The Tsar of Love and Techno

• Marra portrays a society built on betrayal, pollution, lies, and bullying, where art, music, fantasy, even survival, can represent quiet acts of rebellion. As in his acclaimed novel, Marra finds in Chechnya an inspiration his for his uniquely funny, tragic, bizarre, and memorable fiction.

• More importantly, they share a command of place and character that strikingly reimagines nearly a century of changes in Russia. In the opener, “The Leopard,” a communist censor in 1937 secretly inserts his disappeared brother’s face in the photos he retouches—a fact that re-emerges in later stories and also serves as a symbol for how what’s lost in Russia never quite disappears.

• Excellent writing, compelling characters, and vividly horrific settings bring such power to this collection of nine interlocking stories spanning 75 years (1937-2013), from the great terror of Stalin’s Soviet Russia through post Soviet Putin Russia. The locations are as interesting as the characters and plot lines.

• The storytelling is fascinating. Each small story stands on its own, but strung together they form one grand narrative. There aren't many books dealing with this theme, and the author's narrative approach is delightfully innovative. I really liked it.

• Extremely ingenious and wonderful to read. The background figures in the stories all eventually get their own chapters, coming together into a profound reflection on the era. Kolya's story was probably the most brilliant of all.

1 / 5