February 24, 2009 By Grigory Pasko

Grigory Pasko: The School of Kreativ

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The loud advertising posts for this book scream out that before us is not just any book, but – «a paper virus of sorts, which takes possession of the mind and expands the boundaries for the realization of creative possibilities. Here are presented creative schemes that all who desire will be able to use!»

In actuality, there aren’t any schemes in the book (and where would authors who haven’t even fully mastered the language get them, anyway?). And as for all that business about a «virus which takes possession of the mind», it’s a bit overstated as well: only if the reader didn’t have a mind to begin with.

There’s even a website of the «warriors of kreativ» (I am purposely not providing a link here, so as not to disseminate spam). The website has information about how there exist certain Schools of Kreativ [This completely foreign word has only recently appeared in Russian. It sounds very cutting-edge and hip, and as is so often the case, it has acquired a uniquely Russian meaning, mysteriously becoming a noun and being used in ways that are rather unorthodox and, well, kreativ!–Trans.].