Vladimir Sorokin on the Russian temptation to turn in on itself

Rodrigo Fernandez met up with the Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin whose latest book 'Day of the Oprichnik' is currently being released in France, Germany and Spain. The author analyses the political situation in his country. "I wanted to transcribe an idea that has been on the minds of many Russians : It could be possible to build a wall to isolate Russia from Europe, the source of evil. A large part of Putin's team supports this idea. ... If a new iron curtain were to be built, Russia, unlike during the Stalin era, would drown in the past. It would go back to the 16th century when the Russian State was created by Ivan the Terrible. Soviet Russia had taken on a new shape in the Stalin era, thanks to Communist ideology and to new symbols. This is no longer the case. There only exists a notion of isolation and if ever this were to be concretised, we are bound to find ourselves back in the middle-ages."

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