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A review by surikun
Sashenka by Simon Sebag Montefiore
3.0
It's finally over!!!
I usually really like these kinds of books but I just couldn't bring myself to like this one. I never liked Lenin or his minions and later Stalin, and I can't understand how any person wanted to be like them.
I couldn't like Sashenka. She seemed too cold and idealistic through whole book and she believed in something that ended up completely destroying her. Didn't like her family much either. Especially her fanatic mother. Her dad was okay, I guess, even though he seemed mostly cold too.
Second part was kind of better even though she annoyed me when she started blaming all but herself when her world came crashing down. She was way too selfish before, but when she was captured she was like "Oh, screw everyone else. I don't care about them. I just wanna get out and go see my kids.". You're a mother, I understand that, but to not care about your husband or anyone else but yourself and your children... I don't get it.
The last part was my personal favorite. I loved discovering all those secrets and betrayals. And I finally found some remorse for Sashenka. It took 500 pages to bring myself to pity her and her fate. It was very sad what happened to her and her family. And I don't doubt that that happened to million of other Russians during those years. It was a world of fake testimonies and confessions that were beaten out of people. Thank god that period of human history is over.
So, the final score is: first part: 2 stars; second part: 2.5 stars; third part: 4.5 stars.
I usually really like these kinds of books but I just couldn't bring myself to like this one. I never liked Lenin or his minions and later Stalin, and I can't understand how any person wanted to be like them.
I couldn't like Sashenka. She seemed too cold and idealistic through whole book and she believed in something that ended up completely destroying her. Didn't like her family much either. Especially her fanatic mother. Her dad was okay, I guess, even though he seemed mostly cold too.
Second part was kind of better even though she annoyed me when she started blaming all but herself when her world came crashing down. She was way too selfish before, but when she was captured she was like "Oh, screw everyone else. I don't care about them. I just wanna get out and go see my kids.". You're a mother, I understand that, but to not care about your husband or anyone else but yourself and your children... I don't get it.
The last part was my personal favorite. I loved discovering all those secrets and betrayals. And I finally found some remorse for Sashenka. It took 500 pages to bring myself to pity her and her fate. It was very sad what happened to her and her family. And I don't doubt that that happened to million of other Russians during those years. It was a world of fake testimonies and confessions that were beaten out of people. Thank god that period of human history is over.
So, the final score is: first part: 2 stars; second part: 2.5 stars; third part: 4.5 stars.