Scan barcode
A review by andrew298
I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country by Elena Kostyuchenko
Did not finish book.
Discovered Ms. Kostyuchenko after hearing her story about being poisoned in Germany on the NPR podcast, This American Life. Her narrative and storytelling ability made me want to seek out more of her work, especially as in the podcast, it was especially evident and poignant that despite being driven out of her homeland, and being potentially murdered by the Russian security apparatus, she still had a deep passion and love for Russia.
So when I discovered that she had a book called I Love Russia and was filled with articles she had written about her country, to allow others to understand the world's largest country, I was all in.
However, what I found, felt like a bit of disjointed mess. It didn't have any of her passion and feeling, and frankly in parts, felt just so very dry. I'm sure a lot of it was lost in translation (as these things often are), however it just didn't evoke anything of Ms. Kostyuchenko and her intrepid style or belief. The parts that she had written, about her personal insights/experiences that prompted each essay or article were the best part of the book, and became something to look forward to, while drudging through the essays, but the juxtaposition between the two made it hard to enjoy or understand as they weren't connected in any way.
I read about 30% of the book prior to abandonment, but did flick through each chapter to see if I could find something that provided that passion that she so deeply presented in audio, but it all just felt really flat and nothing evoked a need to read the material.
I read about halfway but didn't find anything that
So when I discovered that she had a book called I Love Russia and was filled with articles she had written about her country, to allow others to understand the world's largest country, I was all in.
However, what I found, felt like a bit of disjointed mess. It didn't have any of her passion and feeling, and frankly in parts, felt just so very dry. I'm sure a lot of it was lost in translation (as these things often are), however it just didn't evoke anything of Ms. Kostyuchenko and her intrepid style or belief. The parts that she had written, about her personal insights/experiences that prompted each essay or article were the best part of the book, and became something to look forward to, while drudging through the essays, but the juxtaposition between the two made it hard to enjoy or understand as they weren't connected in any way.
I read about 30% of the book prior to abandonment, but did flick through each chapter to see if I could find something that provided that passion that she so deeply presented in audio, but it all just felt really flat and nothing evoked a need to read the material.
I read about halfway but didn't find anything that