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[Alexandr Korol]

Everything is the same and repeats in the same way.” And truly, in 2010,
when I officially assembled and published my first book — I didn’t publish it
through a house then, but I made it public, assembled from drafts in 2010 —
I made a video trailer for it for the first time as a presentation. And it’s
so curious that back then there was a surge of attention toward me. It turns
out that in that period of 2010, when I lived in such a house and made a book,
the exact same thing happened in 2018. My book “The Corridor” came out,
I came to present it in St. Petersburg, and people from all over the world
came to St. Petersburg — like the World Cup — people from every country,
and everyone recognized me on the street, on every corner, and I didn’t
understand what was happening at all. It was very unusual.
See how the cycles repeat themselves, just in different covers. And now
I’ve caught myself in another cycle that reminded me that this has already
happened before. Last week, I started feeling as if something was about to
happen. Something terrible. As if a catastrophe was coming. Naturally, using
these words is an exaggeration — I’m literally “embellishing” it now — but
how else can I express the feeling? There was this “residue,” a strange calm,
like the silence before a storm. Plus, I moved to a house outside the city, and
it was highlighted to me that this is a “haven,” a home. And “haven” translates
as a refuge from a coming storm — like a “bunker,” in quotes. Then there’s
this number 144. In the Bible, it appears right before the Last Judgment
begins. And I thought, “Well, that’s it, something is going to happen.” I started
feeling it, thinking it, overthinking things. And then, the most interesting
thing: I have many friends in America, and one from Los Angeles calls me.
We’re exchanging info about where he is and where I am, and he says:

— Listen, the atmosphere of your house is just like in America. It’s as if you’re
in Los Angeles.
— Yes. Truly, there is this feeling, as if I am simply sitting in a villa in California.
The atmosphere is exactly the same.

And first, this happened, plus it was my birthday, so all my friends were
reaching out, and these kinds of dialogues were coming up. I suddenly had
this association that I am as if in Los Angeles — there, in this new place where
I moved at the end of August.