I thought that overall the book was quite good, though it starts off in a way that I found quite predictable (aparatchik male with unsatisfied beautiful and silent wife, alienation from kids who represent two sides of his character and are diametrically opposed, etc.) I also did not always appreciate how at times the paragraph would be in the third person and then morph into the first person. Later, this kind of mechanism was intergrated in a way that worked better, given the kind of "unthreading" of the mental state of the protagonist.

I am glad that I've done a lot of reading on the period (in fact, if I hadn't read Orlando Figes' The Whisperers, I would have not understood the corridor living situation of Moscow that is described in various parts of the book).

I truly enjoyed all of the discussions about art history (not so much those about the magic of art) in particular the description of Rublev.

In all, it was a good read.

.....Much later after finishing this wonderful book.

I did talk a few people into reading this. The first, Margaret, who has read many, many books over the decades immediately declared that she could call it the best book she's ever read too. Phew. I was afraid I was not overselling it, but creating a situation where expectation could not equal experience.

The review is here, unchanged since I first put it on GR:

https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...

On the book club list. Just started it; always been fascinated by Stalinist culture, but have only read history; this looks like my first foray into the life inside the cultural elites...

And now, I have finished it. Very disappointed. What could have been an interesting story about the mid-life crisis of a Soviet cultural bureaucrat who'd traded his creative potential for a place of privilege ended up being an overheated melodrama. Or, it could have been abstracted a bit and been an engaging work on the tension between following a calling and fitting in, or whether an artist has an obligation to use their talents or follow their muse (or even has a choice in the matter). Clearly Grushin was trying to accomplish something along those lines, but every event was portentious, every second significant; there were no casual glances - it was so pressurized that in quiet moments I heard a Hammond organ in the background, and in the heated ones a pipe organ playing the opening bars of the Tocatta in D-minor, and the whole house fell down under the weight of the paint... Well, at least Grushin tried, I will give her credit for that; this is not an easy sort of story to write well. And she shared the "critical moment" when Sukhanov decided to sell his soul; I was afraid that he would be found dying in the snow, muttering "Rosebud, rosebud..." and we readers would be left standing around wondering WTF?!?!?!

An excellent first book by Olga Grushin, who was born in Russia but now lives in US. Not surprisingly, the book has many classical "Russian" themes: struggle, identity, guilt, salvation. Given that Ms. Grushin studied art history Moscow, it's also not surprising that art, in various capacities, has a dominant presence in the book (Her ideas about Dali, Chagall, and Surrealism are especially thought provoking.) What is surprising is how wonderful her language is given that English is her third language! The beauty of her words corresponds very nicely to the beauty of art being discussed by her characters in the story. I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could!

4.4

În câte feluri îți poți pierde sufletul într-o viață?
Într-o pendulare continuă între realitate și irealitate, ce poate fi ușor obositoare pentru unii cititori, Olga identifică multe momente-cheie din viețile protagoniștilor, momente în care se fac compromisuri, care schimbă traiectorii, care rescriu istoria familială în particular și istoria artei, în general.

Pentru mine a fost o lectură de plăcere, stilul autoarei părându-mi foarte savuros, iar subiectul, asemenea. Am avut însă rețineri față de modul de prezentare a contextului politic și a întregii discuții pornite în jurul realismului socialist vs suprearealism, părându-mi cam pogramatic totul. Nu mai insist, că nu-i momentul potrivit.

Surreal evocation of Soviet life.

Can I just say: WOW. And not just because Grushin is a Russian lady writing in beautiful, crisp, evocative English, that's grand and all, but what an approach to a classic subject matter! She addresses the things we (aspiring writers, artists and such) think about constantly, mumble to ourselves and talk to others, passionately when drunk: what is talent? can it be confused with youth and energy? does an artist have a duty to fulfill himself, and at what expense to his family and friends? is to create a right or a luxury? what's the purpose of art in society? and what price is too high to pay for staying true to one's ideals in a life, in a country, in a time when everything is shifting and changing.
and then, there is the question of crazy...I'll leave it at that.
I recommend the book highly-highly. Would be curious to see what everyone else thinks.
Grushin was named one of Granta's best young writers this year blah blah blah and if you read it, you'll see why.

I discovered Olga Grushin by chance. I thought her to be an elegant, refined, generous, kind, friendly, fiercely intelligent woman, the type of woman that you just fall in love with. A sweetheart! I had no idea that she was an author. I just knew her as a very accomplished and ambitious reader. When it finally dawned on me that she was the author of several novels, I knew I had to read her! I always wanted to save her for a beach vacation where I could devote myself to reading without any interruptions. Book Twitter being what it is tempted me to read Olga during these crazy quarantine times.
Reading Olga's The Dream Life of Sukhanov, I suddenly felt guilty of imposter syndrome! How was I on friendly terms with such a sophisticated and brilliant writer? She was amazing! The sentences, so well crafted, the story riveting! This was an author that I wanted to share and have all my friends read. To be in her mind, what an experience!
Utterly delightful!! You will read. You will laugh.
You will also have an unexpected craving for tangerines!

I must say I really enjoyed spending these hours with Sukhanov. Some people say this book is overwritten; I personally think that despite the author only living her young years in the Soviet Union, she really captured the essence of the Soviet reality of art, through wars, revolutions, through the life of an artist of no wings, and on top of that, the story sets in my birth year, 1985:) This, to me, was a journey in the world of art and dreams, covered in Russian viewpoints and thoughts. I'll be looking forward to read more by this author for sure!

The best book I have read in a really long time. I'm partial to it, of course, because the novel floats through the world of artists in Soviet Russia. (How could I not love a book like that?) The book really shines, though, because Grushin's prose has that special something that makes the story absolutely haunting and unpredictable. At any moment you feel like her characters could find redemption, come across a ghost, walk away from life as they knew it, or throw themselves off a bridge, and it would be profound, regardless. It makes me feel good to know that people can still write like this. Read this book.

Wow! Another npr recommendation that was so beautifully written taking you places in the mind you may not have even known you had.

Beautiful, vivid, elegant, lyrical writing - a discerning and earnest take on a character that is often disparaged and reduced to a loathsome trope in Russian literature. An underground artist turned Soviet apparatchik portrayed through a sequence of events that seamlessly oscillate between dreams, reality and the past. A pact made with the devil (Soviet Socialist Realism) that slowly devolves into madness and regret. A story of meaning of integrity in the face of Soviet repression and fear-mongering, consequential choices rooted in one’s upbringing, and the impossible choices we are forced to make whether on our behalf or at the cost of becoming a Martyr for our loved one’s safety.