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saazhar's review against another edition
3.0
Insofar as the book itself, it was a fun, rollicking read - particularly because I read most of it on a very turbulent flight. However, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I knew what it was about - was it an exposé into the lives of post Communist Russian children of wealthy fathers, educated abroad but missing at home? Or was it a critical look at the fates of nations at the hands of merciless oil companies? Or was it about love? Not sure, but worth a read if you are feeling adventurous, bored and want an out of the ordinary book.
fyodoralekseyev's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I think this book is hilarious especially if you have a relevant background, whether it be as a Russian, a Jew, or both.
I think that reviewers lamenting how unlikable Misha is are misguided. I think it is the point. Protagonists needn't be likable.
I think that reviewers lamenting how unlikable Misha is are misguided. I think it is the point. Protagonists needn't be likable.
katemoxie's review against another edition
1.0
35 pages in and decided this was simply not worth my time. Too many good books to be read and this isn't one of them.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
Absurdistan is really two books. The first 100 or so pages are the musings of a self-obsessed Russian Jew who is prevented by his gangsta-oligarch father's murder of an Oklahoma businessman from returning to the United States and his Bronx lover, Rouenna.
There is little to admire about Misha--who bears a passing resemblance to Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces. Misha, morbidly obese, narcissistic, and obscenely rich, certainly didn't impress me. That was when I put the book down for a few months.
It was Twitter that brought me back, where I follow @Steyngart, who often posts political musings. After he liked a reply I had posted, "If only Gary Steyngart would publish 'Absurdistan II: Puppet State,'" I knew I had to finish the book. Can a reader's attention be purchased with a simple 'like' on one's tweet? Absolutely, Gary. Absolutely!
The last two-thirds of the book take us out of Misha Vainberg's id into a hilarious mock up of a "war for oil," drummed up by Halliburton in league with fasco-racists in a fictional Caspian republic. Here, Steyngart's satire is spot-on, pointing out the silliness in worldwide materialism, lampooning global symbols like Hyatt, Golly-Burton (Halliburton in whore-speak), and the corruption and oil-rush that lies deep, close to the heart of American foreign policy, even today, when we distinguish "good muslims" as those which come from oil-rich countries, as opposed to "bad muslims," which are those that come from terror-rich countries--funded, of course, by the very oil-rich countries we mis-lable.
I worried that this Worst-bush Era novel would feel dated. It didn't. I really enjoyed the read.
There is little to admire about Misha--who bears a passing resemblance to Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces. Misha, morbidly obese, narcissistic, and obscenely rich, certainly didn't impress me. That was when I put the book down for a few months.
It was Twitter that brought me back, where I follow @Steyngart, who often posts political musings. After he liked a reply I had posted, "If only Gary Steyngart would publish 'Absurdistan II: Puppet State,'" I knew I had to finish the book. Can a reader's attention be purchased with a simple 'like' on one's tweet? Absolutely, Gary. Absolutely!
The last two-thirds of the book take us out of Misha Vainberg's id into a hilarious mock up of a "war for oil," drummed up by Halliburton in league with fasco-racists in a fictional Caspian republic. Here, Steyngart's satire is spot-on, pointing out the silliness in worldwide materialism, lampooning global symbols like Hyatt, Golly-Burton (Halliburton in whore-speak), and the corruption and oil-rush that lies deep, close to the heart of American foreign policy, even today, when we distinguish "good muslims" as those which come from oil-rich countries, as opposed to "bad muslims," which are those that come from terror-rich countries--funded, of course, by the very oil-rich countries we mis-lable.
I worried that this Worst-bush Era novel would feel dated. It didn't. I really enjoyed the read.
katelynelizabeth's review against another edition
3.0
THe book started out good, but quickly became too hard to read. I struggled for over a week trying to make it through the last 70 pages but in the end, I gave up. Life is too short to finish books you don’t like, right?
rocketiza's review against another edition
2.0
Despite a lot of cool things going on in the book, I just never felt interested or invested once.
jeffgreen's review against another edition
I'm not gonna rate this one, as I actually just couldn't get into it. Kinda surprised me given my general love of satiric/comic novels. But I'm willing to consider that maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this right now. So I'm shelving it for now and will try again later.
aga_acrobat's review against another edition
4.0
Absurd geht es hier definitiv ab. Wer aber einen gewissen Sinn für die Absurditäten des Turbokapitalismus in den Ländern des ehemaligen Ostblocks hat, wird sich köstlich unterhalten.