A review by iffer
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
2.0
The good:
-The idea of a children's book set in the Soviet Union
-Great pencil drawings by the author from interesting perspectives
-Possible educational/discussion tool for readers young and old about conformity, bullying, fear and right vs. wrong
-I'm glad that Yelchin made this novel to "expose and confront that fear [passed on from generation to generation"
The bad:
-I didn't feel anything while I was reading this book, which baffles me since the subject matter itself is not only interesting, but moving.
-Irritating that the illustration interrupted the prose, sometimes seeming to have a purpose and sometimes just because of a poor layout.
As you can see, it seems like there are more positives than negatives, but the first negative is a huge negative. The book is ambitious, even if it is a bit unclear who the intended audience is supposed to be, but it falls short because it doesn't have any emotional impact. It doesn't make the reader feel any of the pain, confusion and fear from interesting, varied perspectives; it merely describes them, if that.
-The idea of a children's book set in the Soviet Union
-Great pencil drawings by the author from interesting perspectives
-Possible educational/discussion tool for readers young and old about conformity, bullying, fear and right vs. wrong
-I'm glad that Yelchin made this novel to "expose and confront that fear [passed on from generation to generation"
The bad:
-I didn't feel anything while I was reading this book, which baffles me since the subject matter itself is not only interesting, but moving.
-Irritating that the illustration interrupted the prose, sometimes seeming to have a purpose and sometimes just because of a poor layout.
As you can see, it seems like there are more positives than negatives, but the first negative is a huge negative. The book is ambitious, even if it is a bit unclear who the intended audience is supposed to be, but it falls short because it doesn't have any emotional impact. It doesn't make the reader feel any of the pain, confusion and fear from interesting, varied perspectives; it merely describes them, if that.