An unusual tale with an unusual choice of protagonist. Original and well written, this debut suggests there are great things to look forward to from Ms Grushin. Sukhanov is a prosperous art critic who has made his fortune and reputation by savaging Western art in the Soviet magazine he edits. Having successfully repressed his memories of his wild youth as a surrealist painter, following the very movement he has subsequently derided, a chance sequence of events triggers memories of his old life with disasterous consequences.
Sukhanov is a character that I started out disliking but ended up truly feeling sympathy for. His rapid descent from greatness is generally plausibly and heartbreakingly written. The other characters are rather more ambiguous and sketchy, and it would have been nicer to see more of them, but this was in keeping with Sukhanov's short sighted view of his world and the people in it.
Generally the writing is good though at times my attention wandered. The only really annoying feature was the sudden changes from third into first person when Sukhanov was having his flashbacks. This didn't seem to serve any literary purpose and left me wondering if this was intentional or the relic of an original, long discarded idea to write the novel in the first person.
On the whole though, Grushin can be applauded for making a novel in which the events are all more or less everyday, so interesting, gripping and sad. The innovative take on events, with the increasing blurring of past and present, lifted an otherwise fairly ordinary story into a higher league. A promising writer, and I will await her next novel with interest
Outlawed canvasses (Rating 4 of 5)
» Dr. Cath L. Murphy
It's 1985 and Soviet Russia is just about to hit its long overdue mid-life crisis. So is Anatoly Sukhanov, ex-surrealist painter turned government approved art critic and son-in-law to the regime's favourite artist, Pyotr Alekseevitvh Malinin, a man who has made his reputation by painting sturdy peasant women gathering in the harvest and heroic young men holding banners decorated with the hammer and sickle.
Sukhanov's not a bad bloke - his major crime in life has been selling out his art in order to provide a decent standard of living for his wife and kids, a situation many of us with creative dreams have to face. The problem is that poor old Anatoly starts to experience horrible dreams and fantasies that force him to confront the reality of the talent he has wasted. Crueller still, these fantasies mimic those paintings that he has condemned as "corrupt" and "un-Russian" in his position as editor-in-chief- of "Art of the World", Russia's leading art magazine.
This is a compact and effective little book in the expanding "post iron curtain" genre, which uses its main character to explore the effect of repression on the creative arts. The writing is controlled enough to keep the dream and waking-nightmare sequences from descending into Lovecraft, an ever present danger and Grushin manages the transition from reality to fantasy deftly. Most impressively, although I think she's writing in English (I can't find a translation credit) the prose has a touch of Tolstoy's lyricism. It's a little too one-note and predictable to deserve the usual hype plastered on the cover, but it's a great start and I look forward to seeing how this writer develops
Very good read (Rating 4 of 5)
» U Budgerigar
This book picks out really well different reactions, choices and outcomes to living in the USSR, even if not in the most draconian times. Wouldn't we all take the line of least resistance??? Sukhanov does just that but it costs him perhaps more than the huge losses suffered by his friend Belkin, who takes a different, less pragmatic, approach. Peristroika brings all this to the fore.
Very readable, poignant, sad, funny. I enjoyed reading it whilst also reading again about the history and break up of the USSR
Multi layered - Fabulous read. Great for a Book Group (Rating 5 of 5)
» Julia
This book has been the most successful one at my book group, we couldn't stop discussing it despite the fact everyone enjoyed it and some of us raved about it (usually you need widely varying views for a good discussion). We talked about the way the story unfolded with the time shifting, characterisation, snapshot of a fascinating time in history, discussion of madness, role of art, relationships, human failings, genius as a curse or blessing etc., I could go on! I don't understand why this book isn't more widely read and known or getting the exposure of e.g. Half of a Yellow Sun. The descriptions are fantastic - particularly the slide into madness. Read it!
Fantastic debut (Rating 4 of 5)
» James
As a first work, this novel is an astonishing achievement, showing a remarkable maturity in a writer so new to the scene. Combining, as it does, a fascinating context with characterisation of fine psychological insight, would perhaps be sufficient cause to recommend it. But the novel's crowning achievement is to find a consistent, somewhat oblique narrative voice, which owes much to a certain genre in Russian literature, but is at the same time original and provident of a fascinating perspective. The pace is slow and measured, but we are constantly gripped by Sukhanov's retrospective journey towards the discovery of himself. Thoroughly recommended, and I think beyond much negative criticism, I give this a high four star rating (and I think I'm meaner than many reviewers). I will definitely be on the lookout for more work from Grushin
(Rating 4 of 5)
(Rating 5 of 5)
