My life is undergoing some major changes right now—in my family, in my relationships, in my plans for school and moving. I’m finished with fall semester this week and I’ve decided to take the last bit of the year and do some serious thinking/evaluating with as few distractions as possible.
See you all on January 1!
Nov 16, 01:24PM PST | 0 comments
As a glimpse into Stalinist Russia, this book is fascinating. It follows the lives of MGB agents and their families, the layers of paranoia and secrecy that surround them and the way they rationalize that terror in their everyday lives.
As a serial killer mystery, it starts out gripping and then becomes disjointed and unconvincing. It actually comprises surprisingly little of the book.
The author is much more interested in the portrayal of Stalin’s Russia than in the mystery, and it shows. The result is a very uneven book that ends abruptly and disappointingly. But the characters were so interesting that I still don’t regret reading it—I just wish it had done more with itself.
Nov 10, 07:44PM PST | 1 cheer | 0 comments
Oct 28, 01:04PM PDT | 2 cheers | 0 comments