I don’t know why but I found The Man From St. Petersburg to be quite dleicous. Note, I did read it while watching Angry Mom, a 2015 Korean drama which was this year’s winner of the MBC contest. And this might have stunted my ability to adequately assess the book’s content, though I don’t really think it did. Either way, I liked it.
So as not to spoil the story if you intend to read it, I’ll simply say that I wish that Feliks and all that he was had been real. (You’ll understand once you get to the end of the book). This book was rahter a good mix of a lot of elements, all of which were very well portioned. Despite my lack of abilty in the visual department I enjoyed the visual elements quite a lot, I was able to make the comparisons and note the stark contrast between the classes and their lifestyles and dress. It was beautiful and disgusting at the same time to see how to peoples cold live side by side and yet so far apart.
I know the novel wasn’t about an assassination. And yet I don’t know what exactly it was about. I feel as though it may have been speaking to the changes which affect who we are and how we are. But I may be wrong, and I will need time to mull over the happenings of book and its characters, all clean and filthy simultaneous, all tattered, and broken, and whole and polished…Maybe that’s what the book is about…the duality of man…or is it something else entirely…?
All in all I quite enjoyed the novel, and I can’t wait to be enticed by another story. I’ve just began A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. The story seems interesting but I’m not being drawn to her visual elements. But I’ll tell you all about it after I’ve completed the book.
Have you read The Man From St. Petersburg by Ken Follet? What did you think of it? Was it worthwhile? What do you think the book was about? What it just about the story it unfolded? Or is there something beneath the visual words?
Journey to Being Free 
I had read through Sue Grafton’s books. I think up to the letter P. There was only a couple, though, that I thought were really good. The rest were so so.
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It’s just not gripping me, in the parts where I think it should. I will read her later novels, before I close the book on her. What’s your favourite book of hers and in general?
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I agree. I think I had read all the way to letter P or S. The whole time, I was hoping that she’d have another thought-provoking book. But I ended up just stop reading her books overall after that. Surprised it took me so long. Good thing I had expanded on my reading to other authors. I think there was only 2 books of hers which I had liked the most. Most likely it was letter A and I can’t remember which one was the other one. One of the early letters. Maybe G? Somewhere there.
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Ah, cool. Maybe you can return to her now. They should be drastically better.
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I’ve gotten some way into the book, and the problem hit me smack dab in the face. Everyone ‘except’ the protagonist feels real, tangible, and fully thought out. If the protagonist were a passer-by in the scheme of things I could overlook it. But unfortunately as a reader I have to spent most of my time with her thinking about her. I realized this as she moved between an interview and a scene where she was speaking about herself. I wanted more of the character, and when the protagonist-centred section of the story continued I was put off. At that point I realized I was reading the book to get to see the other characters because I simply find the protagonist dreadful. She feels like a botched up person filled with pieces of stereotypes mixed with the strong desire to not be stereotypical. This type of person could be interesting. But this protagonist isn’t based on the way she’s written.
I’m disheartened to read that. Thankfully, I’ve taken a break from the book since I’ve moved. I’ll tell you about that in later posts 😉
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