A Terrible Country

One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time, highly recommended. Andrei left Russia for America when he was 6. Now, a seemingly unemployable scholar of Russian literature, he moves to Russa for a year to look after his ailing grandmother. His grandmother is old but stubborn, but her world is getting smaller; almost all her friends are dead, her family emigrated and she is sometimes unclear who Andrei is.

For Andrei, although he speaks good, if not perfect Russian, and is an expert in its literature, landing in Moscow is like landing in Ancient Rome. He understands the language, but not the culture or the way of life, nor how to survive, nor how to integrate. As Andrei struggles with the basics - how to get wifi, how to find show more food and drink he can afford (this peak oil boom Russia of the late aughts), how to get around, how to navigate the medical system (its a good idea to give money to people), how to make friends and girlfriends, how to play some ice hockey, he reveals a Russia of stark contrasts, between wealth (perhaps fleeting) and poverty not much different to Soviet times, from security to barely hanging on, from authoritarianism to lawlessness.

And yet he builds a life and comes to understand, a little, and feel love for, a lot, the country of his birth. And then, as things start to go wrong, he realises he's understood nothing and that he can never really belong.

A terrific book, readable, funny, populated by larger than life characters. So clearly drawn are they, that its easy to imagine how each would respond to the Russia of now, 15 years later. show less

Andrei is treading water in his career, moderating online forums for university classes in Russian literature while never landing his own teaching job. So, when his brother Dima called to ask Andrei to fly to Moscow and stay with their grandmother while he took care of business concerns, Andrei saw it as an opportunity. Perhaps he could mine his grandmother for information suitable for an article or two. He could certainly do his job there since it was all online.

When he arrives, he discovers his grandmother is sliding into dementia and depression. He does his best and is a loving grandson. He also discovers it is a bit more difficult to work on the internet than he thought, but he manages. He struggles for a time until he meets people show more that he clicks with and then really settles into being a Muscovite intellectual/radical.

After the first chapter of A Terrible Country, I googled to see if it really was a novel because it reads like a memoir. That was not the last time. This book feels uncannily real.

One of the things that makes it so real is the small-scale of the drama. Settling in to a city, helping his grandmother, playing hockey, trying to find some friends, finally finding some friends. Even the crisis that brings the story to an end is pretty ordinary, naivete and the myopia of privilege lull Andrei into a grievous wrong and it is all so very real.

I liked Andrei and even tough-guy Dima is a good grandson. I loved the grandmother. I love that Andrei disappoints me, because you know, that is what feels authentic.

A Terrible Country will be published on July 10th. I received an e-galley of A Terrible Country from the publisher through Edelweiss.

A Terrible Country at Penguin Random House

Keith Gessen on Twitter

★★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2018/07/07/9780735221314/ show less

That country is Russia, and the story points out that even so, there are a few good things about it -- like being able to get a car ride across Moscow for only three dollars and being able to find a cappuccino for less than ten, if you know where to look. The person narrating the story is a Russian-born American who goes back to Moscow to take care of his elderly grandmother. Things happen. Shit happens. Our hero is a schmuck. Not a son-of-a-bitch schmuck, just a regular, poor schmuck. And unlike the country, it's a good book.

3.5 stars really, but rounded down. The novel read more like a memoir - and I don't like memoirs (though for some reason I have been on a streak of them). The story didn't seem to know where it was going - though the narrator did not know where his life was going so perhaps that was just an EPIC case of show-don't-tell. I didn't like his continued naivete about so many things, especially the ending episode. But I enjoyed the insights into Russian culture (I wish there had been more) and there were flashes of real genius and a powerful last line.

This is really a on-the ground look at life in Russia today. Andrei, a young man born in Russia, but raised in the United States, returns to Moscow to take care of his elderly grandmother and he and his brother are the only family. Dima, the brother, has been living in Russia and seems to be caught up in some kind of political fiasco and leaves the country. Upon arrival Andrei is almost a stranger although he does speak the language and is finishing a doctorate degree in Russian history and literature. Unable to find a job, going to Moscow seems like the thing to do.

Grandmother is aged and suffering from dementia but welcomes Andrei. His experiences with her and the compasionate care he gives her is touching throughout. His learning to show more navigate Moscow and the Russian culture is another thing altogether. A hockey enthusiast, he attempts to find a place to play and meets a variety of characters. Some are a part of the Russian establishment; others are in protest. Rather than the government being the oppressor here, it is the large multinational corporations such as RussOil. Andrei meets Yulia, a young woman who is an activist in a group of people calling for a return to socialism. There are scenes of protest, counter-protest (perhaps staged by the government), and a wide variety of philosophies regarding the direction Russian should take. Prices are high for most, yet there are department stores offering very expensive items. Grandmother's visit to a store attempting to purchase a new sweater is just one example of the wide range of economic status of the people. In short, the government supports the rich who in turn keep getting richer.

A fascinating book that offers a look at modern day Russia under Putin. There are times, however, when I feel the author staged events in order to "explain and preach." I loved the interaction between Andrei and his grandmother. There are some rather stock Russian characters especially thugs who seem to be everywhere. In short, interesting! show less

A fascinating glimspe into Moscow life in the early 21st century. Andrei was born in Russia, moved with his parents to the US when a child, and now has returned to Moscow to care for his elderly grandmother. Equipped with a doctorate in Russian Literature, Andrei finds it difficult at first to find his place, but eventually through hockey and participation in a political discussion group he makes friends and comes to love his Moscow life. The question remains, though, whether he can really understand the social/political/justice systems in place in contemporary Russia.

At first I was entertained by this book - Andrei's self-deprecating humor, his sweet but confused grandmother, and most of all a street-level look at today's Moscow, both people and place. But about 150 pages in, that's all it was offering me, and I began to get bored with so much sameness. Whatever plot action/tension was brewing up the road was too far away to convince me to keep on reading.