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sarahjsnider's review against another edition
3.0
There was a lot of potential in here, and I appreciate that the author didn't go for a traditional Holocaust story (i.e., cash grab). I can't shed too many tears for someone who hasn't made it as a magazine writer by age 25, like the protagonist, so the stakes were a bit lower than intended. And the choice between Arianna and Vera was very I-see-what-you-did-there. The worlds of Brooklyn immigrants and Manhattan magazine writers are both deftly portrayed, so it's worthwhile for that.
cdcsmith's review against another edition
4.0
This book was kind of tough for me to get through. It was a little like riding a rollercoaster. It was slow starting, then it got better, then I was bored, then it was getting really good again. I debated 3 or 4 stars. I went with 4 mostly because in the end, I was glad I read it and I did get something out of it. It isn't a strong 4 stars for me though.
theliteraryhooker's review
3.0
While I liked the idea of this novel, I wasn't a huge fan of the novel itself. The central premise (a young Jewish immigrant trying to distance himself from his community to make a name for himself, only to be pulled back in by his smooth-talking quasi-con man of a grandfather in order to forge restitution claims) is interesting and definitely a different spin than you usually get with WWII(ish) novels. But there was just way too much going on. I didn't care at all about the weird sort of but not really love triangle between Slava, Arianne and Vera. I didn't care about his crappy magazine job that he was failing at. The discovery of the forgeries was just so cobbled together. The writing was good, but not good enough to make up for how much stuff was just randomly thrown into the story to fill it out. It just wasn't a satisfying read for me.
wordlover's review
3.0
Perfectly nice literary novel, but ultimately not very compelling. Immigrant story and themes of being between worlds and wrestling with integrity were fine, but at times the language was a bit too elliptical, straining to be 'literary' without being clear. And the sad sack narrator eventually grew tiresome.
borisfeldman's review
1.0
Torture to finish. The plot was too thin to hold my interest. This is one of several novels by Russian emigres about growing up in New York. None of them is particularly good. But they give each other good blurb.
reviewsmayvary's review
4.0
This started off a little slow... Or maybe it just took me a minute to get into it. By a couple of chapters, I was all in.