Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by prcizmadia
Niki: The Story of a Dog by Tibor Dery
5.0
I should have known better than to read a book about a dog. They're too tightly enmeshed with the highest and lowest points of my life, and have always buttressed me from the worst. I've never felt equal to them and I can't approach this kind of work un-emotionally.
I know there's other layers to this work, some that I can grasp and some that flutter beyond my outstretched fingers... but at the end of the day, seeing the struggle of the Ancsas and Niki to live their ideal lives against an unfeeling system broke me a little bit. It's very simple to see this as a fable condemning a Stalinist state, but I find that too simple. I found it about the struggle, and the suffering, that comes from being denied the ability to live your ideal life. The *real* ideal life, one stripped of the demands of any societal structure, one centered on our loved ones and the ability to experience real human beauty. When we are denied that, we are diminished, and we lose so much along the way.
This is hardly a useful review for anyone but I've been in these shoes before, and their pain and determination really struck a chord with me. I've scarcely had such an emotional reaction to a book before and I think that's worth something.
I know there's other layers to this work, some that I can grasp and some that flutter beyond my outstretched fingers... but at the end of the day, seeing the struggle of the Ancsas and Niki to live their ideal lives against an unfeeling system broke me a little bit. It's very simple to see this as a fable condemning a Stalinist state, but I find that too simple. I found it about the struggle, and the suffering, that comes from being denied the ability to live your ideal life. The *real* ideal life, one stripped of the demands of any societal structure, one centered on our loved ones and the ability to experience real human beauty. When we are denied that, we are diminished, and we lose so much along the way.
This is hardly a useful review for anyone but I've been in these shoes before, and their pain and determination really struck a chord with me. I've scarcely had such an emotional reaction to a book before and I think that's worth something.