Reviews

Strange Life of Ivan Osokin by P.D. Ouspensky

wormz's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

candiecane333's review

2.0

Very slow steam of consciousness with a very annoying main character. The magician told him couldn't change anything if he went back in time & after he did nothing changed because he was still the same person. At the end the magician gives him a choice of spending 15 years with him or going back & then the book ends anticlimacticly. Also I didn't understand why the author added that the devil would hinder him since he knew the great secret.

pvn's review

4.0

I enjoyed this and recommend it for literature and even scifi fans. The book has been around for decades and there are many helpful reviews from readers smarter than I, so I'll let those stand.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

antij's review

2.0

I find it hard to like a character who sees all the mistakes he's going to make and then makes them anyway, then complain about his mistakes but instead of doing anything about them just shrug his hands and decide he can't do anything about it. The story really didn't need to go 200 pages to make this point. About 20 pages in and I think most people will have gotten the author's thesis statement. It was hard not to see a devious nature in a character at the end, though I imagine it wasn't intended to read him this way as it might have actually made things interesting.