A review by ericbuscemi
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

3.0

While I didn't always love the experience of reading this novel, I am glad to have read it, if only for the fictional glimpse of Soviet Russia during the Cold War. I didn't enjoy how drawn out the book became after such an intriguing start. But then, I was only expecting a police procedural set in Russia. This novel was much, much more -- a cat and mouse game, a story of fugitives and bandits, a view of Soviet "justice," a story of torture, a social commentary on America by a Russian narrator, a political thriller, and a love story. So while certain parts of it dragged, I can't really fault it for all its ambition. Also, this book taught me a colloquial Russian phrase that seems to be appropriate in almost any situation, "fuck your mother." So hooray for this book expanding my worldliness, and fuck your mother.