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A mind-bending contemporary Russian dark fantasy about a girl who becomes a Word.
Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2012, approximately 144,000 words (Originally published in Russian in 2007)
( If Leo Tolstoy wrote Harry Potter. )
Verdict: Vita Nostra does not fit neatly into a genre category. The translator calls it "urban psychological science fiction and fantasy." It's as much horror as fantasy, as much contemporary realism as it is magical realism. It's rather hard to describe and it was sometimes frustrating to read. There are many literary and historical allusions, and there were depths that I sensed lurking beneath this translation that might be more evident to its Russian audience.
I want you to read it (moreover, I want you to buy it — the ebook is only $2.99), because I want more of the Dyachenkos' work to be translated into English. But this is certainly a book that will not be to everyone's taste. If you like dark fantasy, I think you will like it. If you like Russian literature (and don't mind a fantastic element), you will definitely like it. But it's a very strange book, and it doesn't follow a standard Western fantasy arc. Things are described in vague, esoteric terms and the relevance and meaning is not always made clear to the reader, which forces you to swim in the same existential confusion afflicted upon the characters.
Supposedly Vita Nostra is now in pre-production as a Russian movie. I don't know if it will ever make it to Netflix, but if this movie does happen I'd really like to get my hands on a copy.
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My review of The Scar.
My complete list of book reviews.
Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2012, approximately 144,000 words (Originally published in Russian in 2007)
The words VITA NOSTRA, or "our life," come from an old Latin student anthem Gaudeamus : "Vita nostra brevis est, Brevi finietur" or "Our life is brief, It will shortly end ..."
The heroine of the novel has been forced into a seemingly inconceivable situation. Against her will, she must enter the Institute of Special Technologies. A slightest misstep or failure at school-and the students' loved ones pay a price. Governed by fear and coercion, Sasha will learn the meaning of the phrase "In the beginning was the word ..."
VITA NOSTRA is a thrilling journey into the deepest mysteries of existence, a dizzying adventure, an opening into a world that no one has ever described, a world that frightens and attracts the readers of the novel.
The novel combines the seemingly incongruous aspects-spectacular adventures and philosophical depth, incredible transformations and psychological accuracy, complexity of ethical issues and mundane details of urban life.
( If Leo Tolstoy wrote Harry Potter. )
Verdict: Vita Nostra does not fit neatly into a genre category. The translator calls it "urban psychological science fiction and fantasy." It's as much horror as fantasy, as much contemporary realism as it is magical realism. It's rather hard to describe and it was sometimes frustrating to read. There are many literary and historical allusions, and there were depths that I sensed lurking beneath this translation that might be more evident to its Russian audience.
I want you to read it (moreover, I want you to buy it — the ebook is only $2.99), because I want more of the Dyachenkos' work to be translated into English. But this is certainly a book that will not be to everyone's taste. If you like dark fantasy, I think you will like it. If you like Russian literature (and don't mind a fantastic element), you will definitely like it. But it's a very strange book, and it doesn't follow a standard Western fantasy arc. Things are described in vague, esoteric terms and the relevance and meaning is not always made clear to the reader, which forces you to swim in the same existential confusion afflicted upon the characters.
Supposedly Vita Nostra is now in pre-production as a Russian movie. I don't know if it will ever make it to Netflix, but if this movie does happen I'd really like to get my hands on a copy.
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My review of The Scar.
My complete list of book reviews.
