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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
About halfway through I was feeling a 3 star review for this book but the ending bumped it up to a 4!
Adorei este livro, mais do que estava à espera!
Só sei que agora quero ler tudo sobre os Romanov e quando uma leitura nos faz querer ler muito mais sobre um assunto é porque inegavelmente surtiu um efeito poderoso em nós...
Só sei que agora quero ler tudo sobre os Romanov e quando uma leitura nos faz querer ler muito mais sobre um assunto é porque inegavelmente surtiu um efeito poderoso em nós...
4.5 stars. Stayed up late to finish the book when I realized there was a twist to the end.
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander focuses on the last, secluded, and trapped days of the Romanov family before they are ultimately assassinated in 1918 as told by the kitchen boy, Leonka. Their lives were routine as royals with set times for dinners, etc., but in captivity, there days are even more regimented as they are expected to present themselves for inspection at certain hours, attend church services, and eat meals at certain times. In fact, their lives are so routine, including that of the kitchen boy, the only highlights are wheeling the youngest, male heir about the home and imagining games until the Bolsheviks deign to open a window.
Shifting from the 1990s to the early 1900s, the narrator takes readers through the final days of the Tsar and his family and often interrupts his own story — being told on audio tape to his granddaughter, Katya — to interject the outcome of certain events or to provide other tangential historical information. This disjointed narration often pulls readers out of the story, but once the narrator gets into the final three days of their captivity, the story moves rather quickly. Moreover, the kitchen boy’s story is so complex that it takes a long time to unfold and by the end, readers will either have guessed the truth of the Romanov’s last days or they will feel betrayed by the narrator’s unreliability.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/02/the-kitchen-boy-by-robert-alexander.html
Shifting from the 1990s to the early 1900s, the narrator takes readers through the final days of the Tsar and his family and often interrupts his own story — being told on audio tape to his granddaughter, Katya — to interject the outcome of certain events or to provide other tangential historical information. This disjointed narration often pulls readers out of the story, but once the narrator gets into the final three days of their captivity, the story moves rather quickly. Moreover, the kitchen boy’s story is so complex that it takes a long time to unfold and by the end, readers will either have guessed the truth of the Romanov’s last days or they will feel betrayed by the narrator’s unreliability.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/02/the-kitchen-boy-by-robert-alexander.html
A fascinating re-writing of history, filling in the gaps of a terrible tragedy. I was tempted to give up this book in the middle, because the day after day recounting of waiting for rescue and living on pins and needles was tedious after a while. I'm really glad my friend encouraged me to stick with it, though - the ending made it truly worthwhile.
For a century, there has been mystery and rumors surrounding the murders of the last Romanovs. Part of that was intentional on the part of their killers, the Bolsheviks - no proof of death means no martyrs for the royalist cause. The lack of proof allowed rumors to fly - though their deaths were presumed, maybe someone managed to survive and escape? Maybe their are living in exile, in secrecy, the true heir to the throne? There have been books and movies spinning stories about this possibility for decades because the idea is both romantic and idealistic. This family did not deserve death, so surely it would be more poetic, more fitting, if one of them managed to live through the tragedy.
The author paints an fascinating portrait of the royals, and while sympathic to the family as a whole, he doesn't pull punches regarding the blame shouldered Nicolai and Aleksandra in the demise of the Russian empire and their own family. If only Nikolai had been more far-sighted, realized his country was headed to a constitutional monarchy (like much of the world), and agreed to sign over some of his ruling authority. If only Aleksandra's love and obsession over her sick son hadn't consumed her wholly, allowing her to be used by people like Rasputin and villianized by nearly everyone around her. If only they had left the country at the first sign of trouble, instead of naively and stubbornly staying until it was too late. Unfortunately, hindsight can't save lives, it can only inform the future.
Misha/Leonka/Volodya is a fascinating character, and is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. Part of the mystery of this story is we believe what we, as readers, are being told: "Here is the truth. Everything else before was a lie, but now I'm being honest." But where does the lie stop and the truth begin? There were some inklings that perhaps Misha was still concealing someone's identity in his story, but even when he went as far as to say, "She can't know I'm not really Misha," my best guess was that he was, in truth Alexei, the lost prince. Finding out that he was, in truth, Volodya, aka the young blonde guard mentioned several times in passing, was a shock. That reveal definitely made Misha's guilt make more sense. It didn't ring true to me that the Kitchen Boy would truly feel at fault for the murders, even if he did misplace one of Nikolai's notes. But as a guard, as the person who drew close to the family in order to coerce them into an escape, who helped stage a fake rescue correspondence to justify their execution, who was in the room participating in the actual shooting, Misha's guilt is was more reasonable. That is a lot to live with. Yes, he ended up saving Maria, and becoming her protector, her family, her life; but even that is messed up in a way. With her riches, he ended up living a life of luxury, with a beautiful and loving wife who forgave his his misdeeds, a son, a granddaughter. In the end, it's up to the reader to decide whether one can truly be forgiven for their terrible deeds.
For a century, there has been mystery and rumors surrounding the murders of the last Romanovs. Part of that was intentional on the part of their killers, the Bolsheviks - no proof of death means no martyrs for the royalist cause. The lack of proof allowed rumors to fly - though their deaths were presumed, maybe someone managed to survive and escape? Maybe their are living in exile, in secrecy, the true heir to the throne? There have been books and movies spinning stories about this possibility for decades because the idea is both romantic and idealistic. This family did not deserve death, so surely it would be more poetic, more fitting, if one of them managed to live through the tragedy.
The author paints an fascinating portrait of the royals, and while sympathic to the family as a whole, he doesn't pull punches regarding the blame shouldered Nicolai and Aleksandra in the demise of the Russian empire and their own family. If only Nikolai had been more far-sighted, realized his country was headed to a constitutional monarchy (like much of the world), and agreed to sign over some of his ruling authority. If only Aleksandra's love and obsession over her sick son hadn't consumed her wholly, allowing her to be used by people like Rasputin and villianized by nearly everyone around her. If only they had left the country at the first sign of trouble, instead of naively and stubbornly staying until it was too late. Unfortunately, hindsight can't save lives, it can only inform the future.
Misha/Leonka/Volodya is a fascinating character, and is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. Part of the mystery of this story is we believe what we, as readers, are being told: "Here is the truth. Everything else before was a lie, but now I'm being honest." But where does the lie stop and the truth begin? There were some inklings that perhaps Misha was still concealing someone's identity in his story, but even when he went as far as to say, "She can't know I'm not really Misha," my best guess was that he was, in truth Alexei, the lost prince. Finding out that he was, in truth, Volodya, aka the young blonde guard mentioned several times in passing, was a shock. That reveal definitely made Misha's guilt make more sense. It didn't ring true to me that the Kitchen Boy would truly feel at fault for the murders, even if he did misplace one of Nikolai's notes. But as a guard, as the person who drew close to the family in order to coerce them into an escape, who helped stage a fake rescue correspondence to justify their execution, who was in the room participating in the actual shooting, Misha's guilt is was more reasonable. That is a lot to live with. Yes, he ended up saving Maria, and becoming her protector, her family, her life; but even that is messed up in a way. With her riches, he ended up living a life of luxury, with a beautiful and loving wife who forgave his his misdeeds, a son, a granddaughter. In the end, it's up to the reader to decide whether one can truly be forgiven for their terrible deeds.
This book contains one of the best plot twists I have ever encountered in literature - and I won't say any more. You don't have to love Russian history to love this book - it's just plain old-fashioned fantastic storytelling, and fairly short to boot. If I could give it six stars, I would.
http://www.literaryfeline.com/2006/07/review-of-kitchen-boy-by-robert.html
Adorei este livro!
Um dos melhores que já li acerca deste fascinante tema que é o dos Romanov!
Um dos melhores que já li acerca deste fascinante tema que é o dos Romanov!
This really should have been a good book. The story of the last Tsar of Russia and his family is certainly an intriguing one. And the plot twists and turns added in this book should have made it even more so. But I couldn't get past the writing. The bulk of the story is presented as a grandfather's telling of the tale to his granddaughter via a tape recording. The writing was for the most part true to this, but unfortunately that meant it sounded like the meandering words of someone's grandfather, which it turns out are not all that enjoyable to read. The story was told using too many words to say the simplest thing, and included too many irrelevant details. It was also quite repetitive, for instance telling us every time someone used the water closet that they were always accompanied by a guard when they used the water closet. This book had its moments, and I thought the actual assassination of the family was presented in a compelling way, but overall this book failed for me. It has, however, made me want to seek out a better telling of the story of the Tsar and his family, for whatever that is worth.
I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a little repetitive at the beginning but the historical mystery kept me hooked and I enjoyed the twist at the end.