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Title: No Saints or Angels by Ivan Klima, Gerald Turner ISBN: 0-8021-3923-X Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Alienation and meaning
Comment: This is the first, but certainly not the last, book by Ivan Klima I have read. The divorced woman, estranged from father, not understanding her teenage daughter, young lover book blurb lead to very low expectations. Instead I discovered a well-written, thought-provoking book that explores, among other things, the role of religion in providing meaning. While some of this theme relates back to childhood experience of "church" without understanding of the ritual, some relates to using belief as the motivating force in drug rehabilitation and some relates to politics as a substitute for religion. Placed in a world in transition - WWII, Communism and post-communist - the setting permits the plot to explore a variety of views and a variety of ways to adjust to the changes views. If you like thought-provoking novels, this is for you.
Rating: 4
Summary: Continuity
Comment: The theme of countries that were brutalized by Germany in World War II only to then face new masters in the form of The Soviet Union has been written before. Ivan Klima adds a new terrible aspect to this history that portrays those that survived as persons suffering from an even more acute pain, if that is possible. The book is unrelenting in the revelations and histories of characters both alive and dead, and while there is some hope in the novel, it is fairly gray, a deep shade of gray.
The author increases the pain his characters must deal with by making them much more than simply survivors. He burdens them with family histories that contributed either to their family's pain, or the pain of their nation. Then there is the complication of the deceptions that one-generation feels is necessary to protect the youngest in the family's line. While well intended and expeditious, invariably it is the wrong decision to make, and the negative consequences it provokes are worse than the original truth. Deception also presupposes that those being mislead are ignorant of the truth, and will remain that way, bad presumption and bad consequences.
The author also presents the consequences of lost continuity. In a macro sense the subject is war, arguably the greatest disruptor of history, and on a micro level there are the relationships, or what pass for relationships, that are either fragments of what they should be, are based on false presumptions, or wrongly credited actions.
There is a wealth of human drama that takes place in this book as the author displays the results of decisions that may be taken by one generation, resented and hated by the next, and still continue to harm the generations that follow.
Rating: 4
Summary: Klima is still great
Comment: In Ivan Kilma's newest piece of fiction, he once again transports us to the magical and alienating world of Prague after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The book is not his best (see Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light, or Love and Garbage), however, it is a good introduction to the writing of this master author. His character development is profound, and his ability to narrate is forceful. The reason for four instead of five stars lies in the pessimism that dominates the book. It makes you think, but reminds you how horrible the fact that life often does not turn out as you expected.
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Title: No Matter How Much You Promise . . . : A Symphonic Novel by Edgardo Vega Yunqué ISBN: 0374223114 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Pub. Date: 08 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by PHILIP PULLMAN ISBN: 0679879242 Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: 16 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Little Friend by Donna Tartt ISBN: 1400031699 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Geometric Regional Novel by Gert Jonke, Johannes W. Vazulik ISBN: 156478231X Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $11.50 |
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Title: The Search for M (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and Thought. Translation Series) by Doron Rabinovici, Francis Michael Sharp ISBN: 1572410884 Publisher: Ariadne Press (CA) Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.50 |
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