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meganclements's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kanejim57's review against another edition
5.0
"I mourned now because when she had been alive I had not understood her. To the end she frustrated my understanding, defied it with her own silences, her suppressions and elisions. Not about her past in the camps, per se... No what I blamed her for was another kind of silence. What I could not abide was her unwillingness to condemn the very system that had destroyed our family... Only now did I allow myself to consider the alternate explanation: that her muteness was not the submissiveness of a slave but the silence of an accessory." Julian Brink
Sana Krasikov's The Patriots (Spiegel & Grau, 2017) is a tremendous piece of historical fiction that covers both the breath of mid to late 20th century history from Brooklyn to Moscow to Siberia and back; the depths of human love, betrayal, idealism, despair, and hope, and ties these two threads together in an unforgettable way through the life and choices of Florence Fein, an American who goes to Russia in 1934 and who embraces the socialist vision of Russian society but at a great cost to her and her family.
It has been a while since I have encountered a character as complex as Fein. But this complexity (which is really in all of us) is woven together by Krasikov's ability to evoke both sympathy and disgust for Fein throughout the novel. For example, we can sympathize with Florence as she is relentlessly interviewed by NKVD (The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) officers and feel the tension within Fein as she attempts to walk a fine line between betrayal of friends to satisfy the state police and her desire to stay free and even return to the US. Equally, we can be disgusted with her work on a captured American pilot shot down during the Korean War in a way that keeps her from returning to the labor camp she had been sent to for crimes against the people while trying to turn him.
Written in a wonderfully engaging alternating narrative style between the past and the recent present, between pre-cold war, cold war, and post-cold war Russia and America, The Patriots is a work of fiction that chronicles not just human life in a particular place and time but in all of place and time. It is a novel which brings out the complexity of humankind and the challenges in making choices the consequences of which are not clearly known until later, if known at all.
I liked this novel for its characters, its complexity of both character and plot, and a richness that Krasikov weaves together in a way that I have not read in a while.
A great novel for classes studying 20th century Russian, American, and even world history as well as for contemporary fiction.
I gave this novel a 5 Star rating on Goodreads.
Note: I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Amazon Vine in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.
Sana Krasikov's The Patriots (Spiegel & Grau, 2017) is a tremendous piece of historical fiction that covers both the breath of mid to late 20th century history from Brooklyn to Moscow to Siberia and back; the depths of human love, betrayal, idealism, despair, and hope, and ties these two threads together in an unforgettable way through the life and choices of Florence Fein, an American who goes to Russia in 1934 and who embraces the socialist vision of Russian society but at a great cost to her and her family.
It has been a while since I have encountered a character as complex as Fein. But this complexity (which is really in all of us) is woven together by Krasikov's ability to evoke both sympathy and disgust for Fein throughout the novel. For example, we can sympathize with Florence as she is relentlessly interviewed by NKVD (The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) officers and feel the tension within Fein as she attempts to walk a fine line between betrayal of friends to satisfy the state police and her desire to stay free and even return to the US. Equally, we can be disgusted with her work on a captured American pilot shot down during the Korean War in a way that keeps her from returning to the labor camp she had been sent to for crimes against the people while trying to turn him.
Written in a wonderfully engaging alternating narrative style between the past and the recent present, between pre-cold war, cold war, and post-cold war Russia and America, The Patriots is a work of fiction that chronicles not just human life in a particular place and time but in all of place and time. It is a novel which brings out the complexity of humankind and the challenges in making choices the consequences of which are not clearly known until later, if known at all.
I liked this novel for its characters, its complexity of both character and plot, and a richness that Krasikov weaves together in a way that I have not read in a while.
A great novel for classes studying 20th century Russian, American, and even world history as well as for contemporary fiction.
I gave this novel a 5 Star rating on Goodreads.
Note: I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Amazon Vine in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.
kkegley's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
layton93's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
booklovinalicia's review against another edition
4.0
I felt Krasikov did an amazing job showing the both the immediate and long term aftermath that a single decision can make. It is amazing to be able to look at a family and see the different mind sets between generations based on the society a person grows up in and how they are raised.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read and give my honest review.
Read my full review of this and other books at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read and give my honest review.
Read my full review of this and other books at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com
ellenvroth's review against another edition
2.0
I really really wanted to enjoy this book, but I just couldn’t. I ended up finishing it out of obligation rather enjoyment. The story itself has an interesting premise, but I found the storytelling to be quite lacking.
Krasikov often gets so hung up on minor details that the major plot is lost. I think three generations was one (maybe even two) too many. There is so much to keep with up, it is hard to keep interest in the novel.
On another level, my personal lack of knowledge regarding Russian language and culture made it difficult for me to keep up with the characters, and at times even the plot. This sense of confusion made reading this book seem even more like a chore.
Ultimately, the story did increase my knowledge of Russian history, and for that I am grateful. However, if a friend asked me for a recommendation, I would turn them to a text book before handing them The Patriots.
Krasikov often gets so hung up on minor details that the major plot is lost. I think three generations was one (maybe even two) too many. There is so much to keep with up, it is hard to keep interest in the novel.
On another level, my personal lack of knowledge regarding Russian language and culture made it difficult for me to keep up with the characters, and at times even the plot. This sense of confusion made reading this book seem even more like a chore.
Ultimately, the story did increase my knowledge of Russian history, and for that I am grateful. However, if a friend asked me for a recommendation, I would turn them to a text book before handing them The Patriots.
sjgrodsky's review against another edition
4.0
Raced through this one to prep for a book club discussion.
That said, I might have given up on this time about one quarter through without the incentive of a discussion. It's too big, it's too long, there are too many detours and subplots.
The only character I was interested in was Florence. Julian? Meh. An all right guy, but the subplot relating to his employer's choice of a subcontractor was just. too. long. I did get the parallel: Florence is a good talker and a good manipulator, thus she survives her prison sentence. Julian, his mother's son, is an equally good talker and manipulator. His victory is to get his favored company chosen as subcontractor, and assurance that his son's career will brighten.
The subplot involving Florence's grandson, Lenny, is even more dreary. The visit to the dacha was like enduring a party that lacks a single interesting guest.
Krasikov did make her point however: that Russia is a treacherous society where:
You can trust no one. Well, probably your husband and son. But definitely not your best friend.
You can spends days, weeks, years, waiting for an arrest that is fairly certain to come. But you can't leave and can't dodge.
You yourself might be threatened or tortured into betraying your loved ones.
My strongest takeaway: be friendly with the Russians I see in the lobby or pool. But remember what they have been through.
That said, I might have given up on this time about one quarter through without the incentive of a discussion. It's too big, it's too long, there are too many detours and subplots.
The only character I was interested in was Florence. Julian? Meh. An all right guy, but the subplot relating to his employer's choice of a subcontractor was just. too. long. I did get the parallel: Florence is a good talker and a good manipulator, thus she survives her prison sentence. Julian, his mother's son, is an equally good talker and manipulator. His victory is to get his favored company chosen as subcontractor, and assurance that his son's career will brighten.
The subplot involving Florence's grandson, Lenny, is even more dreary. The visit to the dacha was like enduring a party that lacks a single interesting guest.
Krasikov did make her point however: that Russia is a treacherous society where:
You can trust no one. Well, probably your husband and son. But definitely not your best friend.
You can spends days, weeks, years, waiting for an arrest that is fairly certain to come. But you can't leave and can't dodge.
You yourself might be threatened or tortured into betraying your loved ones.
My strongest takeaway: be friendly with the Russians I see in the lobby or pool. But remember what they have been through.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
This was a wild ride of a book. Krasikov tells the story of Florence, a young Jewish woman coming of age in Brooklyn and feeling stifled by the life expected of her. It's the height of the Depression and she's outraged at both the stark inequality she sees around her and the lack of opportunities for women. She gets a job with a firm connecting the Soviets with American companies and meets a Soviet engineer and after his return to the USSR, she sets out in 1934 to join him.
She's not the only American emigrating eastward at the worst possible time. And when she arrives, she finds the Soviet Union less open and free than it had presented itself. But Florence has grit and stubbornness and she makes a life for herself, marrying and having a son, before being arrested and sent to the Gulag.
None of that is a spoiler as there's a second story being told concurrently; that of her son, a man with an adult son who emigrated to the US in his teens and is now working with an American oil company, seeking to take advantage of the newly open Russian economy. But Russia in 2008 isn't a safe place to do business, and Julian is also tasked by his wife with bringing their son home from Russia, where he went to take advantage of the new business opportunities there.
Florence's story is impossible to walk away from. I couldn't stop reading about this idealistic and stubborn woman who was negotiating her way through a dangerous world. She was a very real character living through the most interesting of times. Julian's story, which begins as he is a child surviving in a Soviet orphanage, started well, but eventually it couldn't keep pace with Florence's story. As her situation became more and more perilous, Julian's became the safe world of a comfortably-off American executive. The story of doing business in Putin's Russia was interesting, but it couldn't compete. And, like in so many novels in which a modern story brackets the historical one, one story became a drag on the other.
I did love this book. Krasikov was born in Ukraine and was raised in Georgia, so her depiction of the people and environment were starkly vivid. I will certainly be watching for her next book to be released.
She's not the only American emigrating eastward at the worst possible time. And when she arrives, she finds the Soviet Union less open and free than it had presented itself. But Florence has grit and stubbornness and she makes a life for herself, marrying and having a son, before being arrested and sent to the Gulag.
None of that is a spoiler as there's a second story being told concurrently; that of her son, a man with an adult son who emigrated to the US in his teens and is now working with an American oil company, seeking to take advantage of the newly open Russian economy. But Russia in 2008 isn't a safe place to do business, and Julian is also tasked by his wife with bringing their son home from Russia, where he went to take advantage of the new business opportunities there.
Florence's story is impossible to walk away from. I couldn't stop reading about this idealistic and stubborn woman who was negotiating her way through a dangerous world. She was a very real character living through the most interesting of times. Julian's story, which begins as he is a child surviving in a Soviet orphanage, started well, but eventually it couldn't keep pace with Florence's story. As her situation became more and more perilous, Julian's became the safe world of a comfortably-off American executive. The story of doing business in Putin's Russia was interesting, but it couldn't compete. And, like in so many novels in which a modern story brackets the historical one, one story became a drag on the other.
I did love this book. Krasikov was born in Ukraine and was raised in Georgia, so her depiction of the people and environment were starkly vivid. I will certainly be watching for her next book to be released.
lindseysparks's review against another edition
1.0
All telling and no showing. This has a lot of elements I like - Russian history, multigenerational, various eras and narrators. I only got through about 100 pages before concluding that I didn't care what happened next and was too annoyed by the writing to continue.
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
This is a work of multi generational historical fiction. It starts in the United States during the 1930s, in the depths of Depression. Florence is a starry eyed idealist who believes that the Soviet Union is a socialist utopia, while the US is a country of decadent capitalism. She emigrates to the USSR in 1934. She is soon disappointed, but pride prevents her from going back to the US. She believes that she can make the world better by staying in the USSR.
She is forced to become an informer by the NKVD(Soviet secret police). This story moves back and forth between her son, Yulik/Julian, herself and her grandson, Lenny. The story moves between 1930s USSR and present day Russia.
Some characters who interact with them:
Henry Robbins, a US Air Force pilot in the same labor camp as Florence
Sidney, Florence's brother
Essie, a friend of Florence from the ship journey to the USSR in 1934
Timur Kachak, commander of 150 labor camps in Perm, Siberia
Some quotes:
Release of thousands of USSR political prisoners--"Entire forests of people felled, bound and piled and now cast adrift into the rising water."
Yulik, talking about his time in orphanages--"Whenever I tell anyone that I spent ages six to thirteen, inside of public orphanages, they tend to arrange their face in a reaction I call the Purple Heart Ceremony."
The process of arresting and convicting political prisoners--"The prison cells were only the first stage of an operation whose ultimate aim was the harvesting and replenishment of slave labor."
There is sadness and a measure of redemption in this book. It is quite long, but reads well, once you are about 50 pages in. I read it in seven days. I recommend it to historical fiction fans.
I give 4 out 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book.
She is forced to become an informer by the NKVD(Soviet secret police). This story moves back and forth between her son, Yulik/Julian, herself and her grandson, Lenny. The story moves between 1930s USSR and present day Russia.
Some characters who interact with them:
Henry Robbins, a US Air Force pilot in the same labor camp as Florence
Sidney, Florence's brother
Essie, a friend of Florence from the ship journey to the USSR in 1934
Timur Kachak, commander of 150 labor camps in Perm, Siberia
Some quotes:
Release of thousands of USSR political prisoners--"Entire forests of people felled, bound and piled and now cast adrift into the rising water."
Yulik, talking about his time in orphanages--"Whenever I tell anyone that I spent ages six to thirteen, inside of public orphanages, they tend to arrange their face in a reaction I call the Purple Heart Ceremony."
The process of arresting and convicting political prisoners--"The prison cells were only the first stage of an operation whose ultimate aim was the harvesting and replenishment of slave labor."
There is sadness and a measure of redemption in this book. It is quite long, but reads well, once you are about 50 pages in. I read it in seven days. I recommend it to historical fiction fans.
I give 4 out 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book.