A summary of "The Aviator" by Evgeny Vodolazkin Automatic translate

The novel was created in 2016. This book is the story of a man born in 1900, frozen in the Solovetsky prison camp, and thawed in 1999. He rediscovers the world and restores his erased memory through daily recordings of his physical and mental sensations. A contemporary of the century, he captures the smallest sounds, smells, and colors of a bygone era.

The work received second prize at the prestigious Big Book literary award in 2016.

Awakening and fragments of memory

Innokenty Petrovich Platonov regains consciousness in a hospital bed. He has no memory of his past. His doctor, Geiger, asks him to write down his memories daily. At first, only incoherent fragments emerge. Snowflakes outside the window, pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, a dacha in Siverskaya, the red Devonian clay on the cliffs of the Oredezh River. The sounds of an electric tram and the clatter of hooves.

Gradually, a coherent picture of his early years emerges. Innokenty recalls his father, who was killed by drunken sailors near the Warsaw Station in 1917. Images of his mother and cousin Seva, with whom he flew a kite over the Gulf of Finland, emerge. Childhood games were accompanied by readings of Daniel Defoe’s "Robinson Crusoe." Innokenty often identified with the work’s shipwrecked protagonist. Memory also returns to his first intimate experience with the emancipated schoolgirl Lera, a stark contrast to his later, pure affection.

Among other figures from the past, Platonov recalls Sergei Voronin, a professor at the Theological Academy, and his daughter, Anastasia. The Platonov family was moved into their crowded apartment on the Petrograd Side after the revolution. The young people fell in love, and their late-night whispers in the communal kitchen became the only joy in the starving city. Nikolai Zaretsky, a sausage factory worker, moved into the next room. He would daily carry stolen sausages home from work, tying them with a cord to the waistband of his underwear. This miserable man reported Professor Voronin to the authorities. Soon after a search, the scientist was arrested and executed. Innokenty developed a fierce hatred for his neighbor.

Geiger tells his patient an incredible fact. The year is 1999. Platonov had been in a state of artificial freezing for several decades. Scientist Muromtsev conducted these experiments in the 1920s at the Solovetsky prison camp. The Soviet government was trying to find a way to extend the biological life of its leaders. Innokenty was frozen in liquid nitrogen, and now a team of doctors has successfully brought him out of suspended animation. Platonov has become a unique individual, a man who has conquered time.

Camp hell and return to the world

As Platonov realized his plight, he recalled Solovki. He had been imprisoned on a murder charge. The investigation was led by former comrades, including his cousin Seva. Overwhelmed by a primal fear for his career, Seva sent his relative to the most brutal camp unit. Horrific scenes unfold before Platonov’s eyes: camp commander Nogtev cold-bloodedly murders General Miller, and people freeze to death in the deep snow while logging. Platonov describes in detail the horrific abuses of a Chekist named Voronin. This cruel man, who shares the same last name as the professor, forced prisoners to drink urine, beat them with his boots, and raped women he had arrested.

On Anzer Island, Innokenty met Academician Muromtsev. The scientist ran a cryogenics laboratory. The authorities ordered him to conduct experiments on living people. Muromtsev invited an emaciated prisoner to participate in the experiment. The camp inmates called the subjects "lazars." The choice was between a quick death from starvation and cold or the uncertainty of cryogenic sleep. Muromtsev warned that the chances of waking up were virtually nil. Platonov voluntarily submitted to the procedure. He was sedated and placed in a capsule.

The defrosted man’s health quickly improves. Innokenty leaves the clinic and moves into his old apartment on Bolshoy Prospekt. City authorities purchased it and renovated it especially for him. Platonov is cared for by the granddaughter of his former lover, Anastasia, a young woman named Nastya. The girl bears a striking resemblance to her grandmother in her youth. Strong feelings flare between the man from the past and the modern student. The age difference of over eighty years is erased by shared interests and mutual care.

The Triple Diary

The recording format changes. Now, three people simultaneously record events on modern computers. Innokenty, Nastya, and Geiger record their thoughts. A German doctor observes his patient with a strict scientific approach. Nastya describes her new life and her girlish emotions. Soon, she shares the joyful news of her pregnancy. The expectant parents decide to formalize their relationship and marry in the Prince Vladimir Cathedral. Platonov becomes a media personality. He gives interviews, participates in press conferences, and even appears in a television commercial for frozen vegetables. He desperately needs money to provide for his future family.

Fame weighs heavily on Innokenty. He finds it difficult to adapt to the new Russia, with its television shows, unfamiliar slang, and general bustle. His contemporaries seem self-serving and embittered. Platonov tries to track down traces of his former acquaintances. At the Serafimovskoye Cemetery, he finds the grave of the former janitor Ostapchuk, drinks vodka over it, and mentally converses with the deceased. Through archival documents, he learns the horrific fate of his cousin Seva, executed during the Great Terror.

It turns out that the old Solovetsky executioner, Voronin, is alive and receiving the general’s personal pension. Innokenty and Geiger visit the centenarian sadist in his comfortable apartment. The old man shows no remorse for his past crimes, indifferently declaring himself tired. The encounter leaves a deep feeling of emptiness.

Platonov learns that his first love, Anastasia, is also miraculously alive. She’s ninety-three years old. The decrepit old woman lies in a fetid ward of a neglected hospital on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Innokenty and Nastya visit her. His former lover is suffering from severe dementia and barely recognizes anyone. Innokenty washes her withered body with his own hands, changes her diapers, and combs her gray hair. In rare moments of clouded clarity, she remembers Zaretsky and incoherently blames herself for his death. Soon, Anastasia falls into a coma and dies. The death of his last link to the past is a crushing blow for Innokenty.

Inevitable extinction

Platonov’s health deteriorates sharply. He begins to noticeably limp, stumble on level ground, and drop objects from his weakened hands. At a Kremlin reception, he drops a glass of champagne. Disturbing lapses in working memory appear. Geiger urgently orders an MRI. The results of the medical examination shock the attending physician. Platonov’s brain and spinal cord cells are dying. The effects of prolonged exposure to liquid nitrogen have proven devastating and irreversible. Death is inevitable, and the countdown is in weeks.

Innokenty learns the harsh truth about his diagnosis. He accepts the news with complete humility. Platonov finds solace in reading the Canon of Repentance by Andrew of Crete. He concentrates his remaining energy on leaving his future daughter Anna the most detailed description of a world gone forever. He dictates to Nastya and Geiger small, everyday details of old St. Petersburg. He recalls the sound of bicycle tires on a dirt road, the naive staging of a high school play, the smell of mothballs on theatrical dresses. Platonov miraculously regains his lost drawing skills and creates a precise graphic portrait of Zaretsky.

In his candid notes, Innokenty reveals the central secret of his youth. He did indeed commit the premeditated murder of his neighbor, Zaretsky, on a March evening. Platonov ambushed the vile informer on the banks of the Zhdanovka River. A dull blow to the back of the head with a heavy bronze statue of Themis ended the life of the sausage factory worker. Sincere remorse came to him much later. Innokenty even made a special trip to the Smolensk Cemetery to ask forgiveness from his long-decayed enemy.

The last flight

Geiger secretly arranges a complex medical consultation at a specialized clinic in Munich. Innokenty flies to Germany alone, leaving his pregnant wife behind. The German professor admits the utter impotence of modern medicine. Science cannot offer miracle cures. Realizing the utter futility of his stay abroad, Platonov immediately buys a return ticket to St. Petersburg. He wants to spend his last days with the woman he loves.

A passenger plane is approaching its hometown. Suddenly, an emergency situation arises. The enormous airliner’s landing gear is jammed. The pilots circle anxiously above the Northern Capital, burning off fuel before a risky emergency landing. A terrible panic grips the passengers. Nastya and Geiger watch the live television broadcast from the airport terminal with icy horror. Fire trucks are drenching the runway with white foam.

In these fateful moments, Innokenty Petrovich maintains perfect composure. Suffocating in the stuffy salon, he writes his final memories in a notebook with a ballpoint pen. His childhood room, the creaking of the old metal bed, and the melodic ringing of the glass garland on the Christmas tree vividly emerge in his memory. His grandmother sits nearby, rhythmically reading a favorite book aloud. A statue of Themis rests serenely on the polished cabinet. The world rapidly narrows to these bright and incredibly warm images. Earthly life naturally ends precisely where it once began so carefree.