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A review by andra_mihaela_s
I'm an Old Commie! by Dan Lungu
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-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
"I'm an Old Commie!" is a fascinating book...I usually stay away from Romanian novels due to an ingrained misconception that my country's literature is full of old and overly-used subjects....not anymore! This year, one of my goals is to read as many books from my own culture as I can.
Coming back to this novel, Dan Lungu managed to represent extremely well the old melancholic commies from my country. Emilia is very well characterized in this direction(giving us not only an in-depth view into her past and ideas(and how they formed), but a complete picture as a mom, wife and friend). I deeply enjoyed her memories! I laughed, I felt sorry for the misconceptions and i partly understood her..after all, Emilia is a simple woman who left her village for the city and mostly avoided being a target for the comunist party. Her life wasn't easy, but neither hard. She hustled for herself and her family, and THIS (the hustle) is the cornerstone of her inability to understand why her point of view is wrong. Although she saw hardships in the lives of other people, she just cannot comprehend why the others didn't manage to obtain oranges, a better job, an apartment, meat, etc...after all, for her all this was just a question of having the right connections/the right gift/ the right approach in order to achieve her goal. (I great irony is baked into her own relationship with her parents...great why to show us how narrow-minded we can be about our own stubbornness regarding what is good and what works in contrast to what is better and new to testing)
I really loved the little stories that act like little puzzle pieces around Emilia's present and past: Mrs Rozalia's life story; the present life of both Sanda(Emilia's little sister) and Aurelia(her old co-worker in the factory); Old Mitu and his anecdotes (^_^) and Emilia's subtle mentioning of injustice and her lack of power in opposing it.
I highly recommend this book if you have older relatives with Emilia's point of view, or if you're curious how come people , who suffered and didn't have enough heat, light and food, could be sad that comunism is over. You'll definitely enjoy the irony, the funny bits added by Old Mitu and Emilia's own strange but charming personality.( Her husband Țucu is very funny and easy-going too!)
Bonus! Emilia and Țucu are baffled how much Alice(their daughter) changed and how little their old Romanian ways are no longer important for the young people. (Loved this bit...and I understood both sides way to much for my own good! :))) )
Hope you like this book as much as I did!
Enjoy
Coming back to this novel, Dan Lungu managed to represent extremely well the old melancholic commies from my country. Emilia is very well characterized in this direction(giving us not only an in-depth view into her past and ideas(and how they formed), but a complete picture as a mom, wife and friend). I deeply enjoyed her memories! I laughed, I felt sorry for the misconceptions and i partly understood her..after all, Emilia is a simple woman who left her village for the city and mostly avoided being a target for the comunist party. Her life wasn't easy, but neither hard. She hustled for herself and her family, and THIS (the hustle) is the cornerstone of her inability to understand why her point of view is wrong. Although she saw hardships in the lives of other people, she just cannot comprehend why the others didn't manage to obtain oranges, a better job, an apartment, meat, etc...after all, for her all this was just a question of having the right connections/the right gift/ the right approach in order to achieve her goal. (I great irony is baked into her own relationship with her parents...great why to show us how narrow-minded we can be about our own stubbornness regarding what is good and what works in contrast to what is better and new to testing)
I really loved the little stories that act like little puzzle pieces around Emilia's present and past: Mrs Rozalia's life story; the present life of both Sanda(Emilia's little sister) and Aurelia(her old co-worker in the factory); Old Mitu and his anecdotes (^_^) and Emilia's subtle mentioning of injustice and her lack of power in opposing it.
I highly recommend this book if you have older relatives with Emilia's point of view, or if you're curious how come people , who suffered and didn't have enough heat, light and food, could be sad that comunism is over. You'll definitely enjoy the irony, the funny bits added by Old Mitu and Emilia's own strange but charming personality.( Her husband Țucu is very funny and easy-going too!)
Bonus! Emilia and Țucu are baffled how much Alice(their daughter) changed and how little their old Romanian ways are no longer important for the young people. (Loved this bit...and I understood both sides way to much for my own good! :))) )
Hope you like this book as much as I did!
Enjoy
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, and Classism