Moon. Once the beacon is secure, he must activate it and ensure that it is working. Leaving the Lunokhod, though, means risking his air supply. Reluctantly, Omon leaves the Lunokhod, setting up the radio beacon. He is then ordered through the radio to take a gun from inside the Lunokhod and shoot himself with it.

Omon understands that he is never going home. He escaped Earth but there is no life beyond the Soviet State. Omon takes the gun and pulls the trigger. Instead of killing him, the gun misfires; Omon doesn’t know what to do. He has no way off the Moon, and no one is going to help him because everyone assumes that he is dead.

However, when Omon drops the gun, the scenery changes. The lights go up and he sees that he’s not on the Moon. Omon is standing on a subway line. He drove along a subway tunnel, planting the beacon on the platform. The whole mission was a game to test his heroism and his ability to follow orders.



Angry and humiliated, Omon panics and runs away. The military can’t have him escape if he’s not going to work with them, and so they chase after him. Before the soldiers shoot him down, he escapes, stumbling into a crowd moving along a platform. He is somewhere in the Moscow Metro—he has been going around in circles the whole time.