Olga Grushin's debut novel works so well on so many levels that it deserves the attention it's getting. At the heart of the book -- at times lyrical, at times moving, and sometimes both -- is the challenge we all face in coming to terms with the disillusionment that accompanies growing old. Do we forgive ourselves for our compromises? Did we have any choice? Were the tradeoffs worth it?
All of these questions become much bigger in the Soviet Russia portrayed by Grushin. Entering into the world of the Soviet elite will be a new experience for most readers. Once the newness wears off, however, you see that this world is not so different from yours. The choices might seem more clearly drawn or more daunting, but really, they are much the same.
Grushin effortlessly weaves a plot between age and youth in three generations, switching points of view and even narrators so smoothly the reader scarcely notices. And it makes you see that life is a whole -- what we experience now, what our spotty memory holds on to from the past, what our hopes hold out for the future. For Grushin allow even Sukhanov, who has so much to be disillusioned about, hope for the future.
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