Reviews

Brisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin

angeladobre's review against another edition

2.0

2,5
https://booknation.ro/recenzie-brisbane-de-evgheni-vodolazkin/

marcrosenblum's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Interesting historical moment (end of Soviet era) and interesting characters. Also generally well written. But not super engaging. I was never looking forward to learning what would happen next, and just never connected with the characters much. Someone with a musical background might like it more that I did. 

simoneclark's review against another edition

3.0

Hm, I think this was one of the cases where it was me and not the book. The writing/translation was good (I speak Russian but not well enough to read a novel in the language, would have love to, though). I just couldn't get invested in the characters. This time jumping between the two timelines got me confused; that may not even be the right word. My brain wasn't processing the jumps well for some reason. I may reread the book at some other time. Maybe it wasn't the right time for me and the book. But what I found fascinating was the timing of the book release since it nicely describes the difference between the Russian and the Ukrainian mentality/culture. While this is a work of fiction, I believe that if this is something that interests you, this book is a great start.

Thank you, Netgalley and the author/publisher, for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

sarapalooza's review against another edition

4.0

Vodolazkin is such a masterful writer. He effortlessly weaves together two different views of the same narrative. Simply artful. Gleb, Katya, Vera, Anna… memorable characters facing the big questions of life. The role the title location plays in the story is profound.

minniepauline's review against another edition

4.0

Thank you, Plough, for sending me a copy of this remarkable book. There is a lot to unpack here, and I'll be thinking about Gleb and his story for quite a while.

Gleb Yanovsky is a world-renown musician. Raised in Ukraine by a Russian mother and grandmother and a mostly absentee Ukranian father, he leaves for college in Soviet Russia where he meets his wife, Katya - an East German citizen. The novel follows Gleb from the time he is a small boy to the end of his music career at age 50, when he is diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease. It is told mostly in Gleb's voice, but we are reading his biography, which is being written during the course of the novel, by a Russian writer he meets on a plane.

The weaving of political and ideological history with personal story is interesting in itself. But what fascinated me most about Gleb is the way he sees the world. Which is, and always has been, through music. Even when he thinks he's given it up, it's hardwired in him. Through rhythm, through melody, through the layering of voices and the movement of water. He hears it all and it speaks to him, and through him to us as readers.

This is not a book to rush through. It is to be savored, as I imagine Gleb's music, if it existed, would be.

msgtdameron's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Remember the song Ska8ter Boy by Avril Lavigne?  This work tells of one possible outcome for the Ska8ter Boy, called Gleb, the ballerina is called Anna and in this story plays the viola, the one who stays with Gleb is Katya.  Anna is Glebs first sexual experience, he falls madly in love, but she leaves for Moscow the next day.  When Gleb does get her address, from one of the music conservatory instructors, Gleb jumps on a train to Moscow from Kyiv, can't sleep, arrives around 0500, waits in the Moscow  station until 0600, temperature in Moscow is -20 C it's February, walks to Anna's apartment, meets her on the stairs, she dumps him, she forgets her viola as she kiss's her new boyfriend, Moscow Spartic fan (?) Junior (?), Spartic guy comes back for Anna's viola, Gleb tells him Anna is a slut, Spartic Guy levels Gleb, one punch, Gleb returns to Kyiv and is sick for two weeks.  While in Pitor Gleb meets Katya, they fall in love and marry.  The rest of the work takes Glebs life from growing up in Kyiv and all the musical work he does with the guitar; at the same time Vodolazkin runs the later half of Glebs life as a biography being written by Nestor, a writer Gleb meets on a plane.  The construction is one chapter about Glebs early life one about what is happening latter.  In both lives, early and later there is death.  Death is going on through out the work.  Maybe not death of a person, but death of a relationship, death of a stranger, and lastly death of Glebs career.  We learn early in the book that Gleb has Parkinson's, but it is in the now section so he has the money, friends and connections to help him with the loss of his career.  There is a lot of loss in this work and as I am working on loss and grief with my fathers passing and burial I really connected with that theme.  If you are dealing with loss, and are tired of your shrink, group, books on grieving or are a musician dealing with or thinking about the end of your career, this one is well worth the read.  The work is well done and if you don't fit either category it is still a great read.  One last thing, the title, Brisbane, the whole work takes place in Europe, Brisbane is the characters Shangri la.  It is an imaginary place that does not actually exist except in Gleb and his family members dreams and thoughts. 

librarygirlreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

epictetsocrate's review against another edition

4.0

Cântând la Olympia, la Paris, nu pot executa un tremolo. Mai exact, cânt, dar fără fineţe, fără acurateţe – cum fac chitariştii începători care produc o gâlgâială surdă în loc de note. Nimeni nu
observă nimic, şi Olympia se dezlănţuie în ovaţii. Îmi uit până şi eu rateul, dar, după ce mă urc în limuzină în aclamaţiile admiratorilor, îmi surprind degetele mişcându-se în felul cunoscut. Mâna dreaptă, răscumpărând parcă greşeala comisă, execută acum un tremolo inutil. Degetele mi se mişcă incredibil de repede. Ating corzi imaginare. Ca foarfeca frizerului: după ce se desprinde pentru o
clipă de păr, continuă să tundă – aerul. În timp ce mă apropii de aeroportul Charles de Gaulle, bat în geam melodia prost interpretată: nimic complicat. Cum de m-am poticnit în concert?