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Jun. 19th, 2007 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
decemberthirtyI finished Debra Dean’s The Madonnas of Leningrad yesterday. Thank god that’s over. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too harsh; it’s not that it’s an offensively bad book, it’s just that it’s a big nothing. It felt very empty and superficial, like it had been imagined too shallowly. The book relates a very powerful bit of history, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the siege of Leningrad, but the book derives its only power from historical reality. In my opinion this makes it unsuccessful as a piece of fiction. Anybody looking to read a really good story about siege and the release from siege should seek out Courtney Brkic’s story Stillness instead of this book. Now that’s an example of compelling writing.
I think a large part of my frustration with The Madonnas of Leningrad stems from how long it took me to read it. It was barely over 200 pages of very non-challenging writing—why did it take me two weeks to get through it? (The answer, of course, is that I become petulant and resentful when forced to do things I don’t like—even when I’m the one doing the forcing—so I was forever putting the book down in annoyance and not coming back to it for two days.) I really should try to get better at pushing myself through things I don’t like. Either that or I should learn to stop reading something before I get all mad because I’ve wasted my time!
It’s a shame that The Madonnas of Leningrad was so disappointing, because this is the last book that I’ll read with my book club. We read a lot of this sort of thing when we first started out (by “this sort of thing” I mean uninteresting books: The Kite Runner, Reading Lolita in Tehran, At Weddings and Wakes), but we’ve gotten into some really decent stuff in the past year or so. I’m going to miss this book club when I’m off at grad school.
I think a large part of my frustration with The Madonnas of Leningrad stems from how long it took me to read it. It was barely over 200 pages of very non-challenging writing—why did it take me two weeks to get through it? (The answer, of course, is that I become petulant and resentful when forced to do things I don’t like—even when I’m the one doing the forcing—so I was forever putting the book down in annoyance and not coming back to it for two days.) I really should try to get better at pushing myself through things I don’t like. Either that or I should learn to stop reading something before I get all mad because I’ve wasted my time!
It’s a shame that The Madonnas of Leningrad was so disappointing, because this is the last book that I’ll read with my book club. We read a lot of this sort of thing when we first started out (by “this sort of thing” I mean uninteresting books: The Kite Runner, Reading Lolita in Tehran, At Weddings and Wakes), but we’ve gotten into some really decent stuff in the past year or so. I’m going to miss this book club when I’m off at grad school.
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Date: 2007-06-19 05:24 pm (UTC)I occassionally wonder why I don't just stop reading them if I hate them so much, but of course the answer is that I am stubborn as a mule.
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Date: 2007-06-19 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-19 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-19 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-19 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 08:16 pm (UTC)As a collection, Stillness has it's strengths and weaknesses, but the title story is really remarkable. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Kiwi !
That 10ct piece Kiwi-Money caught my attention.
(we really R an international lot here !)
*grins