Metro 2033

I won't lie, this book hovered at around 3 stars until halfway through, then to 3.5 stars three quarters of the way through. The ending though...the ending completely hammered me in the gut and this into 5 star range.

The beginning is a bit slow, the dialogue is some thick writing most of the time, it's not light or airy. It's substantial and dare I say real. The way people would actually talk.

About halfway through the book it dawned on me what I, at least, realized it was. For me it is a futuristic dystopian horror Pilgrim's Progress. Not so much on the Christian overtones but still with substantial moralistic punch. I personally loved Pilgrim's Progress growing up and suddenly seeing this book in that light helped me see and grasp it show more more easily.

The creatures, the world, the Metro, the people, are very well thought out and built. By the end you truly feel like you were there through the whole thing, walking just off of Artyom's right, struggling when he struggled, elating in his victories, confused when he was confused, hopeless and helpful as he was. And I think this is 100% what author was going for, it's why it's a slog at times, it's confusing at times, it's exciting, and a breeze at times. We are Artyom and he is we.

The ending hit me out of no where, completely unexpected on my part. Just. What a twist. I am very excited to read the following books. At this point I have purchased all 3 of the video games and plan to finish the first video game now that I have finished the first book. Then read the 2nd book and then the 2nd video game and so on.

This is not a book for a break, this is not a book for an escape. This is a book for those wanting a journey, not a ride, a step by step walk into the depths of all that is humanity, the good, the bad, the blessed, and the diseased.

Until we meet again Artyom. show less

Lived Up to the Hype

I've been a fan of the games for a long time and had always meant to get around to reading the books, which can be a little unnerving in case they weren't as good. But this was phenomenal!

The worldbuilding, characters, interactions, and blending of myth and supernatural are all wonderful and I am extremely excited to check out the other books and the extended Metro universe.

It has the feel of a modern Odyssey mixed with the better parts of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, especially with many chapters being their own segment of the journey or experience. In this way it also feels less like a novel and more like many shirt stories and novellas seamlessly sewn together. This is not a criticism or downside from my show more point of view.

It leaves a lot of questions unanswered and has a lot you just have to go with, but that's genre fiction baybee and this is up there with some of the best.

I have a mighty need to replay the games and checkout the rest of the series.

Performance was brilliant.

Great stuff! show less

Ядреният апокалипсис, както обикновено в любимия ми тип романи, е унищожил по-голямата част от човечеството, а земята е превърнал в опечени от радиация развалини, населени с кръвожадни мутанти. Дотук добре…

Московското метро е голямо, надълбоко под земята е и с тая си конструкция практически представлява огромно бомбоубежище – и точно за такова са го ползвали известно количество жители на града, преди show more да паднат бомбите – поради което са оцелели и сега живеят там, под земята, поддържайки някакви технологии и отбранявайки се с променлив успех от прииждащите от повърхността мутирали чудовища. Дотук още по-добре.

Нататък обаче никак не е добре. Метро 2033 е безцелен и скучен, малкото действие е разказано бегло и кратко и се губи в безкрайните спомени, сънища, халюцинации и мисли на главния герой, които съставляват по-голямата част от 500-те страници. Дмитрий Глуховски описва някакви обособени общества, създали се в различните станции на метрото – комунисти, фашисти, сталкери, религиозни маниаци и даже почитатели на Адам Смит и свободната търговия, което би могло да е интересно, но някак го прави повърхностно, самоцелно, без връзка с каквото и да е.

Понеже напоследък прочетох няколко руски книги, ми направи впечатление, което се затвърди от Метро 2033 - в действието на целия роман няма нито една жена. Нито една. Жените не говорят, не са герои, не са описани по никакъв начин. Всички герои са мъже, само мъжете говорят, правят нещо, пътуват и т.н. Не че жени не живеят в метрото – просто в действието няма жени – доста странно е. Така е и в по-голямата част от другите руски книги, които съм чел – главните герои винаги са мъже, основните действащи лица са мъже, разговорите се водят от мъже… женските образи, доколкото ги има, са винаги второстепенни и съвсем бегли – и най-важното – лишени от всякаква сексуалност, дори загатната или намекната.

Темата за секса и привличането определено липсва от руската литература като цяло – сякаш е изрязана. В най-добрия случай някаква романтична, идеализирана любов има в някакви произведения, но на нея е отделено малко място. Секс няма. Не, не говоря за порно сцени, а просто… не знам даже как да го обясня – мисленето и поведението на хората е донякъде обусловено от секса. Дори героите да са само мъже, те забелязват хубавите жени, говорят за тях, споделят за приятелката си, мислят за жена си. В руските книги няма такова нещо – сякаш героите са безполови. Особено в роман като Метро 2033 където цивилизацията се е разпаднала и съответно хората са принизени до основните си инстинкти, липсата на най-основния инстинкт прави много странно впечатление и ме оставя да се чеша по главата в недоумение. show less

This post-apocalyptic horror novel takes place in the Moscow Metro, where the remnants of the city inhabitants have taken refuge. The story follows Artyom as he moves through this weird and terrifying underground metro world. The horror isn’t just about jump scares or gore - it’s more about the creeping dread in people’s minds, both when they’re awake and when they’re dreaming. Sure, there’s violence, but what’s really unsettling is the stuff that does not appear - the things that might be lurking in the dark, made worse by the characters’ fear and the reader's imagination.
The different groups in the Metro - fascists, communists, industrialists, religious fanatics - keep clinging to parts of the old ideologies even after show more the world’s ended, which feels like a quiet jab at how absurd some of those are. Artyom, the main character, ocasionally spends time thinking about what’s happening, searching for some meaning in all the misery.
Though he ultimately succeeds in his mission to destroy the perceived threat, the irony lies in the revelation that it may have been a misunderstood entity seeking connection all along, and the humans are the violent ones that just kill stuff. show less

В 2033 году Земля является непригодной для жизни. Какая-то ядреная война пару десятилетий назад опустошила поверхность и редкие выжившие переехали под землю, чтобы поберечься от излучения. Под землю - как, например, в московское метро.
Станции метро стали настоящими подземными городами, некоторые, как например вся кольцевая линия, даже объединились в союз и оформили настоящую страну, похожую на show more средневековый торговый союз “Ганзу”. У каждой станции есть собственная идеология, религия или принцип жизни - фашизм, коммунизм и попытка воскресить Советский союз, Свидетели Иеговы, военные, монополистические торговцы, красные бригады - всё это нашло место на какой-то станции. Конечно, это не значит, что станции живут в мире друг с другими - войны между разными альянсами из-за ресурсов и жизненного пространства возникают очень часто.
В таком окружении растёт наш герой - девятнадцатилетний Артём, который с отчимом живёт на станции “ВДНХ”. Когда-то процветающая станция, известная производством хорошего грибного чая (грибы - единственное растение, которое может выжить под землей), на данный момент находится в очень серьёзных проблемах. Рейды так называемых чёрных - людей (или что-то подобное), которые остались на поверхности и прошли мутации из-за излучения - становятся все более частыми. Может-ли Артём сделать что-нибудь, чтобы поберечь свой дом? Он получает задание, которое отвезёт его по всему метро за решением, поэтому, надежда продолжается …
Я считаю, что писатель очень хорошо разобрался с тем, как такой мир, и такое общество, выглядело бы, в случае катастрофы такого масштаба. Все ужасы человеческой природы, которые автор очень внимательно описывает, мне показались правдоподобными, как и маленькие триумфы и добросердечности, которые, хотя редко, всё-таки остались даже в настолько разрушенном мире.
Конечно, там было кое-что, что мне понравилось. В мире, где происходит очень много интересных, хотя ужасных событий, мы много, слишком много времени проводим в голове Артёма, из-за чего иногда трудно прорваться через некоторые отрывки. Кроме того, мне не понравилось, что в романе нет никаких женских персонажей. Одна - давно пропавшая мать Артёма, которая появляется только в его воспоминаниях. Как будто женщин больше не существует.
К счастью, автор компенсировал это с отличным завершением, когда возникнет неожиданный, почти философский поворот (кто действительно монструм в этом мире?). Одна из самых лучших историй о мрачном будущем, которые я прочитал в последних несколько лет. show less

My boyfriend lent me this book and I finally finished it! It started off really slow for me because there is a lot of exposition about how the Russian metro is setup politically and the book often delves into philosophical exploration pockets as the story progresses. It picks up briefly, then slows down, and this pattern repeats continuously. At first I thought the translation might just be bad, but it seems like the pacing is genuinely really off based on everything I've read online about the book. The pacing is very irregular. The characters are interesting, but most of them aren't present for very long, they are left with incomplete arcs individually, and the main character isn't really revealed to the reader very well because of the show more style he is written in. Artyom doesn't really have conversations with people using dialogue text format. A sentence will say the general idea of what he replied and we are told what he thinks in the same way, but we rarely hear it directly, straight from his mouth or brain. I loved many of the concepts that were presented over the course of the book and I loved the detail the author put into building the world, but in the end, it just wasn't a wonderful execution in my opinion. I had major issues with the ending. It was rushed, which just felt wrong because much of the book is VERY drawn out with wordy passages that make each chapter around 20 pages, but then the last section is all of 5-10 pages and it goes by in a hurry. To me it felt like the author ran out of time for a deadline and had a very particular end in mind that he HAD to put in, but he took no time to reveal the surprise ending or allow it to be an epiphany moment to the reader. He spits it out rapidly and its over, which left me feeling very unsatisfied after slogging through the book for so long. I am giving it 3 stars because I loved a lot of the concepts and some aspects of the execution, but the overall work is kind of sloppy and inconsistent in terms of writing style. I LOVED the concepts, but wish it would have been looked over again or had some style elements rethought, such as how the main characters' thoughts and progress is revealed to the reader, and how the story comes to an overall close. I really wanted this book to be better. Its a decent time, but it isn't a MUST read or one of the best books I've read. I won't read this one again, but I would read the sequels to see if the author did better on the next try, or just to see if I can find satisfaction in the next direction the story may take in them. I haven't played the game, so I can't say much regarding how it was translated from novel to game. However, unless you're a big fan of the game, I can't really recommend the book. Its an okay time, but it can be passed over since you wouldn't be missing much except wasted potential by not reading it. There were so many possibilities and good opportunities that just WEREN'T capitalized on. I wish it was only due to bad translation, however that doesn't seem to be the case here. show less

The setting of Metro 2033 is very compelling - post apocalypse, the Moscow Metro system has become a microcosmic refuge for survivors. The political and economic interactions of the different groups, as well as the fates of those who are social misfits for one reason or another, form a depressingly apt metaphor for our present society.

I found the protagonist's journey to be slightly excessively capricious and Homeric, and I can't decide whether it's clever or pretentious that the author contrived to embed his argument in a mysterious conversation halfway through the book. However, the only thing that really detracted from my enjoyment of and immersion in the story was the poor (English) translation - it left the narrative feeling clunky show more and the characters feeling simplistic and wooden. show less