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Description edit
Brimming with black humor and piercing satire, at turns picaresque and epistolary, Journey to Virginland explores the breakneck paradigm shifts of the 21st century, navigating through the morass with the guidance of Dog, the novel's loutish yet wise antihero. Through a devilishly... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
http://www.journeytovirginland.com/index.htm
Characters/People edit
- Kathy: She is the heroine of the book, born on the same day as Dog, the anti-hero. There's a play with the mythology of proto-IndoEuropean Divine Twins. Story takes place in Virginabad.
- Henri: Dog's cousin, a French character, they meet for the first time in Virginabad, and thereon form a double.
- Allah: Allah is the chief of Allahland.
- Papa Lenin: King of Leninland, a country in Dog's world which recently is christened Natashaland.
- Judas: Judas is the chief of Judah-Israel.
- Papa Pete: A reference to the Pope.
- Paul: The biblical Paul.
- Heather: An intriguing, sexy character, Dog meets in Kennedy City - Boston.
- Yoohoo Macyehu: The stand-in for Jesus Christ.
- Ani: A woman in Virginland. Ani is a common Georgian and Armenian name.
- Sasha: Another double, Sasha and Masha, prostitutes that Dog meets in Virginabad.
- Pasha: Add a description of this character.
- Judah: Israel
- Vika: A Russian character in Moscow.
- Bladin: Apparently bin laden, sounds harmoniously with Aladdin. Is a mythical character combining the attributes of the Biblical Moses and Bin Laden.
- Gary: A Canadian-Armenian, an interesting character, cynical and spiritual simultaneously.
- Hays
- Balthasar: Balthasar is the name of one of the Divine twins of the Armenian epic. The Biblical Adrammelech and Sharezer apparently are an echo of this ancient armenian or proto-Indo-European theme. Incidentally, according to the Biblical version, after slaying their father, Sennacherib, these two sons flee to Armenia.
- Ararat: Mount Ararat, where according to tradition Noah's arc disembarked.
- Virginborn
- Mr. Mosmos: Stand-in for Moses.
- Akhenaten: Egypt
- Yelena: A Ukrainian woman.
- Dreamlander: A citizen of Dreamland. Dreamland is a vast stretch of land in the Map According to Dog which encompassing most of the known world. According to Dog there are two countries in the World: Dreamland and Africa. Dreamlanders eagerly try to teach the Africans how to dream in order to avoid being munched by them.
- Peter: A unity of "Peter" the apostle as rock, foundation stone for the Vatican, and "peter" the male organ.
- Hayk: Mythical founding father of the Armenians.
- Stella: A femme fatale Dog meets in Virginabad.
- Adam: Man
- Sanasar: Sanasar & Balthasar are the Armenian version of the proto-Indo-European Divine Twins mythology.
- Mamma: The cucubearer's mother.
- Eden
- Ayatollah: The chief of Ayatollahland.
- White Dog: A mythical character vs. Black Dog. Reminds of the mythic dogs that are door-keepers of the netherworld.
Quotes edit
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“In Paradise angels are born with secrets, live their short lives in secret, and die buried in secrets.”
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“Don’t invest in her. You don’t build a house on a fucking ocean.Know this: she’s the landlord, you’re the tenant. Whatever you give—money, years, children—is lost. And be careful—every day she will draw you deeper into her web. Give little, take a lot. Let her follow the Golden Rule, pray, and wait for results. You’ll find it easy to unfasten yourself, to fly into the arms of another.”
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“Above the heads of the White House and Mecca hover masses of eloquent cadavers. 'Follow us…' Man follows and cries out 'Freedom.' The dead speak from thrones and pedestals, churches and minarets. Man chooses the best of the deceased to follow. Paradise is the mirror of both Satan and Al-Prophet. Necrolatry is the cornerstone of human civilization.”
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“They love the dead, hate the living. They kill to love—a nation of unfulfilled necrophiliacs.”
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“There arstil many traials our nayshun must ace. But as our ounding dad George Buchanan said, exsample is better dan precept; God helps them hoo help themselves. There for we will shove owr enimi owr di terminacion. But we shood not cuwnt owr chikens before they hach. We shood batten down the haches. We will bate the bullet, they will bate the dust. Nok on wood, I no the ropes. We will sho them the cold sholdier av emir aka. We will keep their noz to the grindston. We will hunt them Everestile; we will kill their leathers and make shur that there side o the stor is ne’er herd. Dead men tell no tails. Day say dat we lied to them. I say, ask no queschens and here no lies. Even do we will skait on tin ice, we wont our enimi to no that the ski is the limit o owr potentsheol. Aris Total once said that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. So we will cach one in the hand and let loos two in the bush. We hav shon them that beggars can be choosers and the blak shipo’owr amili can lid”
Setting & Locations edit
- Virginland: An imaginary country where all the women are virgins. Dog travels to Virginland and relates his experiences with the women of that country.
- Paradise: Paradise is synonymous with Virginland. At least Virginlanders think so.
- Virginabad: The capital of Virginland.
- Virginstan: Same as Virginland. Author often employes this name as an emphasis when narrating oriental conservative traits in sexual relationships.
- Satanland: A country stretching between the Atlantic and the Pacific, known as such by the people of Allahland or Ayatollahland.
- Armenia: A country replacing what we know as Ireland.
- Egypt
- Natashaland: Russia
- Israel: Land of the Samaritans.
- Dreamstan
- Virginosa: Virginoso and Virginosa are the male and female types of Virginstan.
- Lord Satan
- Pornstan
- Moscow
- Leninstan
- Los Angelos
- Los Babylonos
- Damascus
- Heaven
- Virginoso
- Hell
- Gehenna
- Adonis
- Harvard
- London
- Vardan
- Penisalem: A reference to the archetypal male culture apparently referring to Jerusalem.
- Eyfelia: France
- Palestine
- Hayastan
- America
- Phoenicia
- New Mount Musa
- Mercedesland: Germany
- Calipornia
- Washington
First Sentence edit
I head home an hour before twilight from my research at the national library of the Academy of Sciences of Virginland. The sleepless nights have worn me down. I need to unwind. The day has lengthened, the biting cold retreated. But it’s still early to go to Moscow. Out on the courtyard, the dogs are having a veritable feast—the trash trucks haven’t showed up again today. All for the better—my buddies are still alive. Ever since the army unleashed Operation Kill the Dogs, I get a jolt whenever I hear the clatter of machine gun fire echoing from indefinite directions. Sometimes I feel glad I wasn’t born a dog.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Armen Melikian (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2011
ISBN: 978-1935097-51-8
Page Count: 289
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2011
ISBN: 978-1935097-51-8
Page Count: 289
Awards edit
- Book of the Year Award (2011: Literary Fiction, Finalist)
- Next Generation Indie Book Award (2011: Humor/Comedy, Finalist)
- Pinnacle Book Achievement Award (2011: Literary Fiction, Winner)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: LCCN: 2009935120, CIP in process
- Dewey: 813
Subjects edit
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
- Books › Entertainment › Humor › Satire
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Metaphysical
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Comic
- Books › Religion & Spirituality
- Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States
- Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction
Popular Tags
Links to Supplemental Material edit
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