Sergei Dovlatov. Area (№ 189357)

There is such a classic story. Poor kid looks through the crack aristocratic manor. He sees the young swell, rolling around on a pony. Since then, his life is subordinated to one goal - to get rich. To his former life, he did not return. Its existence is poisoned by participation in secret.
In the same slot and I looked. Just saw not a luxury but the truth.
I was stunned by the depth and variety of life. I saw how low a man can fall. And how high he can soar. The first time I understood what freedom, cruelty, violence. I saw freedom behind bars. Brutality, senseless as poetry. Violence commonplace as dampness.
I saw a man, completely reduced to an animal state. I saw what he is able to enjoy. And I think I saw the light.
The world in which I was, was horrible. In this world fought sharpened rasps, eating dogs, covered the face tattoo and raping goats.
In this world killed for a packet of tea.
In this world I saw people with a nightmarish past, repulsive present and tragic future.
I was friends with the person tasoluk once in the barrel the wife and kids.
The world was terrible. But life went on. Moreover, it maintained the normal life proportions. The ratio of good and evil, sorrow and joy - has remained unchanged.
In this life there was anything. Labor, dignity, love, debauchery, patriotism, wealth, poverty. It was lumpen and bloodsuckers, careerists and playboy, conformists and rebels, functionaries and dissidents.
But the contents of these concepts changed drastically. The hierarchy of values has been completely disrupted. What seemed important faded into the background. Trivia obscured the horizon.
A completely new scale preferred the good things of life. On this scale, is extremely appreciated - food, warmth, the ability to avoid work. Everyday became precious. Precious - unreal.
Postcard from home were a shock. Bumblebee flew into the hut, produced a sensation. Altercation with the warden perceived as an intellectual triumph.
On a special mode I knew a man who wanted to be hleboreza. This post promised huge benefits. After receiving it, snakes are like the Rothschild. Grain crop was equal to the mineral deposits of diamonds.
To make such a career was a fantastic effort. It was necessary to curry favor, to lie, to climb over the bodies. Had to go to bribery, blackmail, extortion. By hook or by crook to succeed.
The same effort will open the way to the sinecures of the party, economic and bureaucratic leadership. Similar methods achieved the peaks of state power.