wgadd's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
squizzahaha's review
The book is just letters between 2 people. There’s no plot and they often just babbled about the weirdest things.
andrew61's review
4.0
This is a complex story of two lovers whose lives are told by means of letters to each other. The complexity is that the writer plays with the readers concept and assumptions about time. The opening sentences were ones I went back to repeatedly as I struggled at first to fully understand what I was reading ; ' I open yesterday's news and it is all about you and me.
It's going to be the word in the beginning again, they write.
But meanwhile in the schools they rattle on in the same old way, saying first of all there was a big bang, and the whole of existence went flying apart.
And what's more , supposedly everything already existed even before the big bang-all the galaxies we can see and the one's we can't'
This presages what is then a straightforward epistolary narrative which also is built on shifting sands.
Two lovers meet at the outset Volodenka and Sasha. Volodenka then goes off to fight in the Russian- Chinese war of 1905. Sasha continues her studies becoming a doctor. Volodenka writes detailed letters during the course of the war. At times the history is graphically violent and brutal as he describes the horror of conflict , I will never look at a jar of pickled onions again in the same way . At other times reflective as he revisits his personal relationships particularly those with his parents and blind step-father. The latter being particularly poignant as we learn of his initial cruelty and loathing of the man which later shifts to regret. the letters continue during the course of the war.
Sasha's letters however literally last her lifetime as we follow her personal relationships with mother and father as an adolescent , lovers, husband and his daughter and ex wife, friends, and ultimately her aging parents. But the letters are still being sent to Volodenka.
This book was for me a contradiction, I generally like books that go from A-B, I don't like to feel that the writer is playing with me intellectually or imposing his superiority on me so initially I was irritated by the construct and it's rationale but as I settled into the letters I became engaged in the stories , the characters lives and what was a well told story. Thus ultimately I enjoyed the book although I came away thinking I had missed something although whether it is as simple as love transcending time i'm not sure. certainly I'd be interested to learn more about the book , writer and his ideas and he is certainly a writer I will read again.
It's going to be the word in the beginning again, they write.
But meanwhile in the schools they rattle on in the same old way, saying first of all there was a big bang, and the whole of existence went flying apart.
And what's more , supposedly everything already existed even before the big bang-all the galaxies we can see and the one's we can't'
This presages what is then a straightforward epistolary narrative which also is built on shifting sands.
Two lovers meet at the outset Volodenka and Sasha. Volodenka then goes off to fight in the Russian- Chinese war of 1905. Sasha continues her studies becoming a doctor. Volodenka writes detailed letters during the course of the war. At times the history is graphically violent and brutal as he describes the horror of conflict , I will never look at a jar of pickled onions again in the same way . At other times reflective as he revisits his personal relationships particularly those with his parents and blind step-father. The latter being particularly poignant as we learn of his initial cruelty and loathing of the man which later shifts to regret. the letters continue during the course of the war.
Sasha's letters however literally last her lifetime as we follow her personal relationships with mother and father as an adolescent , lovers, husband and his daughter and ex wife, friends, and ultimately her aging parents. But the letters are still being sent to Volodenka.
This book was for me a contradiction, I generally like books that go from A-B, I don't like to feel that the writer is playing with me intellectually or imposing his superiority on me so initially I was irritated by the construct and it's rationale but as I settled into the letters I became engaged in the stories , the characters lives and what was a well told story. Thus ultimately I enjoyed the book although I came away thinking I had missed something although whether it is as simple as love transcending time i'm not sure. certainly I'd be interested to learn more about the book , writer and his ideas and he is certainly a writer I will read again.
ickesea's review
3.0
Would be interested in reading this again as more of a study on Russian literature as opposed to purely plot like I did the first time.
daniella84's review
4.0
*spoilers*
I'm not the biggest fan of romance so I found the beginning pretty boring, but the last two thirds of the book were definitely more interesting! Sasha is a nurse who starts off the book really happy, she's in love the sun is shining she's living her dream, she's writing letters to Volodenka about how amazing life is etc. Volodenka is sent off to fight in the Boxer Rebellion in the intense heat, and is tasked with writing death notices to soldiers' families back in Russia.
As the book goes on, Volodenka's experience of war makes him appreciate what it is to live, and his letters to Sasha become filled with horror but also the desire to express everything he never did before, to fix his past mistakes. At first he thinks death would be better than returning from the battlefield wounded, but then he realises any life at all is worth living. He thinks that words can live on when his body can't, an idea he turns away from but then returns to once he loses those close to him and witnesses the terror of war - he becomes almost desperate in his letters to Sasha, who at some point stops writing to him but is just existing, until she eventually seeks comfort in him again. He slowly begins to forget where he is and the people around him after narrowly avoiding death himself.
Sasha, on the other hand, is the "other woman" of an artist, who brings his daughter to live with them. Sasha wants nothing more than to care for this child as her own, but Sonya resents her (fearing that she may replace her real mother). Whereas Sasha began the book full of joy and hope, she begins to find herself falling out of love with this artist, she loses a child, she is faced with the sad realities of life. She learns that happiness is not inherent, that we do not have the right to be happy all the time, even if we wish it to be true. She loses both of her parents and finds herself alone and cold, though also finds some peace near the end when she makes herself a daughter out of snow??
Idk if at the end they both died but they were kind of on their way to meet each other, Volodenka is gathering all of his things and is told that souls can meet which I assume is referring to their connection over time and space? And that's why I thought they died? But maybe also not? They both kind of lost their connection to reality at the end so
A nice Russian bop about why life sucks but also humanity and duality - life and death are the same and everything rhymes and mirrors each other.
I'm not the biggest fan of romance so I found the beginning pretty boring, but the last two thirds of the book were definitely more interesting! Sasha is a nurse who starts off the book really happy, she's in love the sun is shining she's living her dream, she's writing letters to Volodenka about how amazing life is etc. Volodenka is sent off to fight in the Boxer Rebellion in the intense heat, and is tasked with writing death notices to soldiers' families back in Russia.
As the book goes on, Volodenka's experience of war makes him appreciate what it is to live, and his letters to Sasha become filled with horror but also the desire to express everything he never did before, to fix his past mistakes. At first he thinks death would be better than returning from the battlefield wounded, but then he realises any life at all is worth living. He thinks that words can live on when his body can't, an idea he turns away from but then returns to once he loses those close to him and witnesses the terror of war - he becomes almost desperate in his letters to Sasha, who at some point stops writing to him but is just existing, until she eventually seeks comfort in him again. He slowly begins to forget where he is and the people around him after narrowly avoiding death himself.
Sasha, on the other hand, is the "other woman" of an artist, who brings his daughter to live with them. Sasha wants nothing more than to care for this child as her own, but Sonya resents her (fearing that she may replace her real mother). Whereas Sasha began the book full of joy and hope, she begins to find herself falling out of love with this artist, she loses a child, she is faced with the sad realities of life. She learns that happiness is not inherent, that we do not have the right to be happy all the time, even if we wish it to be true. She loses both of her parents and finds herself alone and cold, though also finds some peace near the end when she makes herself a daughter out of snow??
Idk if at the end they both died but they were kind of on their way to meet each other, Volodenka is gathering all of his things and is told that souls can meet which I assume is referring to their connection over time and space? And that's why I thought they died? But maybe also not? They both kind of lost their connection to reality at the end so
A nice Russian bop about why life sucks but also humanity and duality - life and death are the same and everything rhymes and mirrors each other.
mayjasper's review
4.0
While reading I swapped between entranced and confused. Sometimes both together.
On finishing I immediately turned back ro re-read some of the exquisite passages including a description of the tiny details a child notices at the seashore. This stirred long forgotten memories for me.
If you were to ask me what happened in the book I am not sure I could tell you. And the ending left me non-plussed. However, much of it was beautiful.
On finishing I immediately turned back ro re-read some of the exquisite passages including a description of the tiny details a child notices at the seashore. This stirred long forgotten memories for me.
If you were to ask me what happened in the book I am not sure I could tell you. And the ending left me non-plussed. However, much of it was beautiful.
auroralibrialis's review
5.0
Written as a series of letters between a Russian woman and her lover who's gone to war. The war in question is the Boxer Rebellion, but the way this is written, it could be any war or every war.
Shishkins prose is beautiful, very poetic and descriptive. It leaves you with an overwhelmingly strong sense of place. You can hear the thunder, smell the bodies, feel the heat. A very good contrast to the increasing feeling that these events are taking place somewhere outside of time.
His letters describe the horrors of war and are very much anchored in the physical realities of bodies. He writes about the horrible injuries and brutal deaths that he witnesses, the diseases, the thirst and the unbearable heat that plagues the soldiers. Death is ever-present, but there is also hope and love and laughter.
Her letters to him are drenched in nostalgia and longing. She writes about her daily life in Russia, her hopes and disappointments, her childhood memories and her relationship with her parents. She sees death as well, but it is a different kind, not violent and sudden, but painful and slow.
Gradually it becomes clear that she is growing up, growing older. While he seems to be suspended in time. She sees a newspaper and there is "war on the front-page and a crossword on the back", this observation is repeated, a detail which serves to highlight the fact that while the people live their lives, grow old and reach their ends, the wars do not. The wars remain constant and never-ending.
The Light and the Dark is a powerful and beautiful novel that made me think. Will definitely be coming back to this author at some point.
Shishkins prose is beautiful, very poetic and descriptive. It leaves you with an overwhelmingly strong sense of place. You can hear the thunder, smell the bodies, feel the heat. A very good contrast to the increasing feeling that these events are taking place somewhere outside of time.
His letters describe the horrors of war and are very much anchored in the physical realities of bodies. He writes about the horrible injuries and brutal deaths that he witnesses, the diseases, the thirst and the unbearable heat that plagues the soldiers. Death is ever-present, but there is also hope and love and laughter.
Her letters to him are drenched in nostalgia and longing. She writes about her daily life in Russia, her hopes and disappointments, her childhood memories and her relationship with her parents. She sees death as well, but it is a different kind, not violent and sudden, but painful and slow.
Gradually it becomes clear that she is growing up, growing older. While he seems to be suspended in time. She sees a newspaper and there is "war on the front-page and a crossword on the back", this observation is repeated, a detail which serves to highlight the fact that while the people live their lives, grow old and reach their ends, the wars do not. The wars remain constant and never-ending.
The Light and the Dark is a powerful and beautiful novel that made me think. Will definitely be coming back to this author at some point.
rumbachess's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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