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Review
'A satire that strikes out in all directions... astonishingly funny and exquisitelywritten' Tibor Fischer, Sunday Telegraph
Guardian
`At once riotously cynical and disarmingly sweet, this rich satire rattles along at a speed that... brings plenty of laughs'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a fantastic book. I bought it to keep me company during a 5 week trip to Belarus, unfortunately the book was far better then the trip. The story of Misha bear, the son of a dead oligarch who inherits his fathers wealth and heads south to Absurdistan in order to somehow head West to his great love New York.
Absurdistan ( read Azerbaijan )is a corrupt, poor country reliant on oil wealth. It is into this world of corruption,intrigue and American king making that Misha and his deformed khui head. I read this book and was constantly thinking how clever the author is, cleverer then Rushdie at his best. There are poor reviews but I can only think that it went over peoples heads because I cannot fault it. Maybe my knowledge and love of Russia/Russians helped me enjoy it more then the average reader. Who knows and who cares? Not me, I loved it! Read it and you will think "WOW!"
Absurdistan ( read Azerbaijan )is a corrupt, poor country reliant on oil wealth. It is into this world of corruption,intrigue and American king making that Misha and his deformed khui head. I read this book and was constantly thinking how clever the author is, cleverer then Rushdie at his best. There are poor reviews but I can only think that it went over peoples heads because I cannot fault it. Maybe my knowledge and love of Russia/Russians helped me enjoy it more then the average reader. Who knows and who cares? Not me, I loved it! Read it and you will think "WOW!"
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Enjoy for the quality of the writing, the ideas, the black humour, and the cuts of deep satire.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this book up randomly at an airport bookshop and I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to anyone of my (and Shteyngart's)generation with a reasonably international outlook on life - particularly anyone with connections to Eastern Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East.
The reviews here haven't said much about the Jewish references in the book. They run through it all the way and I found them hilarious - Misha's proposal for a museum of Sevo-Jewish friendship was a particular high point. I live in Warsaw, where it's hard to get away from memories of the Holocaust, (and where they're currently building a museum of Polish-Jewish history) but this book provides a fascinating new take on how it may be perceived nowadays. Much more original than say, Safran Foer's maudlin novels.
As for the end of the book - which some of the reviewers here felt let down by - I was intrigued about the significance of the date, which is mentioned both at the beginning and the end. Misha gets out of Absurdistan early in the morning of September 11 2001. So we know what happens next, don't we?
The reviews here haven't said much about the Jewish references in the book. They run through it all the way and I found them hilarious - Misha's proposal for a museum of Sevo-Jewish friendship was a particular high point. I live in Warsaw, where it's hard to get away from memories of the Holocaust, (and where they're currently building a museum of Polish-Jewish history) but this book provides a fascinating new take on how it may be perceived nowadays. Much more original than say, Safran Foer's maudlin novels.
As for the end of the book - which some of the reviewers here felt let down by - I was intrigued about the significance of the date, which is mentioned both at the beginning and the end. Misha gets out of Absurdistan early in the morning of September 11 2001. So we know what happens next, don't we?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Drag
The book is a strange story about love, the affection for a beloved papa, for the city of New York, for a sweet and poor girl in the Bronx and for the INS (Immigration and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Toni Osborne
Perhaps not a masterpiece, but it's a fun read nonetheless.
The satirical Absurdistan is unfortunately an all too accurate account of life in the post-Soviet "-stans" of the world. The characters are exaggerated, but in a fun way. Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. Schmidt
Frustrated in his desires
Misha Borosovich Vainberg is thirty years old, enormously fat and the son of the 1,238th richest man in Russia. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Annoying
Having read the reviews, I was looking forward to a travel through an absurd universe. I was thoroughly disappointed though. The story rambles on pointlessly. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by M. Holst
Absurdly and inexplicably good book
This book is outside all my usual genre comfort zones, and probably everyone else's as well, but I found it outstanding, compelling, funny, shocking and moving. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2008 by Chestnut worm
A Comedic Fictional Masterpiece From Gary Shteyngart
"Absurdistan" is acclaimed Russian-American writer Gary Shteyngart's madcap exploration of post-Soviet Russia, chronicling its simultaneous emergence from the Socialist hell that... Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2008 by John Kwok
Not perfect but a decent absurd farce that keeps you reading
Maya J's review is spot on so I won't attempt to better that description of the plot points or the novel's blend of satire and farce, but I did want to add a couple of points to... Read more
Published on 16 July 2008 by Mr. Stuart Bruce
Finaly finished
After finishing this book i feel i have wasted 3 weeks of my life, the charactors are empty and i lost touch with most of them, there were some funny moments but not many and most... Read more
Published on 9 July 2008 by Mr. Mark Evans
Bland, meandering and just doesn't work
First off, I'm not going to proclaim this book is rubbish. It isn't. There are far worse you can easily get your hands on, far less intelligent and indeed I have read them... Read more
Published on 15 May 2008 by R. Spooner
Absurd is right
I read this because of the rave reviews in all the papers. I loved Confederacy of Dunces and thought this sounded just as clever and absurdly funny. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2008 by The Electric Ghost
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