Casual is the debut novel by Russian writer Oksana Robski. It focuses on the lives of the Russian business elite.
Plot The main character is the wife of oligarch Serge and the mother of a young daughter. When Serge is murdered, the protagonist “hires” a person whom she believes killed her husband. It turns out that the “hired” person is innocent. Svetlana, Serge's mistress, is pregnant and gives birth. The real mastermind behind Serge's murder is Svetlana's brother, a certain Vova “Rat.” After Vova the Rat is killed, the main character flees to India.
Reception The novel was translated into English.Tatyana Mikhailova. Injection of Glamour: The Politics of Oksana Robski's Prose Wayback Machine // Nondisclosure. 2008. No. 6 (62). In 2005, it was shortlisted for the National Bestseller award.National Bestseller 2005 Shortlist. Wayback Machine. New Literary Map of Russia.
The book made Robski the first representative of the Russian upper class to publish a novel. Olga Bugoslavskaya. “Here is my village…” (The Phenomenon of Oksana Robski) Wayback Machine // Banner. 2005, No. 9.
In the magazine Continent, Tatyana Sotnikova noted that the novel is written better than standard detective stories and the usual works of “serious prose writers”.Tatyana Sotnikova. Rublevskaya Zone Wayback Machine // Continent. 2005. No. 123. A reviewer from Gazeta.Ru stated that the novel is sterile in literary terms and called the author a talking "Chanel" bag.Valya Kotik. Rublevka in Your Home Wayback Machine. Gazeta.Ru. March 4, 2005. For Maya Kucherskaya, the value of the novel lies in its portrayal of the "doll-like" existence of Rublevka residents.Maya Kucherskaya.Generation OK: Casual Wayback Machine. Polit.ru. February 21, 2005.
References
External links Konstantin Milchin. "Deservedly Forgotten Books." Oksana Robski's "Casual" as the Birth of a Nation. "Gorky Media," September 12, 2016