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micaelabrody's review against another edition
5.0
Funny, sweet, melancholy, unique, touching, surprising. This is one of the $1 purchases for the ages. I loved this even through the parts that were frustrating, which are so minor as to not be listed here. The plot moved quickly, from Asbestos 2 to Phoenix to the search and subsequent location of her father, and it was tough to put down at times. I fell in love with Sasha, who is so unlikeable at times, and yet I rooted for her the whole way through. This is at once a wholly unique story and something universal: the stranger in a strange land. I am not black nor Russian, so I can only speak to the Jewish aspect, but I loved the variety of Jewish characters; no tokens nor stand-ins here.
And as a final note. Not to be That Person (which I say in a lot of these reviews), but this is one of those books that highlights the difference I often find with men and women authors. Having just finished Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys (undoubtedly a good book by most standards, just as Chabon is undoubtedly a talented writer by any standards including my own), I found myself drawn to this book so much more. It's deeply felt and equally honest in its melancholy, its pain, its discomfort, and its humor, and somehow it does this by taking itself less seriously than most books by men I've read this year. Chabon did this later with Kavalier and Clay, but in comparing these two debut novels (and not too far off in terms of publication date either), this one emerges as a winner.
Highly recommend this. I'm glad to pick up any good book for a dollar, but this one really should have been more expensive.
And as a final note. Not to be That Person (which I say in a lot of these reviews), but this is one of those books that highlights the difference I often find with men and women authors. Having just finished Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys (undoubtedly a good book by most standards, just as Chabon is undoubtedly a talented writer by any standards including my own), I found myself drawn to this book so much more. It's deeply felt and equally honest in its melancholy, its pain, its discomfort, and its humor, and somehow it does this by taking itself less seriously than most books by men I've read this year. Chabon did this later with Kavalier and Clay, but in comparing these two debut novels (and not too far off in terms of publication date either), this one emerges as a winner.
Highly recommend this. I'm glad to pick up any good book for a dollar, but this one really should have been more expensive.
tacomaven's review
4.0
I'm trying to read books with different characters and settings than I'm used to and with a black Russian Jew protagonist, this one was in that vein but also felt so relatable on many levels. Her struggles felt pretty real and very American, even though about half of the story takes place in Russia. I loved the barrel people and that whole story. I was a bit distracted at some parts so maybe it was me or maybe it was the pacing.
erinbottger's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and the leading character, one Sasha Goldberg, who begins life in the inauspicious village of Abestos 2 in Siberia. Her father Victor, child of a fleeting African-Russian union, is adopted by a Jewish couple, thus becoming a "Goldberg", honorary Jew.
Her mother Lubov, a local librarian is anxious about her 10-year-old daughter, especially after her husband leaves her to move to America. Lubov enrolls Sasha at 14 in a local after-school art program where she connects to a friend, Katia. The basement studio is ramshackled with an odd assortment of misfits- both teachers and students, but it helps Sasha escape from her otherwise painful life at home and school. She hooks up with Katia's dropout brother, Alexy, and at 16 delivers his baby girl, Nadia (Hope).
Sasha begins to think about her future and her mother urges her to go to Art School in Moscow while she will raise the baby back home. Once in Moscow, Sasha quickly loses interest in an art career and ends up with a matrimonial agency for Russian Brides (though she is only 16, claiming she is 18). A middle-aged American from Phoenix, Neal, brings her home on a fiance visa, but she both is bored and lonely. In ESL class she teams up with Marina, another exile from Russia, awaiting visa renewal with her Jewish family. After a year with Neal, Sasha reclaims her Russian passport and walks away, taking the Greyhound to Chicago to Marina's relatives.
In Chicago, she winds up in a bizarre situation, a "captive" of a wealthy Jewish matron, her personal pet project and assistant housecleaner. Luckily, the handicapped son, Jake, of Mrs. Tarakan ("cockroach" in Russian) helps Sasha locate her father in New York and buys her an airline ticket so she can escape once more.
I won't describe the final chapters as Sasha finds her father (who has re-married and has a young son), she starts a business, visits her mother and daughter in Siberia, and finds her true love. Through it all, Sasha keeps maturing and dealing with both American and Soviet reality and Ulinich keeps us laughing and reading.
Anya Ulinich has a great gift for drawing characters which are flawed, but oh-so-human, and most of them likable. At the same time, her descriptions capture a sense of place so well.
In Siberia: "The bus made a circle and drove away, enveloping Sasha and her pineapple earrings in a cloud of diesel exhaust. Because it was Sunday, the tobacco kiosk at the end of the road was shuttered. Sasha thought she could hear insects buzz, but then she saw power lines above the trees and remembered that it was too early in the year for bugs. The forest in front of her was still leafless but already faintly green, like a tinted black-and white photo"
In Phoenix: "The white carcass of an old ice cream truck seems to have sprouted in a garbage-strewn field of Bermuda grass. Sasha and Marina use it for shade. Through the truck's shattered windows, Sasha can see the flat rooftops and the adobe walls of Marina's apartment complex, the Palisades.
The Palisades used to be a motel. A large wooden sign, PALISADES MOTEL VACANCY, still stands near its driveway, with MOTEL VACANCY painted over. The rest of the Palisades landscaping consists of a kidney-shaped swimming pool filled with dirt, an artistically placed boulder, two palm trees, and a broken soda machine, and at dusk meaty brown water bugs exit its bottom in pairs and promenade by the pool."
As someone who lived in Moscow for 23 years, I can easily understand and believe the Russian/Soviet characters and, especially, how they behave and survive once they land in America. As an American, I can also believe and understand the Americans that populate this novel. In some ways, it's a clash of cultures; in other ways, it's an awkward fusing of lifestyles and expectations.
Though "Petropolis" has much entertainment value, I believe it more deeply explores themes of friendship and parent-child relationships. This, on top of, Sasha's adaptation and seizing opportunities leads to a most satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.
Her mother Lubov, a local librarian is anxious about her 10-year-old daughter, especially after her husband leaves her to move to America. Lubov enrolls Sasha at 14 in a local after-school art program where she connects to a friend, Katia. The basement studio is ramshackled with an odd assortment of misfits- both teachers and students, but it helps Sasha escape from her otherwise painful life at home and school. She hooks up with Katia's dropout brother, Alexy, and at 16 delivers his baby girl, Nadia (Hope).
Sasha begins to think about her future and her mother urges her to go to Art School in Moscow while she will raise the baby back home. Once in Moscow, Sasha quickly loses interest in an art career and ends up with a matrimonial agency for Russian Brides (though she is only 16, claiming she is 18). A middle-aged American from Phoenix, Neal, brings her home on a fiance visa, but she both is bored and lonely. In ESL class she teams up with Marina, another exile from Russia, awaiting visa renewal with her Jewish family. After a year with Neal, Sasha reclaims her Russian passport and walks away, taking the Greyhound to Chicago to Marina's relatives.
In Chicago, she winds up in a bizarre situation, a "captive" of a wealthy Jewish matron, her personal pet project and assistant housecleaner. Luckily, the handicapped son, Jake, of Mrs. Tarakan ("cockroach" in Russian) helps Sasha locate her father in New York and buys her an airline ticket so she can escape once more.
I won't describe the final chapters as Sasha finds her father (who has re-married and has a young son), she starts a business, visits her mother and daughter in Siberia, and finds her true love. Through it all, Sasha keeps maturing and dealing with both American and Soviet reality and Ulinich keeps us laughing and reading.
Anya Ulinich has a great gift for drawing characters which are flawed, but oh-so-human, and most of them likable. At the same time, her descriptions capture a sense of place so well.
In Siberia: "The bus made a circle and drove away, enveloping Sasha and her pineapple earrings in a cloud of diesel exhaust. Because it was Sunday, the tobacco kiosk at the end of the road was shuttered. Sasha thought she could hear insects buzz, but then she saw power lines above the trees and remembered that it was too early in the year for bugs. The forest in front of her was still leafless but already faintly green, like a tinted black-and white photo"
In Phoenix: "The white carcass of an old ice cream truck seems to have sprouted in a garbage-strewn field of Bermuda grass. Sasha and Marina use it for shade. Through the truck's shattered windows, Sasha can see the flat rooftops and the adobe walls of Marina's apartment complex, the Palisades.
The Palisades used to be a motel. A large wooden sign, PALISADES MOTEL VACANCY, still stands near its driveway, with MOTEL VACANCY painted over. The rest of the Palisades landscaping consists of a kidney-shaped swimming pool filled with dirt, an artistically placed boulder, two palm trees, and a broken soda machine, and at dusk meaty brown water bugs exit its bottom in pairs and promenade by the pool."
As someone who lived in Moscow for 23 years, I can easily understand and believe the Russian/Soviet characters and, especially, how they behave and survive once they land in America. As an American, I can also believe and understand the Americans that populate this novel. In some ways, it's a clash of cultures; in other ways, it's an awkward fusing of lifestyles and expectations.
Though "Petropolis" has much entertainment value, I believe it more deeply explores themes of friendship and parent-child relationships. This, on top of, Sasha's adaptation and seizing opportunities leads to a most satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.
ninkadp's review
5.0
I loved this book, and not just for the Russian-ness of it and the fact that they mentioned Krasnoyarsk twice. It was so much more than the description on the back had me expecting.
anndouglas's review
4.0
What attracted me to this novel was its similarity to Super Sad True Love Story
by Gary Shteyngart, a dystopian novel that also happens to be quite hilarious. But it is important for any potential read to know upfront that they're not about to experience something quite as wacky as Super Sad True Love Story.
That said, Ulinich's novel makes for a highly compelling read. It is quirky and the momentum is continuous. The plot takes you from location to location (and bizarre situation after bizarre situation). But it's not a funny novel (although it is entertaining and highly imaginative). Still, while it wasn't quite what I was expecting, I stayed up far too late reading the book on a number of occasions (my test of how much I enjoyed a particular book).
by Gary Shteyngart, a dystopian novel that also happens to be quite hilarious. But it is important for any potential read to know upfront that they're not about to experience something quite as wacky as Super Sad True Love Story.
That said, Ulinich's novel makes for a highly compelling read. It is quirky and the momentum is continuous. The plot takes you from location to location (and bizarre situation after bizarre situation). But it's not a funny novel (although it is entertaining and highly imaginative). Still, while it wasn't quite what I was expecting, I stayed up far too late reading the book on a number of occasions (my test of how much I enjoyed a particular book).
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