The Secret History of Moscow

Posted on 16 November 2017 by Ekaterina Sedia

Every city contains secret places Moscow in the tumultuous 1990s is no different, its citizens seeking safety in a world below the streets a dark, cavernous world of magic, weeping trees, and albino jackdaws, where exiled pagan deities and faerytale creatures whisper strange tales to those who would listen Galina is a young woman caught, like her contemporaries, in the seeming lawlessness of the new Russia In the midst of this chaos, her sister Maria turns into a jackdaw and flies away prompting Galina to join Yakov, a policeman investigating a rash of recent disappearances Their search will take them to the underground realm of hidden truths and archetypes, to find themselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, honor and betrayal the secret history of Moscow. Free Download [ The Secret History of Moscow ] author [ Ekaterina Sedia ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr The Secret History of Moscow is, judging by the wide range of reviews, the literary equivalent of an optical illusion You might read it and feel disconnected from the characters, as if you were living in a grey ice slushy day with errands to run that mean wet boots and snow down your neck Or you might read it and see the characters as part of a cultural mosaic, set against the background of gentle, fat flakes of snow falling out of a soft grey sky, the air crisp and fresh The first time I read The Secret History of Moscow is, judging by the wide range of reviews, the literary equivalent of an optical illusion You might read it and feel disconnected from the characters, as if you were living in a grey ice slushy day with errands to run that mean wet boots and snow down your neck Or you might read it and ...I really want to talk about crack babies to talk about how I feel about this book That s what I m thinking about Mariel, they are born into a disrupted world and missing a chemical spiritual whatever balance and then I think crack babies cause my attention span is shot and I m a half thought kinda person on good days I d take a picture of my mind map and the connect the dots if I could They show a picture of a dog s head when joined Because that s what my mind thinks of when it think I really want to talk about crack babies to talk about how I feel about this book That s what I m thinking about Mariel, they are born into a disrupted world and missing a chemical spiritual whatever balance and then I think crack babies cause my attention span is shot and I m a half thought kinda person on good days I d take a picture of my mind map and the connect the dots if I could They show a picture of a dog s head when joined Because that s what my mind thinks of when it thinks of Russia I ve collected images of Russia that are probably not normal One of them is The Golden Girls dream sequence of the girls visiting the country in Soviet era My mind was at odds with what I was reading and what I wanted to read about Like, I had ideas and feelings under the surface and then none of them happened My heart was in the wrong place It s not good to read a book that is all over in what it wants to say when you re mind is already all ...Nakon tre ine knjige nisam bila optimisti na Iz naslova i opisa sam o ekivala jedno, po etak knjige mi je najavio udnu misteriju i ubrzan tempo i onda se odjednom sve razvodnilo I u tom trenu se treba vratiti i razmisliti o naslovu, jer ova knjiga je stvarno tajna povijest moskve , pri a kroz poglavlja razli ite kratke pri e, pri a o slavenskoj mitologiji, i ruskoj kulturi Radnja s po etka je samo pokreta i ne e biti tako brza kako se mo da u po etku o ekuje Meni je knjiga divna, i iako Nakon tre ine knjige nisam bila optimisti na Iz naslova i opisa sam o ekivala jedno, po etak knjige mi je najavio udnu misteriju i ubrzan tempo i onda se odjednom sve razvodnilo I u tom t...The Secret History of Moscow reads like a fusion of Neil Gaiman s Neverwhere and American Gods, only set in Moscow and populated by Slavic deities.On the one hand I can t say that I m much enamoured by any of our protagonists, which is not to say that they are not good characters They are, in fact, rather well written individuals with layers of personality and lots of spirit I just happen not to like any of them As always, I ve fallen for the minor league players It s doublyfascinating The Secret History of Moscow reads like a fusion of Neil Gaiman s Neverwhere and American Gods, only set in Moscow and populated by Slavic deities.On the one hand I can t say that I m much enamoured by any of our protagonists, which is not to say that they are not good characters They are, in fact, rather well written individuals with layers of personality and lots of spirit I just happen not to like any of them As always, I ve fallen for the minor league players It s doublyfascinating when Sedia writes for them their own mini biographies What isinteresting than hearing about other peoples lives provided that they lived something worth listening to Moscow itself is that rather well used picture of a grey and used city Its citizens seem to live on the edge or barely live at all remembering either the glorious past or the bleakness of the present It s something that s rather typical in Russian literature from Tolstoy and Chekhov to Lukyanenko and his compatriots It wo...Ova knjiga je pravi uzitak za svakog ljubitelja slovenske mitologije i ruskih bajki Pomalo nalik Americkim bogovima, ali ipak pravo osvezenje u moru zapadnjacke fantastike.I don t know a lot about Moscow, or even Russia in general If I hadfree time, I would devote some of it to feeling guilty for this gap in my knowledge Some day I might even get around to rectifying it by reading some informative books on the subject, rather than fantasy which, I m given to understand, is not always 100% factual odd, that But not today No, today I ll talk about The Secret History of Moscow, in all its dark and magical glory.Ekaterina Sedia writes fairy tales The Alc I don t know a lot about Moscow, or even Russia in general If I hadfree time, I would devote some of it to feeling guilty for this gap in my knowledge Some da...2.5When I saw the reviews for this book I saw it discussed as a mixture of Neverwhere and American Gods two books I love from Neil Gaiman And while the comparison is a fair one when it comes to the premise of the story, it doesn t really live up to the comparison in execution.I wanted to love this book It s right up my alley, and it s a book that I should ve loved, but while it was interesting, it just sort of fell flat I think mostly it s because the characters never seemed really develope 2.5When I saw the reviews for this book I saw it discussed as a mixture of Neverwhere and American Gods two books I love from Neil Gaiman And while the comparison is a fair one when it comes to the premise of the story, it doesn t really live up to the comparison in execution.I wanted to love this book It s right up my alley, and it s a book that I should ve loved, but while it was interesting, it just sort of fell flat I think mostly it s because the characters never seemed really develop...Iskreno, ne znam to bih mislila o ovoj knjizi.Pomalo bizarna pri a o podzemnom svijetu koji se krije ispod ulica Moskve, a u kojem su okupljeni najrazli itiji likovi, od bi a iz mitologije do svakodnevnih ljudi koji su pro li neke u ase u svom ivotu i uspjeli se od njih skloniti u podzemlje.Po inje kao pri a o misterioznom nestanku nekolicine ljudi i vi enjima ljudi koji se pret...I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn t do it The concept sounded fascinating people turning into jackdaws, a hidden mythological underground, Russian folklore but it was such a pain to read Galina was obnoxious, and there wasn t enough to the other characters to give them anything And she can t write dialogue This was probably some of the worst dialogue I ve read in a while The prose and the descriptions of what people felt was okay, but the dialogue and even action sequences w I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn t do it The concept sounded fascinating people turning into jackdaws, a hidden mythological underground, Russian folklore but it was such a pain to read Galina was obnoxious, and there wasn t enough to the other characters to give them anything And she can t write dialogue This was probably some of the worst dialogue I ve read in a while The prose and the descriptions of what people felt was okay, but the dialogue and even action sequences were awful The stories, actually, were probably about the only good part I liked Sovin s the best.The other problem was it moved too slow and too fast at the same time You spend the first 2 3 of the book learning the stories of the characters and the people underground, while supposed...It does help to have either a knowledge of Russian Fairy Tales or a source to look them up in when reading this book.That said, this is a good book Sedia tells the story of Galina who is looking for her missing sister It is wonderful to read a fairy tale influenced novel where the women actually get along and where sisters like each Kate Crackernuts is another fairy story where the sisters are friends and not rivals Sedia does an excellent job of mixing fantasy and real people Her idea that It does help to have either a knowledge of Russian Fairy Tales or a source to look them up in when reading this book.That said, this is a good book Sedia tells the story of Galina who is looking for her missing sister It is wonderful to read a fairy tale influenced novel where the women actually get along and where sisters like each...

English
16 November 2017

Ekaterina Sedia