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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
kate327's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Complicated
4.0
willy1995's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
anka_trini's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Sterne
Ich habe die Geschichte als Hörbuch (kostenlos auf spotify) gehört, was ich jedem nur empfehlen kann. Der Sprecher war einfach fantastisch! Ich glaube nicht, dass ich jemals einen besseren erlebt hatte. Jede Figur hatte eine eigene Stimme, die keiner anderen auch nur glich. Dieser Sprecher macht wohl jedes Buch zu einem absoluten Erlebnis!
Das Buch an sich war mir auf lange Sicht aber doch ein wenig zu eintönig. Außerdem fand ich ein paar kleinere Stellen irgendwie deplaziert. Da hätte ich doch lieber stattdessen mehr über die Epidemie erfahren.
Ich habe die Geschichte als Hörbuch (kostenlos auf spotify) gehört, was ich jedem nur empfehlen kann. Der Sprecher war einfach fantastisch! Ich glaube nicht, dass ich jemals einen besseren erlebt hatte. Jede Figur hatte eine eigene Stimme, die keiner anderen auch nur glich. Dieser Sprecher macht wohl jedes Buch zu einem absoluten Erlebnis!
Das Buch an sich war mir auf lange Sicht aber doch ein wenig zu eintönig. Außerdem fand ich ein paar kleinere Stellen irgendwie deplaziert. Da hätte ich doch lieber stattdessen mehr über die Epidemie erfahren.
ioanastoica's review against another edition
3.0
I guess, as they say, "there's a first for everything". In this case, The Blizzard is the first that I've ever not appreciated/felt/enjoyed a Russian author. Russian (and Romanian, obviously, and in general Eastern European) literature molds, reflects, illuminates, and inspires my soul, because it is born in a unique landscape that was also my childhood, my source of personal myths and ways of looking at things.
This nostalgia for childhood is nothing special; in my case, reading Russian/Eastern European lit is just how I "go back". So usually, I love it all (sticking to the Russians for now) - from Solzhenitsyn's systematic and descriptive analytics, to Dostoevsky's masterful psychoanalyses, to Bulgakov's absurd whimsical surrealism, to Petrushevskaya's heart-wrenching portraits of humanity in pain, to Tolstoy's romanticism. Within all this variety, there is a certain.. Russian-ness/Eastern European-ness spirit imbuing all these works. Which is what The Blizzard seemed, for me, to be missing, and which is why it didn't quite facilitate my "going back" - despite Sorokin's heavy use of Russian motifs such as the furious snowstorm, the vodka, the brilliant whimsy, etc.
As I questioned my reaction, it didn't take me long to realize the essential ingredient that I value above all others, and that threads all the aforementioned works: the humor. You will not meet anyone more dead-pan than an Eastern-European, especially not one born in "that era". Some of us are basically living dead-pan, you really can't take anything we say seriously because we don't, ourselves (and yet, somehow, we are often taken most seriously of all).
It's a bit like Communist Zen: one learns to detach and to view the whole fiasco from a distance. At which point, of course, it all looks absurd, and it's clear that nothing is "real". In The Blizzard, Sorokin seems to attempt this effect through cosmetics: introducing, for example, a quite bizarre world of tiny horses (the size of a partridge) and humongous men (the size of a three-story house). Still, these insertions of the absurd did not serve any purpose, did not give any broader meaning to the narrative, did not convey any particular mood, nor did they inspire contemplation. I'm not sure how to articulate properly at this point (more reflection needed)-for now: I felt I was reading an "ideas-soup" of ingredients picked up from "The Greats" that did not quite work out because the broth used fell apart/separated/otherwise ruined everything.
But, perhaps I am wrong. I am very conflicted. Perhaps I misunderstood the whole thing. I should like, or probably more like love, Sorokin, if precedent is to be trusted.
So, this review may change in the future.
This nostalgia for childhood is nothing special; in my case, reading Russian/Eastern European lit is just how I "go back". So usually, I love it all (sticking to the Russians for now) - from Solzhenitsyn's systematic and descriptive analytics, to Dostoevsky's masterful psychoanalyses, to Bulgakov's absurd whimsical surrealism, to Petrushevskaya's heart-wrenching portraits of humanity in pain, to Tolstoy's romanticism. Within all this variety, there is a certain.. Russian-ness/Eastern European-ness spirit imbuing all these works. Which is what The Blizzard seemed, for me, to be missing, and which is why it didn't quite facilitate my "going back" - despite Sorokin's heavy use of Russian motifs such as the furious snowstorm, the vodka, the brilliant whimsy, etc.
As I questioned my reaction, it didn't take me long to realize the essential ingredient that I value above all others, and that threads all the aforementioned works: the humor. You will not meet anyone more dead-pan than an Eastern-European, especially not one born in "that era". Some of us are basically living dead-pan, you really can't take anything we say seriously because we don't, ourselves (and yet, somehow, we are often taken most seriously of all).
It's a bit like Communist Zen: one learns to detach and to view the whole fiasco from a distance. At which point, of course, it all looks absurd, and it's clear that nothing is "real". In The Blizzard, Sorokin seems to attempt this effect through cosmetics: introducing, for example, a quite bizarre world of tiny horses (the size of a partridge) and humongous men (the size of a three-story house). Still, these insertions of the absurd did not serve any purpose, did not give any broader meaning to the narrative, did not convey any particular mood, nor did they inspire contemplation. I'm not sure how to articulate properly at this point (more reflection needed)-for now: I felt I was reading an "ideas-soup" of ingredients picked up from "The Greats" that did not quite work out because the broth used fell apart/separated/otherwise ruined everything.
But, perhaps I am wrong. I am very conflicted. Perhaps I misunderstood the whole thing. I should like, or probably more like love, Sorokin, if precedent is to be trusted.
So, this review may change in the future.
joshparr's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ntilley905's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
catsinhats12's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
brandiereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.5
literatureladylena's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
deb_o_rah's review against another edition
2.0
A mundane story about an egotistical doctor who when inebriated feels especially righteous about his megalomaniacal disposition blames a simple man he hires for all his life's woes as they get lost over and over again in a blizzard.