Sergei Kuznetsov

I'm honestly not sure where this book came on my radar. Might have been during my days on Instagram, or perhaps someone here. Regardless, I was intrigued enough to seek it out, and managed to find it in the cheapie bin at a bookstore. Paid $1.40 for it.

Turns out, that was a bit too much.

I wanted to like this book. The idea is fascinating and, in the hands of a writer of any talent, it could have been absolutely mesmerizing.

Instead, we're treated to a constantly changing point of view...I don't mean between characters, I mean in the narrative, the author will constantly, and without warning, go from first person, to third person, to second person. I have to assume this was a deliberate intention of style on the author's part, and if so, someone needs to slap him. Hard.

Second, the author goes down the rat hole of minutiae for each of his characters, to the point where, well over 100 pages in, there still is no real plot to speak of. The reader can see it coming...somewhat...but with three hundred more pages to go, god knows when he's going to actually put this train into gear and get it moving. In the meantime, we're treated to pages and pages and pages of characters comparing themselves to other characters. Characters mulling over their infidelities and where they did them. And talking...lots and lots of talking that goes nowhere.

Finally, and, POV switches aside, the most annoying thing is the author's habit of repeating himself. He'll throw a line of dialogue out, then go down one of those rat holes for a few paragraphs, then, instead of just picking up and going again, no, he backtracks and gives us the same line, verbatim. Not once, not twice, but this happens several times. It's awful.

I'm sure there's a good novel in here, and I'm hoping the effort to complete this novel pays off somehow, but not for this kid.… (mais)

The Circle Dance of Water is a big multigenerational family saga, an ode to family ties and history that examines birth, aging, flaws, and fear of death. The book is pretty readable despite Kuznetsov's rapid shifts between narrating characters. I thought the contemporary portions worked best; many of the journeys into the past felt gratuitous.

Most disappointing, though, was Kuznetsov's heavy-handed use of his water theme. It begins promisingly enough, with one character selling custom aquariums, another loving to swim, and a third drinking too much... but all the water gathered into a tsunami of obviousness (and mysticism) at the end of the book, sweeping away many of my positive feelings for the book.

(There's more on my blog here.)… (mais)

This book is not your typical horror/serial killer book. It reads a little slow but it also reads like the poetic diary of a serial killer. Which sounds both intriguing and scary to climb into the mind of a psychopath. I am going to stop right here for a moment and throw out a huge warning that if you do not like gore then do not read this book. There is a lot of details spent talking about the murders. Which for me was not a problem. But for others it could be and even cause nightmares. One thing I did find interesting was how the killer talked about killing the women but in seasons. So, how spring affected the woman and how she died did differ from if the crime took place during winter. As much as I did like this book and the concept of it being very poetic, this very idea also kept me distant from the characters in the book. I did not become as emotionally attached and thus the reason that sometimes I struggled with the book in parts and stating it read slow. Overall, though I did like this book. International authors need to be recognized more for their work. With books like Butterfly Skin it does help.… (mais)