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mikewa14's review against another edition
4.0
beautiful, lyrical language but sometimes difficult to follow - full review here
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/once-upon-river-love-andrei-makine.html
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/once-upon-river-love-andrei-makine.html
constantlorelai's review against another edition
4.0
There's something so effortlessly beautiful in the way Makine builds counterpoint and the dynamic of a story, from the heat of a carefully crafted erotic encounter to the depths of the main character's austere and harsh childhood in far-east soviet Siberia.
When most people start reading a book, they begin by adjusting to the pace of the narrative, trodding along the story, adjusting their expectations and getting acclimated to the intention of the narrator, maybe checking the page number every once in a while. Then, if they're lucky and they get caught up in the story, it all stops being words on a page and drifts naturally like the moving scenery outside a train window. For me, Makine's stories jump straight to the latter.
P. S. I do have the nagging feeling that it ended too soon though. That I wanted to know more of how Dimitri fled the USSR and how he kept the legacy of his childhood alive. The pacing of the book changes abruptly in the last 30 pages and it throws you off a bit. It doesn't take from the beauty of the narrative, but it leaves you wanting more.
When most people start reading a book, they begin by adjusting to the pace of the narrative, trodding along the story, adjusting their expectations and getting acclimated to the intention of the narrator, maybe checking the page number every once in a while. Then, if they're lucky and they get caught up in the story, it all stops being words on a page and drifts naturally like the moving scenery outside a train window. For me, Makine's stories jump straight to the latter.
P. S. I do have the nagging feeling that it ended too soon though. That I wanted to know more of how Dimitri fled the USSR and how he kept the legacy of his childhood alive. The pacing of the book changes abruptly in the last 30 pages and it throws you off a bit. It doesn't take from the beauty of the narrative, but it leaves you wanting more.
pipareykir's review against another edition
5.0
It's difficult to do justice to the kind of poetry used in English. So I'll use french:
Il s'agit de la transition d'une immobilité hivernale de l'enfance dans la taïga vers le mouvement et l'action de la vie adulte printanière engendrée par l'arrivée de Belmondo.
Il s'agit de la transition d'une immobilité hivernale de l'enfance dans la taïga vers le mouvement et l'action de la vie adulte printanière engendrée par l'arrivée de Belmondo.
annamarianfr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
4.0
Trupul ei, cristal topit şi fierbinte pe ţeava unui suflător de sticlă…
Mă auzi, Utkin? Aceea pe care-o evoc în discuţia noastră nocturnă de peste Atlantic va înflori sub pana ta febrilă. Trupul ei, cristal cu luciu cald de rubin, va deveni mat. Sânii i se vor întări colorându-se într-un roziu lăptos. Pe şolduri va avea un roi de aluniţe ― urmele degetelor tale nerăbdătoare.
Vorbeşte despre ea, Utkin!
Mă auzi, Utkin? Aceea pe care-o evoc în discuţia noastră nocturnă de peste Atlantic va înflori sub pana ta febrilă. Trupul ei, cristal cu luciu cald de rubin, va deveni mat. Sânii i se vor întări colorându-se într-un roziu lăptos. Pe şolduri va avea un roi de aluniţe ― urmele degetelor tale nerăbdătoare.
Vorbeşte despre ea, Utkin!
jamiereadthis's review against another edition
3.0
“[Nostalgia:] of the most terrible kind: for places and faces one has never seen. Which one mourns as being lost forever. Young savage that I was, I could not know that this was simply love that had not found its object.”
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