bengriffin's reviews
2677 reviews

Like all the best Eastern European literature this manages to combine moments of disgust, horror, and the scatological with lyrical beauty, sadness, humour, and tenderness. To do so in 400 pages would be impressive, to manage it in less than 100 is ridiculous.

Oddly lyrical and staccato at the same time, I wasn't sure if I was going to get into this at first but I found the brevity to be pretty powerful by the end with the measured text and pauses giving plenty of time for images to form. Perhaps this is why so many people don't seem to have liked it very much, but I found it bleak, elegant and impressive.

Pure entertainment. You can tell Benioff is primarily a screenwriter because the book is highly cinematic and flows effortlessly along. It may wrap up a little too nicely but the Russian setting is really refreshing considering a lot of World War II stories neglect that area. It's definitely made me want to read more about the siege of Leningrad. The characters are likable, there's action aplenty, and it has a healthy mix of horror, humour,and gravitas. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I was initially quietly gripped by the boyhood adventure against the backdrop of war, but even though it's only short and has large print, I felt like I ran out of steam about halfway through. I imagine I missed a lot of the nuance having not read the other books in the trilogy and I got the impression studying them would make them a lot more rewarding. Despite meandering a bit too much, the ending and final lines resonate nicely though, and I'm interested in reading the rest of the trilogy.

This was an interesting experiment, and literally impossible to stop reading once I started. Either I wasn't smart enough, or it got too bogged down in parts to be entirely comprehensible, but it made me laugh at various points and was certainly intriguing. A memorably odd read.

Whether this book was more relevant when it was first published 6 years ago I'm not sure, but with the exception of a few areas, it seems to state what is obvious to most people in this day and age. I was expecting more focus on the science of lying and studies and experiments done in the field, but instead it is mostly wishy washy annecdotes and the author's attempts to be funny. Very disappointing.

I first read this in school when I was about thirteen and the themes and complexities made it excellent for engaging unruly teenagers. Like all great dystopian novels it holds up a dark mirror to our humanity (or lack of it,) drawing attention to our propensity for self destruction, our fear of change and of those who are different, and our self-righteous superiority complex. The ending is unsettling, there are no heroes, and the outlook is bleak (made worse by the facade of hope.) But the novel is a warning, and by drawing attention to our flaws it gives us the potential to recognise and fight them; to break the cycle and achieve something more.

I can always rely on Vonnegut to kickstart my reading again after a bit of a drought as his style is so effortless to read. The story isn't very strong here, more of a tale surrounded by ideas, musings, and biographical snippets. It's less like reading a novel and more like spending time with a wry and wise old companion.