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'While the author may have been troubled by the inherent contradictions of Marxist-Leninism, his real subject is more universal than that. He is not simply interested in how a group of Russian intellectuals can exhibit great humanity one moment, and then embark on a programme of systematic mass murder the next, but in how human beings per se are capable of behaving in such a manner. In this light, cocaine isn't a metaphor so much as a magnifying glass.' --Toby Young
'Ageyev's is a cautionary tale which lays its morals on thick.' --Times Literary Supplement
'Ageyev's is a cautionary tale which lays its morals on thick.' --Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
Struggling with the confusion and insecurities that adolescence brings, Vadim seeks an outlet for his frustration. Yet following unfulfilling attempts at classroom rebellion, filial disobedience and teenage sex, he is drawn closer and closer into the world of illicit drugs. But as his desire to experiment with narcotics grows stronger, so too do his feelings of worthlessness and isolation, and his ultimate physical surrender to cocaine mirrors his nation's psychological capitulation to a world where morals no longer apply. A Romance with Cocaine is an extraordinary work, and astonishingly prescient for its time.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unlike most so-called 'drug fiction', the narrative of Ageyev's novel is actually multifaceted,and although the cocaine abuse of the protagonist, Vadim Maslennikov, is an important aspect of the novel, it does not constitute its single overriding theme. As the protagonist recalls his bourgeois Russian adolescence, the reader is given an insight into the peculiarities of his schoolyard fraternity as well as his sadistic attitude towards his well-meaning mother. His sexual encounters and flawed relationship with a married older woman also play an important role in the novel's narrative. Cocaine is finally introduced more than half way into the novel, and the intense paranoia, which the protagonist experiences from its usage, is vividly described. The nihilistic philosophising, which its usage provokes appears as reminiscent of Dostoyevsky as the protagonist's eventual ruination. In short, this is a fantastically bleak, at times humorous, Russian novel that seldom gets the recognition it deserves. It also predates the supposedly iconic, but actually quite banal, drug fiction that came out of America in the twentieth century in the form of Kerouac et al.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is an enormous travesty that this book has not been picked up on during the recent surge of interest in Russian literature. The writing of this book is shrowded in mystery, no one really knows who the authour was or anything about him, the book was unpublished in his lifetime and the last anyone ever heard of him was in a Turkish lunatic asylum. Judging by the subjects takled in this book it's not too duffiucult to imagine how he ended up there. Novel with cocaine is the story of a young Russian boy's decent into cocaine adiction in a bachanalian Russian underworld. However, this book would be more correctly considered to be about the philosophical struggles of a young man suffering from, often quite justified, self loathing. Vadim, the main character behaves repugnently, often understanding the goodness and pure motives of the people he hurts. We are party to his inner thought processes as he commits such acts as knowingly infecting a girl with venerial dease, hitting and stealing from his mother ect ect.
If it sounds grim, that's because it is, but it is also a fascinating, gripping and revolting ride into the extistential loathing of a young man living before the time of the Revolution.
It's fabulous.
If it sounds grim, that's because it is, but it is also a fascinating, gripping and revolting ride into the extistential loathing of a young man living before the time of the Revolution.
It's fabulous.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A truly amazing book. The way in which the sensation of taking cocaine is described is done in such a way as to carry the reader with Masslenikov as he experiences the ups and downs, and when he starts to come down, you realise that you have read around 50 pages in what seems like seconds. Ageyev (or whoever he really is) is one of the true master storytellers. The only disappointment at the end of the book is that there is nothing else like it ever written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
over the edge
This novel - Burroughs cut with Dostoevsky just might cover it - is fascinating (see other review for summary) and joins the long list of superb explorations of psycho-social... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2007 by gabrial
Too much novel, not enough cocaine.
This is the mysterious book that Richey Edwards - former lyricist & rhythm guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers - gave to a friend shortly before his disappearance, asking her... Read more
Published on 8 April 2000 by Mark F. Spence
A little-known masterpiece.
This is a brilliantly intricate and riveting character study of a Russian boy in his late teens who moves from a strict Catholic school system through early relationships with... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 1999
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