Olga Grushin

Autore di The Dream Life of Sukhanov

4+ opere 1,143 membri 86 recensioni 3 preferito

Sull'Autore

Olga Grushin was born in Moscow, Russia in 1971. She moved to the United States as a teenager. Her first novel, The Dream Life of Sukhanov, won the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award. Her other works include The Line and Forty Rooms. (Bowker Author Biography)

Comprende il nome: Olga Grushin

Opere di Olga Grushin

Popolari Recenti

The Dream Life of Sukhanov (2005) 606 copie

The Line (2010) 248 copie

Forty Rooms (2016) 159 copie

The Charmed Wife (2021) 130 copie

Esplora le opere

Opere correlate

Granta 97: Best of Young American Novelists 2 (2007) — Collaboratore — 196 copie

Granta. 5 : Venäjä : uuden kirjallisuuden areena (2015) 2 copie

Etichette

2010 (4) 2021 (4) Adulto (4) Americano (6) ARC (6) Arte (22) artisti (4) Censura (7) Comunismo (11) da leggere (155) donne (4) EBook (7) Famiglia (6) Fantasy (14) fiabe (7) kindle (7) Letterario (5) Letteratura (7) Letteratura americana (7) letteratura moderna (5) Letteratura russa (35) letto (4) letto nel 2016 (4) lista dei desideri (4) Mosca (12) Musica (6) Narrativa (172) narrativa letteraria (16) narrativa russa (15) Novecento (6) prima edizione (5) retelling (6) Romanzi per adulti (4) Romanzo (23) romanzo storico (6) Russia (80) Russian (34) sogni (5) Unione Sovietica (27) XXI secolo (10)

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Informazioni generali

Data di nascita: 1971
Sesso: female
Nazionalità: Russia (birth)
USA (2002)
Luogo di nascita: Moscow, Russia
Luogo di residenza: Washington, D.C., USA
Moscow, Russia
Prague, Czech Republic
Istruzione: Pushkin Institute for Russian Studies, Moscow
Moscow State University
Emory University
Attività lavorative: translator
editor
novelist
Premi e riconoscimenti: Granta's Best Of Young American Novelists (2007)
Shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers
Agente: Warren Frazier

Utenti

Discussioni

brenzi's 2013 Reading - Opening Round in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (Gennaio 2013)

Recensioni

The Dream Life of Sukhanov di Olga Grushin

Anatoly Sukhanov is a Soviet apparatchik, editor of Moscow's Art of the World magazine and author of such Party-approved works as "Surrealism and other Western "Isms" as Manifestations of Capitalist Insolvency". As the novel begins, in a Soviet Union shortly after the ascension of Gorbachev, he is simply another soulless Soviet official ready to be mocked and condemned by another Russian novelist. As the novel unfolds, however, that is not what happens. As glasnost begins to thaw the political environment around him, Sukhanov's past, which he has long frozen out of his consciousness, also thaws and bubbles up first through his dreams, then takes over his waking life as he suffers what appears to be a nervous breakdown.

Grushin's novel ultimately raises interesting questions. In a totalitarian society, is it more admirable to stay true to yourself, or to do what you must to provide for those you love? If it is admirable to risk severe hardship for your ideals, does that remain the case when your family shares your fate with you? And what cost can those choices exact?

A very good book, especially if you have an interest in art and Russia.… (altro)

Segnalato

lelandleslie | 30 altre recensioni | Feb 24, 2024 |

Forty Rooms di Olga Grushin

4.5

Segnalato

mmcrawford | 13 altre recensioni | Dec 5, 2023 |

The Charmed Wife di Olga Grushin

Gosh that was good. When is a fairy tale not a fairy tale? And what happens when the fairy tale ends? What if you thought you were in a fairy tale and it wasn't what you expected? Happily ever after only happens in fairy tales, right? But what happens when that "happily ever after " wears off and you have to face reality. To face your own flaws and problems, to quit hiding behind a fairy tale idea of what the world should be. To discover that maybe it wasn't love but escape or impossible dreams.

Segnalato

pacbox | 7 altre recensioni | Jul 9, 2022 |

The Charmed Wife di Olga Grushin

On the surface, this is a modern telling of the aftermath of Cinderella’s wedding to Prince Charming, one in which the prince cheats on his young wife, they angrily separate, and she summons a witch to get revenge on him. That may not sound terribly imaginative, but the way Grushin tells the story, blending fantasy with reality and infusing it with psychological insights along the way, makes it an enjoyable read. I loved how she added nuance to all of the characters, showing different sides to the prince, the young woman he marries after an enchanted ball (who is the narrator of the story), her two stepsisters, the fairy godmother, and the wicked witch. I also loved how she cleverly shifted the traditional fairytale setting into the present in a gradual way without ever explaining it, which justified the out of order storytelling that I didn’t care much for initially. The little bits of bawdiness, the humor, and the portrait of the struggle of a marriage that’s not working all kept it entertaining.

I confess that other elements didn’t work as well for me, such as the side story of the two mice and their ancestors who live with them, which I thought didn’t add anything. There were points at which I thought the fantasy aspects sprawled and the reality aspects were repetitive, as there are a lot of randy, adulterous men here. Getting the perspective of an intelligent woman for both the traditional fairy tale and a modern day marriage, the quality of the writing, and not knowing what each new chapter would bring all won me over though. Grushin is a joy to read, and I like the breadth that she shows, with each of her books being unique.… (altro)