A summary of "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" by Victor Pelevin

This book is a philosophical and satirical novel from 2004. The plot follows the love affair between an ancient werefox named A Hu-li and a state security general named Alexander. The text unusually combines Eastern mysticism with a caustic irony about Russia’s raw materials-based economy. The author blends ancient Asian myths with the everyday life of the post-Soviet bourgeoisie. The protagonist earns her living in the oldest profession, while her companion controls the state’s oil flows.

The Life of an Ancient Fox

The text opens with a dry police report. A scorched earthen star, a burned-out Canondale bicycle, and a backpack were found in Moscow’s Bitsevsky Park. Inside is a laptop with a text file titled "A Huli." This file contains the confession of an ancient werefox. A Huli looks fifteen years old, although she is over two millennia old. The heroine’s name translates from Chinese as "fox A," which causes her considerable inconvenience in Russia due to its obscene sound. The girl works as a high-class prostitute.

She uses her fluffy red tail to hypnotize her clients. The men experience sweet illusions while the fox calmly reads books by astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. When taking the men’s life force, A Huli always returns a small portion of the energy so as not to anger the spirits. This method is called "the bride returns the earring."

Another work evening at the bar of the National Hotel turns disastrous. An Indian portfolio investor in a blue turban suddenly awakens from his hypnosis. Upon seeing the fox’s true form, the man goes wild with fear and throws himself out of his room window. Meanwhile, Huli narrowly escapes hotel security by casting a spell on two guards. Left without a stable income, she posts a profile on an intimate services website.

An elderly humanities scholar named Pavel Ivanovich becomes her new client. He suffers from guilt toward his homeland and asks to be whipped with a hypnotic whip. During the sessions, he discusses politics at length. One day, he rudely insults the memory of the writer Vladimir Nabokov. The fox becomes enraged and inflicts genuine bloody wounds on his client, a move he later deeply regrets.

Soon, the heroine is summoned by FSB Colonel Mikhalych. Khuli arrives at the mysterious apartment with a metal pole. The officer injects himself with the drug ketamine. His consciousness is transported into orange, hallucinatory tunnels and releases a demonic entity. The girl hits Mikhalych hard on the head with a heavy champagne bottle.

Mikhalych’s boss, Lieutenant General Alexander, wearing a gray uniform, enters the room. He chastises his subordinate and apologizes to A Hu-li. The man drives the girl home in a luxury Maybach with a government pass. Along the way, Alexander buys her two platinum and diamond rings at Tiffany’s. The fox is deeply intrigued by the powerful gentleman.

Revealing secrets

A Hu-li corresponds with her sisters via email. Ye Hu-li complains about the hard work in massage parlors in Thailand. Yi Hu-li has settled in London with Lord Cricket. The sisters discuss an ancient prophecy about a mystical Super-Werewolf. He is supposed to appear where a temple, destroyed to the ground, has been rebuilt. And Yi Hu-li guesses that this refers to Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Lord Cricket is fascinated by contemporary art and the occult. He plans to perform a secret magical ritual to transform himself into a Superwerewolf. And Hooli intends to use this ritual to hunt her own husband.

Alexander invites Ah Huli to his glass penthouse. The girl bares her tail for hypnosis, hoping to give him pleasure. The magic inexplicably malfunctions. Alexander himself turns out to be a powerful werewolf. Before the startled fox’s eyes, he transforms into a huge gray wolf. The beast pounces on the girl. Ah Huli feels primal terror, physical pain, and simultaneously intense pleasure.

A whirlwind romance blossoms between the heroes. And Khuli decides to teach Alexander her art. She takes the general on a "chicken hunt" in the Bitsevsky forest. The fox dons an uncomfortable evening gown and stiletto heels. She steals a chicken from a barn in front of the forester. An absurd chase ensues. Fear and excitement cause the girl to partially transform into a wild animal.

Suddenly, two mounted police officers appear. Khuli trips and falls onto a forest path. Alexander emerges from the thicket just in time, wearing a military uniform. He hypnotizes the mounted patrolmen with secret secret service gestures, saving his friend from a brutal reprisal.

Northern Ritual

The next day, Alexander takes A Khuli north to snow-covered Nefteperegonyevsk. The town is lined with strange cottages on stilts, resembling chicken legs. The local oil wells have completely dried up. FSB werewolves regularly perform shamanic rituals to replenish state resources.

The fat wolf Mikhalych howls for a long time at an old cow skull impaled on an iron pole. The ritual fails, despite injections of heavy medication. Then Alexander himself becomes a beautiful gray wolf. He lets out a sad, heartfelt howl about the bitter fate of his homeland. The wolf appeals to the ancient soul of the people, called the Spotted Cow in Russian fairy tales. Real tears drip from the empty eye sockets of the cow skull. Oil begins to gusher from the ground again. The general receives the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

Illusions and Philosophy

A Hu-li and her husband arrive in Moscow. Lord Cricket gives a closed lecture to Alexander and A Hu-li in their hotel room. Lord Cricket explains the mechanics of animal transformations through the movement of kundalini energy through the spine and tail. The Brit also shares esoteric theories about the powerful Super Werewolf.

Later, A Hu-li and Alexander discover a new, sophisticated way to be intimate. They tightly entwine their ponytails while watching movies. This allows them to experience the plots of Asian action films and Hollywood movies as reality. Alexander refuses to watch films with homosexual overtones, preferring samurai films.

And Huli talks a lot about Bishop Berkeley’s philosophy. She understands the real difference between wolves and foxes. Foxes influence the perceptions of others, making them see convincing illusions. Wolves hypnotize themselves, sincerely believing they are transforming. This internal alchemical reaction requires colossal energy.

One day, A Huli kisses Alexander directly on the lips. This forbidden human gesture causes an irreversible mutation. Alexander loses control of his form and transforms into a terrifying black dog. This five-legged dog is known in Norse mythology as Garm, and in Russian folklore it bears a foul nickname. Alexander gains the ability to destroy people from a great distance simply by mentally stepping on them with his mystical fifth paw. The dog retains its human intelligence, but loses its former wolf form forever.

Insight and denouement

The desperate general hides in A Khuli’s underground concrete bunker in Bitsevsky Park. The Fox heals his wounds, removing silver bullets from his body. Alexander suffers from his new appearance. He decides to take revenge on the political strategist Tatarsky and successfully casts a deadly curse on him remotely.

The fox meditates for a long time in the silence of a damp bunker. She suddenly comprehends a supreme philosophical truth. Her red tail, every second, creates the entire visible world around her. The tail’s relic radiation literally shapes material reality. The only key to escaping this endless hallucination is pure, selfless love.

Alexander can’t come to terms with the secluded life in the dungeon. He leaves the fox a short farewell note on a wooden box. The general returns to government service to use his new deadly skills to protect the country from enemies. And Huli is left alone.

While on a bike ride, Ah Khuli meets Mikhalych again. The officer proposes marriage and moves them to a tropical island. The fox refuses, mocking his Andy Warhol T-shirt. Returning home, the fox burns old poems and formulates a secret teaching about the Rainbow Stream for other werewolves. According to the instructions, a werewolf must repent of past crimes, purify their heart with love, and channel this energy directly into their tail.

The story ends on a cool early morning. Huli takes her bike out to a vacant lot near the forest. She’s about to accelerate and jump off a high dirt ramp. As the wheels lift off, she wants to scream her name. She sincerely believes that this leap will forever stop the generation of the illusory world, granting her the true freedom she’s longed for.