Zlatno tele

The story takes place in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s, during the NEP and the beginning of the five-year plan, when old Russia was mixing with new socialist dreams. Ostap Bender, who survived in the first novel (although he did not receive millions), now sets his sights on a new target: the secret treasury of businessman Alexander Koreiko, one of the rare Soviet millionaires who made his fortune through smuggling, bribery and manipulation, and lives modestly as an ordinary accountant. Bender gathers a team of "lieutenant's sons" - a motley crew of swindlers, dreamers and opportunists - and sets off on a grand chase across the entire USSR: from Moscow, through Kharkov, over the railways, to the Black Sea and Central Asia.

The novel is full of hilarious episodes: fake film footage, the "Antelope-Gnu" car that becomes a legend, encounters with bureaucrats, journalists, the police and ordinary people. Bender excels with his aphorisms ("Don't bother, I'll tell you the truth - I'm a great schemer!", "The rich are poor people"), ridiculing the corruption, bureaucracy, greed and hypocrisy of the new society. But beneath the humor lies a bitter note: Ostap is a tragic character - a brilliant swindler who dreams of "Rio de Janeiro" (a symbol of freedom and wealth), but realizes that there is no place for an individual like him in the Soviet Union.

Ilf and Petrov write quickly, humorously, with Odessa charm and a keen eye for the absurd - the novel is full of quotations that have entered the language ("How is life on the Riva?", "Your telegram received, but not understood"). It is a satire on Soviet reality, but also a universal comedy about human greed and illusions.