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ratings: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Genre: Dystopian Fiction / Satire / Russian Literature

Book Review:
Vladimir Sorokin's Day of the Oprichnik is a wild, brutal, and darkly hilarious ride through a near-future Russia that feels disturbingly plausible. It's the year 2028, and we spend a day with Komiaga, a loyal oprichnik—a member of the czar's secret police, a modern version of Ivan the Terrible's brutal enforcers. His day includes drugs, orgies, team-building exercises, and, of course, the ritualized murder of state enemies. Sorokin's vision is grotesque and over-the-top, but it's also a sharp, devastating satire of Putin's Russia, with its blend of medieval brutality, Soviet-era paranoia, and hyper-capitalist excess. Gary Shteyngart calls it ''more entertaining, dynamic, engaging and deeply hilarious than a dystopian novel has any right to be,'' and he's right. This book is a joy to read, even as it makes your skin crawl. Sorokin is a master of the grotesque, and this novel is a brilliant, unforgettable, and deeply unsettling exploration of power, violence, and the Russian soul. Not for the faint of heart, but essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary Russian literature or dystopian fiction at its most daring.