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1k reviews for:
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Bill Browder
4.26 AVERAGE
1k reviews for:
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Bill Browder
4.26 AVERAGE
Holy hell. The most chilling book I've ever read...mostly because it's true. Everything you've ever wanted to know about Putin/Russia encapsulated in a most maddening story.
Mixed feelings. Red Notice is a true story and the stakes are huge; Bill Browder strides on the world’s stage. His ability to shape all this international drama effectively is the question.
This memoir contains a long set up to tell the story of Sergei Magnitsky, a brave Russian lawyer (Browder’s lawyer) who was taken into custody on trumped up charges. He never lost his integrity despite brutal mistreatment and his failing health.
To get to that story, Browder tells his own, incl memories of his grandfather, the Communist prez candidate, his brilliant father and mathematical genius brother, his own disappointing choice of biz school in a political/academic family.
After graduate school, Browder becomes fascinated w the Russian market and positions himself to find jobs in banking. Communist grandfather and he’s into Russian commerce—the irony! Along the way, he marries, has a child, divorces, marries again, has two more children. I have no idea when he sees any of them given his crusade to spotlight the FSB’s unethical, inhumane activities. He cannot think of anything else, as he notes while attending one of his child’s school events.
The main problem is that Browder is not a writer. He describes every character by an article of clothing, hair color, and height in reference to his own. He tells a highly detailed story of his life as a broker that is really its own book. I think this could have been more profound if written by a professional who did not keep addressing the audience and knew where to prune.
All that said, Browder’s experiences are startling. He truly does poke the bear. At one point, Putin personally name checks him. In his early years, Browder figures out how to make a fortune on undervalued Russian stocks. He strings together a multi-million dollar company before he really knows what he’s doing. He is brash and ingenious.
Interesting narrative w distractingly flawed narration.
This memoir contains a long set up to tell the story of Sergei Magnitsky, a brave Russian lawyer (Browder’s lawyer) who was taken into custody on trumped up charges. He never lost his integrity despite brutal mistreatment and his failing health.
To get to that story, Browder tells his own, incl memories of his grandfather, the Communist prez candidate, his brilliant father and mathematical genius brother, his own disappointing choice of biz school in a political/academic family.
After graduate school, Browder becomes fascinated w the Russian market and positions himself to find jobs in banking. Communist grandfather and he’s into Russian commerce—the irony! Along the way, he marries, has a child, divorces, marries again, has two more children. I have no idea when he sees any of them given his crusade to spotlight the FSB’s unethical, inhumane activities. He cannot think of anything else, as he notes while attending one of his child’s school events.
The main problem is that Browder is not a writer. He describes every character by an article of clothing, hair color, and height in reference to his own. He tells a highly detailed story of his life as a broker that is really its own book. I think this could have been more profound if written by a professional who did not keep addressing the audience and knew where to prune.
All that said, Browder’s experiences are startling. He truly does poke the bear. At one point, Putin personally name checks him. In his early years, Browder figures out how to make a fortune on undervalued Russian stocks. He strings together a multi-million dollar company before he really knows what he’s doing. He is brash and ingenious.
Interesting narrative w distractingly flawed narration.
This was a very good read on the realities of Russia in the last 30 years. However there were some things that irked me. Browder’s lack of self-reflection one of them. Another is his condescending patriarchical writing style. This was especially evident when he described his interactions with his family (particularly his first afire). One that stands out in particular is a sentence about Bianca Jagger. Instead of saying she is a respected human rights activist, he qualifies it by first stating she is the ex-wife of Mick Jagger. Her relationship with Jagger is irrelevant to the book and acts to dilute her credibility as a human rights activist.
This was interesting and entertaining but I found the author super dislikeable. Smug and self aggrandizing. Somehow other people being tortured was still all about him. And why did he have to describe the physical attractiveness (or lack thereof), of every person he encountered? I particularly hated how he talked about when he was dating his second wife; like dating was a game and there was only sport in going after someone who wasn't interested. All the better if other men wanted her too. Gross. (Still a compelling story though.)
Sometimes reads like a memoir, sometimes like a spy thriller, and sometimes like a Greek tragedy. The story isn't told objectively, which makes it somewhat unique and also compelling. It's very current, with the last third or so of the book colliding with current events.
This book was fascinating, moving, and very well-written! I had a hard time putting it down and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in geopolitics and human rights.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced