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Title: Archangel by Robert Harris ISBN: 0-515-12748-5 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: February, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.57 (107 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Wasted Premise
Comment: I enjoyed very much the first part, where the true thrilling factor were the ghosts of Stalinism conjuring over Russia's future. Then something happened to the author (I guess this is the greatest mystery of the book) and once Fluke and his journalist pal leave Moscow, the book degrades into a cheap "page-turner". Understanding institutional violence under Stalinism is no easy task, but the answer cannot be sought in the Archangelsk tundra. The Guy who lives in the wilderness, and who owes his discursive identity to Stalin, is a recycled version of Huxley's Savage, in "Brave New World"; but Harris (or whoever wrote the second part of the novel) has no time to develop the idea into a full-blown allegory. I enjoyed the portraying of the various "Soviet" dinosaurs as much as I did enjoy the atmosphere of the post-communist Moscow: the analogy with Weimar is quite to the point, but it so happens that Harris, in search of some more "twist", hits on the remote control, and takes us to the Tundra, where everything is much simpler. The premise is wasted, the reader frustrated.
Rating: 4
Summary: A fast paced novel that looks into the soul of russia
Comment: In his latest novel, Harris truly makes an admirable attempt to illustrate the deep and lasting effect Communism marooned upon modern day Russian society. Archangel accurately and in great detail isolates the true origins of Communist thought and cleverly incorporates it in a successful and fast paced plot of a modern day mystery.
Harris takes the reader on a journey into the heart of Russia, modern day Moscow, and then for a look into its soul, the far north. The reader follows an unlikely set of characters as they attempt to solve a decade old mystery involving the private writings of J.V. Stalin.
Although the novel is generally well written, the characters come off as stereotypical. They include a pesky, obnoxious reporter, a geeky, eccentric professor, and a street hooker attending law school.
The authors descriptive abilities are outstanding, and combined with thorough research, leave the reader just short of standing along side the characters every step of the way.
What personally amazed me the most was the author's ability to make historical figures come to life. The lives and personalities of Stalin and his Politburo jump out at the reader, leaving a lasting impression.
The plot, although rich in detail and historical fact, at times seems to travel off into absurd or unrealistic, which in my opinion simply makes it that much funner to read.
A great book for history buffs, mystery lovers, and all other Harris fans.
Rating: 4
Summary: Revival of Stalinism
Comment: Robert Harris adroitly weaves together historical fact and a healthy dose of fiction to create a perculiar sequence of events that compose the backbone of "Archangel".
British Russian history professor and Stalin expert Christopher "Fluke" Kelso is attending a symposium in Moscow with fellow academicians. Kelso, in his room at the Ukraina hotel is listening to a story being told to him by an elderly Russian septagenarian Papu Rapava. Rapava was once an army lieutenant and driver to the Chief of Secret Police and member of Stalin's inner circle, Lavrenty Beria. Beria was summoned to Stalin's residence to learn that his boss, the general secretary had been felled by a debilitating stroke. While lying on the floor semi comatose, Beria pilfered a key around Stalin's neck and opened his safe. He seized a black oilskin writing book which contained the murderous and suspicious despot's most personal correspondence. Beria with the help of Rapava buried the book in a secret location.
Beria had soon been executed in a power struggle for the reins of leadership in the Soviet government. Rapava was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in the Siberian gulag. The book remained hidden.
Rapava's tale motivated Kelso to search for the legendary book. Using Rapava's daughter Zinaida, a part time hooker, part time law student, Kelso against the wishes of varied Russian agencies schemed to recover the prized book.
Harris did a nice descriptive job in his depictation of present day Russia, stuck between the old ways of Communism and the bleak incomplete democracy that exists today.
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Title: Pompeii: A Novel by ROBERT HARRIS ISBN: 0679428895 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Fatherland by Robert Harris ISBN: 0061006629 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 15 May, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Enigma by Robert Harris ISBN: 0804115486 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Snow Wolf by Glenn Meade ISBN: 0312962118 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Sands of Sakkara by Glenn Meade ISBN: 0312971087 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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