The Russian Investigative Committee decided to examine Grigory Oster’s notebooks after State Duma deputy Maria Butina criticized them. I found out Kommersant newspaper, April 22.
According to the publication, Butina spoke on May 21 at a meeting of the Investigative Committee, during which she presented a report entitled “Destructive content in children’s literature as a risk factor for illegal behavior of minors.” It reported, among other things, that Auster spoke critically about the major war between Russia and Ukraine.
Kommersant newspaper published three slides from Butina’s report – that Auster’s books “destroy the moral foundation of the child”
- The first slide says “A threat to our school shelves” and “Literature – under the guise of humor and education, destroys a child’s moral foundation.”
- The second slide says that Gregory Oster’s books represent a “systemic problem,” as they have thousands of copies in circulation, are in the public domain, and yet, according to Butina, violate the law. The slide is accompanied by the covers of four of Auster’s books: “Bad Advice”, “School of Horrors”, “Physics” and “The Book of Problems”.
- On the third slide there is a section “A time bomb in the souls of children,” and under the title there are three points: “Normalization of death,” “Violence against parents,” and “Abuse of animals.”
Maria Butina did not like the mathematical problem about drowning children and the “choke table.”
At a meeting of the Investigative Committee, Butina cited a problem from the book “The Beloved’s Guide to Mathematics,” saying: “Fourteen children have learned to swim. Three of them cannot swim yet, and two have already drowned. How many children have already learned to swim and have not drowned yet?”
In addition, Butina had complaints about the fairy tale “The Book of Tasty and Healthy Cannibal Food” and the story collection “School of Horrors.” In the second case, I was angry at the story of the “strangulation table,” where “the strangled people multiply.”
Butina also talked about Auster’s most famous book “Bad Advice” – a collection of satirical poems with instructions from the opposite. Butina described the book as a “legitimization of cruelty” and gave one example:
- Hitting frogs with sticks. This is very interesting.
- Rip the wings of the flies and let them run on their feet.
- Practice daily and you will have a good day.
- You will be accepted into a kingdom as the chief executioner.
At the end of her speech, Butina proposed to conduct an unscheduled inspection, remove the books from public access and send the results of the inspection to the Ministry of Education and Roskomnadzor. According to the meeting participants, Butina’s initiative received the support of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee W member Writers’ Union of Russia Alexander Bastrykin.
Investigators from the Central Bureau of the Investigative Committee will study “bad advice” and the “school of horrors”
Kommersant sources reported that on Bastrykin’s instructions, the investigation will be conducted by employees of the Central Office of the Investigative Committee. In particular, they will study the story collection “School of Horrors” and the fairy tale “The Book of Tasty and Healthy Ghoul Food.” TASS previously reported that Bastrykin ordered the “Bad Advice” examination as well.
Usually, during these examinations, various studies or examinations are performed, including psychological and linguistic studies, Kommersant writes. Based on the results of the inspection, the Investigative Committee may initiate a criminal case and transfer the materials to Roskomnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office, which in turn may prohibit or limit the distribution of the work.
Gregory Oster did not comment on the Investigative Committee’s decision to examine his books. The AST publishing house, which cooperates with the writer, as well as the Russian Writers’ Union, have not yet received requests from investigators regarding Auster’s books.
In Russia they have already tried to ban the books of Gregory Oster. In 2024, the Krasnoyarsk Territory Prosecutor’s Office wanted to withdraw his “bad advice” from sale and destroy it. The Public Prosecution considered that the book “depicts descriptions of cruelty, physical and psychological violence, and anti-social acts that cause fear, terror, or panic in children… in an image that degrades human dignity.”
However, the Attorney General’s Office announced that it would not file a lawsuit over “bad advice.” The ministry said at the time: “Speculations about this matter have no basis in reality.”