Москвест: роман-сказка

Ėtu istorii͡u chasto nazyvai͡ut odnim iz samykh i͡arkikh i opasnykh prikli͡ucheniĭ XX veka. Slava Kurilov, professionalʹnyĭ okeanograf, khotel uvidetʹ vesʹ mir, a rodnai͡a strana ne puskala ego dalʹshe svoikh granit͡s. Togda on posredi okeana sprygnul s borta kruiznogo laĭnera. On vyplyl. 'V kakom-to smysle on voploshchal v sebe odnovremenno i gumilevskogo chitateli͡a, i ego zhe geroi͡a, brosai͡ushchego vyzov sudʹbe... Russkoĭ intelligent͡sii ne sled zabyvatʹ svoikh geroev: ikh ne tak mnogo. Tot, kto prochtet ėtu knigu, nikogda ne zabudet stranit͡s, v kotorykh Slava Kurilov, pokryvshiĭsi͡a za tri dni͡a i tri nochi odinokogo plavanii͡a sveti͡ashchimisi͡a mikroorganizmami, skolʹzit v tikhookeanskoĭ nochi, kazhdym svoim dvizheniem podnimai͡a vorokhi ogni͡a; vot on, obraz vechnogo mi͡atezhnika' (Vasiliĭ Aksenov).

This story is often called one of the most vivid and dangerous adventures of the 20th century. Slava Kurilov, a professional oceanographer, wanted to see the whole world, but his native country would not let him go beyond its borders. Then he jumped off a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. He swam out. "In a sense, he embodied both Gumilyov's reader and his hero, defying fate... The Russian intelligentsia should not forget their heroes: there are not so many of them. Anyone who reads this book will never forget the pages in which Slava Kurilov, covered in glowing microorganisms for three days and three nights of solitary swimming, glides through the Pacific night, raising piles of fire with every movement; here he is, the image of the eternal rebel' (Vasily Aksenov).