"Phenomena" by Grigory Gorin, summary

This book is a satirical and philosophical play written in 1984. It explores the limits of human integrity, the nature of talent, and the ability to sacrifice for loved ones, hiding these complex themes behind the façade of a sitcom about people with supernatural abilities. The text reveals in detail how sincere aspirations and scientific idealism collide with banal, everyday deception.

Meeting at a hotel

The action unfolds in a remote Moscow hotel room. Three unusual guests check in. They’ve been invited by the editors of a psychiatric journal to demonstrate their paranormal abilities. The first to arrive is Mikhail Prokhorov, a sullen driver from Krasnodar. He explains to the receptionist that he can move various objects with his mind. He’s soon joined by Sergei Andreevich Klyagin from Feodosia. This man unpacks his groceries, tries on a woman’s dress, and boasts of his talent for seeing through walls. Klyagin claims he discovered his gift by accident, when he stared long and hard at his neighbor’s tall fence. The third neighbor turns out to be Yevgeny Semyonovich Ivanov, a man with a briefcase, whom Klyagin claims is a telepath.

Prokhorov decides to test his powers. He focuses his anger on a bottle of vodka, cursing alcohol for the birth of defective children and traffic accidents, and makes the object slowly crawl across the table. Ivanov, outraged by the loud scream, quickly leaves. Prokhorov asks him not to read his innermost thoughts, especially about the murder of a man named Anton.

Revelations and Larichev’s visit

Soon, Oleg Nikolaevich Larichev bursts into the room. He is the husband of Elena Petrovna, a scientist who collects phenomena from all over the country. Larichev begs the guests to leave. He recounts how his wife’s obsession with charlatans is destroying their family. Larichev lists past guests: a clairvoyant from Vorkuta, a woman who read with her fingers, and a Filipino healer, Zuikov, who damaged Larichev’s meniscus. As proof of his powers, Prokhorov again tensely moves the bottle toward Larichev with his mind, but from the strain, his eyes roll back in his head and he faints.

Elena Petrovna herself appears. She delivers a heartfelt speech about the infinite potential of the human brain. She asks the phenomena to rest before tomorrow’s performance and maintain positive emotions. After she leaves, it turns out that Larichev has locked himself in Ivanov’s room. Klyagin takes a drill and drills into the door to spy on him. Prokhorov realizes that his neighbor’s transfocal vision is a simple trick.

That evening, Klyagin packs his bags. He confesses that his wife, Nadya, has left him for nowhere, and he desperately needs an official certificate from the commission to bring her back. Prokhorov shares his secret: he’s in love with Elena Petrovna and has given up drinking for her sake. Then Ivanov returns. The intelligent neighbor reveals the truth: he’s an ordinary engineer, visiting on business for a shuttered plant. Ivanov used a popular surname to secure someone else’s hotel reservation.

Conflict with brother

The door opens, and Anton, Prokhorov’s brother, enters the room. He’s armed with a hunting rifle. Anton complains that Mikhail, out of envy, is trying to kill him from a distance: a two-kilogram icicle fell nearby, a chandelier snapped in the restaurant, and his own car was toppled off its jack. Ivanov hides Anton and Klyagin in the bedroom.

When Prokhorov returns, Ivanov fakes a mind-reading session to get the driver to talk. Mikhail tells a terrifying story. Anton tricked their ailing mother into moving to Moscow with him. He learned of her grave diagnosis in advance through a nurse and used the woman’s arrival solely to secure an additional nine square meters of housing. Soon after, his mother died, deprived of an operation. Mikhail thirsts for revenge for this calculated deceit.

A surge of hatred overwhelms Prokhorov, causing him to explode into a veritable telekinetic storm. Frames creak, furniture shifts, curtains flutter, and lightning flashes. A heavy wardrobe falls on Anton in the bedroom. His brother flees in terror, leaving his rifle behind.

Preparing for the commission

The next morning, Prokhorov lies in bed with his head bandaged. Klyagin admits that he used telekinesis a little yesterday and physically pushed the cabinet. Mikhail realizes he’s wasted his energy and decides to leave immediately.

Larichev runs into the room and announces that Elena Petrovna suffered a heart attack due to an argument. Larichev swears he promised his wife he’d bring the phenomena to the commission. He admits that as a student, he himself possessed a unique gift — he served as a biological indicator, sensing the approach of solar flares with his skin. For a secure position at a scientific institute, he gave up his gift under pressure from the director and now despises himself for his cowardice, calling himself a midget.

Larichev begs the men to save Elena Petrovna’s scientific reputation. Ivanov agrees to the job. The engineer, accustomed to guessing the thoughts of his superiors in production, demands to know the test results in advance. Larichev explains the nature of the assignment, and Ivanov conducts a quick rehearsal with Klyagin. The men hurriedly set off for the demonstration.

Deception and confession

Several hours later, the heroes return in high spirits. Ivanov successfully guessed sixteen of the twenty tests. Klyagin accurately named twelve of the ten hidden objects, even spotting his assistant’s 583-carat gold ring. Only Prokhorov failed due to complete exhaustion.

Larichev joyfully calls his wife and tells her of his triumph. At that moment, Prokhorov learns that Ivanov and Klyagin achieved success thanks to the cheat sheets Larichev had begged from the commission secretary that night. The driver is outraged by the falsification. He decisively picks up the phone, intending to tell Elena Petrovna the whole ugly truth.

Larichev lunges at Prokhorov, takes two blows to the stomach, and then snatches Anton’s discarded gun. He takes aim at the men and vows to fire both barrels if anyone calls his wife. Larichev fears Elena Petrovna’s weak heart won’t be able to withstand such a disappointment.

Suddenly, Elena Petrovna herself appears at the door. She already knows about the falsification. She angrily throws her husband out. Ivanov and Klyagin also hurry to leave. Klyagin tears up the fake certificate of the phenomenon and puts on his usual glasses with a minus three prescription.

The finale

Left alone with Prokhorov, Elena Petrovna sternly reprimands him for disrupting the performance. When the driver calls Larichev a hysteric and a crook, she fiercely defends her husband. She explains that Oleg Larichev abandoned his own scientific work and pride solely for her sake. Elena Petrovna advises Prokhorov to stop feeding his abilities on hatred. She asks him to try moving objects out of love and to try to love people.

Elena Petrovna goes home to her husband. Prokhorov is left alone and drinks a glass of vodka. Lyuba, the orderly, enters the room, dressed elegantly. She playfully asks to demonstrate the promised wonders of telekinesis. At first, Mikhail rudely yells at the girl, but upon seeing her sincere tears, he apologizes.

Remembering Elena Petrovna’s instructions, Prokhorov abandons his aggression. He asks the name of the attendant and moves his hand smoothly. The bottle and gun glide softly across the floor. Lyuba turns on the loudspeaker. To the sound of music, Prokhorov makes all the furniture and scenery in the room move. The walls and objects dance to the beat of the melody, obeying the hero’s radiant feelings and the will of the playwright.