Two post-soviet retrospective works present a clash between internal and external perspectives. In “The Life and Adventures of Shed Number XII,” Victor Pelevin presents a life form whose thoughts and aspirations are trapped inside it’s external frame; correspondingly, its aspirations are held in check by its external environment, at least temporarily. In “Night,” Tatyana Tolstaya presents a middle-aged retarded man who feels that he lives a double life inside and outside of his own head. This tension perhaps symbolizes the fractured nature of the Russian spirit as the Glasnost era came and went; the external framework of Russia lacked certainty or stability, yet there was newfound hope and eagerness for the potential future.

“The Life and Adventures of Shed Number XII” presents this idea in a very abstract and deconstructionist form. While the garage, as well as Numbers 13 and 14, try to convince Shed Number XII of its utilitarian value, hardened by reality, Shed Number XII looks inward for its hopes. Seeing a bike’s freedom and ability to travel, Shed Number XII aspires to take such a mobile form. Ultimately, this transformation for the sake of liberation requires the destruction of external structure. Much like dismantling of the Soviet Union, the fire that burns the sheds rids a restrictive structure that holds an expressive longing in check. The result may be a make-shift bicycle or a tumultuous Gorbachev era and transition to capitalism, but the potential to reach new heights has been set free.

“Night” focuses on a much more human and personal depiction of this conflict between internal and external purpose. Tolstaya writes that “Alexsei Petrovich has his world, the real one, in his head. There everything is possible. And this one, the outer one, is wicked and wrong.” Although Alexsei Petrovich and his mother depict vulnerability in the midst of traumatic transformation, the focus on Alexsei’s internal being marks a shift from societal roles to the consciousness of the individual. In his own world which stems from his internal individuality, Alexsei can envision himself a great writer. When he ventures into the outside world, however, he is lost. The external world still cannot hold his adventurous spirit. He can aspire, yet can’t yet see, suggesting that the new and hopeful day of Russian liberation is yet to come and still lies outside of his (and the mysterious Russian soul’s) grasp. Alexsei seems to realize this as he writes down his “newly found truth: Night. Night. Night…”