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casparb's review against another edition
Well wouldn't you know it this is really really good. I hope you like Russian history
Stepanova creates something a little hard to define here but we're fans of that I think she takes a lot after Sebald (there is a chapter on Sebald in here but structurally too she's working with him). She calls him the conclusion of 20th century lit on the continuum Proust-Nabokov-Sebald which is rather exciting personally. But that's the way I'd best introduce this one
It's a book that unravels itself structurally as Stepanova unravels and questions her own motives for interrogating her family history, the reality of reality as it is received even intimately among family. The first half of the text is more theoretical but completely approachable one doesn't need any theory background to have a read. But for those interested she's doing the classic pair of Benjamin and Berger and settling them in (deliciously!) with cues from Barthes' Camera Obscura . Fantastic I'm on board. There's a Russian twist to this because that's what Russians are like and she updates the Benjaminian proliferation of images to the last decade (though I would suggest that Berger's prescience is such that this has kind of had the path laid out. Good for her anyway). This section also takes some much-appreciated dives into art history as Berger does in Ways of Seeing which are probably familiar enough though enjoyable and love her on Caravaggio.
Somewhere after halfway things get chaotic. I'm kind of unwilling to describe this here since Stepanova is fantastically organic about the weight of generations unbecoming etc and the way that breathes into the structure of the text. I would say, read it. Foer in Everything is Illuminated . A very strong book one of my favourites lately
Stepanova creates something a little hard to define here but we're fans of that I think she takes a lot after Sebald (there is a chapter on Sebald in here but structurally too she's working with him). She calls him the conclusion of 20th century lit on the continuum Proust-Nabokov-Sebald which is rather exciting personally. But that's the way I'd best introduce this one
It's a book that unravels itself structurally as Stepanova unravels and questions her own motives for interrogating her family history, the reality of reality as it is received even intimately among family. The first half of the text is more theoretical but completely approachable one doesn't need any theory background to have a read. But for those interested she's doing the classic pair of Benjamin and Berger and settling them in (deliciously!) with cues from Barthes' Camera Obscura . Fantastic I'm on board. There's a Russian twist to this because that's what Russians are like and she updates the Benjaminian proliferation of images to the last decade (though I would suggest that Berger's prescience is such that this has kind of had the path laid out. Good for her anyway). This section also takes some much-appreciated dives into art history as Berger does in Ways of Seeing which are probably familiar enough though enjoyable and love her on Caravaggio.
Somewhere after halfway things get chaotic. I'm kind of unwilling to describe this here since Stepanova is fantastically organic about the weight of generations unbecoming etc and the way that breathes into the structure of the text. I would say, read it. Foer in Everything is Illuminated . A very strong book one of my favourites lately
fran_gel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
This book took me so long to read but it was always easy to get back into. It was a reflective piece, some bits I absolutely adored and some bits I found quite tricky to get to. It opened me up to perspectives on memory that I had never even thought about and I loved connecting with the family members and the author’s reflections on them.
A really enjoyable read overall
A really enjoyable read overall
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
3.25
Whilst this started out really strong, a fascinating look at lineage and heritage and how we tell the stories that are both ours and not, unfortunately I found it quite wearing over time. As well, it was quite confusing - I am not at all au fait with Russian or Jewish (or Russian-Jewish) naming conventions, so I became quite lost with all the various people.
filaret526's review
2.0
Very hard to get through. It had some good parts to it, but she jumps around a lot and it can be confusing. She pulls in a lot of information about poets and writers of the early 20th century and a few later. The book could have been half the length .
whats_sophie_reading's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
readacorn's review
1.0
Schrecklich. Leider überhaupt nicht meines. Furchtbar langweilig. Über 400 Seiten langes "Was will der Künstler uns damit sagen?". Dabei kann ich so schon nichts mit Kunst anfangen. Glücklicherweise konnte ich es ohne zusätzliche Kosten mit meinem Scribd-Abo hören. Das Buch landet für mich auf den letzten Platz und hätte meiner Meinung nach gar nicht aufgestellt werden dürfen, da es bei dem Prize um Romane geht und das hier war kein Roman sondern eine Memoir.