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A review by constantlorelai
Pe vremea fluviului Amur by Andreï Makine
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.