When Svetloe budushchee [The Radiant Future] appeared in 1978, it did not have anything like the impact of Ziiaiushchie vysoty [The Yawning Heights], yet it was well received. One important critic thought that Zinov’ev had accomplished with this book a more difficult task more successfully than the task he had set himself in Ziiaiushchie vysoty. Another critic called it an “excellent introduction to Zinov’ev’s work”. In 1979 it received the Prix Medicis étranger. On the other hand, several critics condemned it as a “bad novel”, mainly on the grounds that it contains little or no character development.
Aleksandr Zinov’ev always maintained that Svetloe budushchee was a part of the original manuscript of Ziiaiushchie vysoty which was lost in transit. In its original form it was set in Ibansk, but Zinov’ev re-wrote it and published it...
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Citation: Kirkwood, Michael. "Svetloe budushchee". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 July 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23581, accessed 09 June 2026.]
