Reviews

The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight by Gina Ochsner

beth_diiorio's review against another edition

4.0

I greatly enjoyed this book...certainly held my interest with interesting plots and characters...however the ending felt a bit abrupt.

constancemn's review against another edition

3.0

Very stereotypically Russian literature. A little absurdism, a little aestheticism, a little post-imperialism. I'm not really sure how to describe it--the general plot is about a group of people who live in a block of generally dismal apartments, and some of them work at an art museum. The art museum doesn't have any original art--only reproductions of some pretty strange things from other art museums. The staff is vying for a grant from a group of misguided American philanthropists. There are also a couple of translators for the local party-voice paper, some veterans, some pay-toilet attendants, some emo kids and some dead people.

jenniferavignon's review

dark funny reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

gwenbuchanan's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Antisemitism, and Rape

smarvelous's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

weaver's review

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

mavenbooks's review against another edition

3.0

It started off nicely at first, and I was interested to see what would happen, especially to Tanya, Olga, and Yuri. The other characters were more abrasive, and didn't seem to offer as much, but I continued.

Unfortunately, the book sort of started to drag, and it just didn't feel like the story was strong enough. Towards the very end, the writing was rather tedious, with lots of pseudo-philosophical conversations that were just meaningless filler.

maimy_santiago99's review against another edition

3.0

I got this as an ARC from Goodreads.com An interesting debut novel. somewhat rambly. I love the matter of fact acceptance that Mircha is still hanging around after his death, found the ending to be a bit pat and too easy (two characters just go away off stage, never to be seen again) and while I enjoyed it, I won't be pressing it upon friends insisting they read it. Good, not great.

sophronisba's review

4.0

Really more like 3 1/2 stars. There were some really nicely written passages, and I liked the milieu. On the other hand, it made my eyes glaze over more than once, and some of the characters never quite came alive for me.

abookishaffair's review against another edition

4.0

I won this book through Goodreads and was anxious to get started on reading it. This book tells the story of several residents in a very run down apartment building before the fall of the Soviet Union (exact time is never really stated). The residents of the apartment building deal with the ills of Soviet Russia (and the strange appearance of the sort of zombie ghost of a former resident).

I was intrigued by the characters in the story. They were all very interesting but I almost wish that Ochsner would have focused on less characters so that you got to know a few of the more interesting characters a little more (Tanya and Yuri especially).