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The Russian Dreambook Of Color And Flight (2010)

by Gina Ochsner(Favorite Author)

3.34 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0618563733 (ISBN13: 9780618563739)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

review 1: I enjoyed this charming, darkly comic, and magic realist book about post-USSR Russia. The characters are lovable (well, most of them are), and Ochsner shows how even in a world of poverty and rubbish heaps, where survival itself is a kind of miracle, the human heart still has the wherewithal to create beauty, to dream, and to fall in love. I was bothered, however, by two things. The author seems to be writing about Russia from an American perspective--blind spots and all, and some things were inconsistent. For example, the character of Tanya struggles to lose weight so that she can secure a position as an airline stewardess, but she constantly eats chocolates and ice cream in a world where everything, including toilet paper and other basic necessities are sc... morearce.
review 2: Wow! What a bleak tale this is! I don't know where the line is between what is plausible for the setting (crumbling apartment building, post-Soviet, perhaps near Siberia) and what is the dark side of magical realism. I'm not sure that line matters. The characters, the setting, and the happenings are so well drawn it will depress the crap out of you. At the same time, you can't quite let it go. As bleak as it is (and who knew I'd have to think about the distinction between dark and bleak for this), it is somehow not without hope. I'm glad I did not give in to the temptation to run from the bleak vision. This is one terrific book! less

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