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casspro's review against another edition
3.0
This is the type of book that I think went over my head at the time of my reading it. I love the concept of this bohemian-muse lifestyle gone awry. If I come across this book again, I'll definitely pick it up again.
abookishaffair's review
3.0
Tanya is a Russian girl growing up during the Soviet era. She becomes very interested in the story of the author Feodor Dostoevsky, his wife and his mistress. She decides that her purpose in life is to be a muse to a writer.
She immigrates to the U.S. and meets Mark, a writer who is supposedly interested in Dostoevsky. At first, Tanya is happy to play muse to Mark until she realizes that she is not really a muse to him but a mere human comfort and thus the story progresses.
I really enjoyed Vapynar's writing. She gave a real voice to Tanya although I wish that Mark had been fleshed out a little bit more. For being one of the central characters, he seemed a little flat and not particularly personable but then again, that could have been the author's intention.
She immigrates to the U.S. and meets Mark, a writer who is supposedly interested in Dostoevsky. At first, Tanya is happy to play muse to Mark until she realizes that she is not really a muse to him but a mere human comfort and thus the story progresses.
I really enjoyed Vapynar's writing. She gave a real voice to Tanya although I wish that Mark had been fleshed out a little bit more. For being one of the central characters, he seemed a little flat and not particularly personable but then again, that could have been the author's intention.
qualitypretzels's review
5.0
I liked this better than her award winning short stories. There was this really familiar Russian style and feel to the whole book. Admittedly I liked the beginning most, and the Chekhovian style was harder to see in the agonizing romance, but I found the plot meaningful. Yeah, she's a somewhat pathetic character, and that's what her society/family set her up to achieve. It's a simple book about a culture cast in sharp relief over hypocritical American ideals and dreams, which is really fascinating to me. Drawing out that culture clash as she does, I think this is a really worthwhile read.
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