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Title: Leaving Katya by Paul Greenberg ISBN: 0-399-14835-3 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 31 January, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Anna Karenina with a hint of Woody Allen
Comment: I'm normally not a fan of love stories, but this novel is so funny and poignant, I felt compelled to weigh in with my thoughts. The author's insight into his characters -- both Russian and American -- is so sharp that when I put the book down I still felt they were in the room. The comedy and tragedy of the romance between the sweet, neurotic Daniel and the quixotic Katya holds you to the very last page and beyond. Excuse the pun, but after reading this work, it's extremely hard to leave Katya behind.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Russian Hooker
Comment: Leaving Katya is a poignant memoir of a young American's struggle with his Russian girlfriend (and later, temporarily, his wife). This short and entertaining story is both funny and sad, a bittersweet lesson on the difficulties in a cross-cultural relationship.
As someone who has gone through his own "Russian Phase," I can only say that author Paul Greenberg has done a wonderful job of presenting the enigmatic and mysterious nature of these magnificent women. The Russian culture encourages their young women to trade sex and affection for monetary and social gain. Many of these women have tremendous educations that go for naught in the chauvinistic Russian society. I would agree that it's not so much the fault of the Russian women but of their environment. But a spade is a spade, and a hooker is a hooker.
When these common opportunists get a chance to cash in over here in America, they can become relentless. It's like turning a starving kid loose in a candy store. Of course, these young gold diggers don't see it that way, which creates the cultural problem faced by Greenberg's young protagonist.
Katya could never come to grips with the abject poverty she unexpectedly faced when she came to New York to live with Daniel. It was gratifying to see that Daniel actually became quite successful after Katya decamped for Russia. I guess there is justice after all.
Greenberg's dialogue, his situations, his settings and his sense of Russian history are all believable and accurate. I live in New York City and can assure you that he captured the essence of our great metropolis perfectly. And Greenberg adheres to the literary Holy Grail by writing about what he knows. All this goes to make his story credible and instructional.
I was also impressed by the way the relationship between Daniel and Katya just slipped away, especially when readers like myself were hoping for reconciliation. Not all relationships end suddenly and dramatically and not all relationships get patched up. The author deserves credit for recognizing this. The real tragedy in this story is that Daniel and Katya loved each other and could probably have resurrected their relationship.
This book is obviously autobiographical and represents a large part of the author's life. What can he now do as a sequel? The problem with memoirs like Leaving Katya is that your life can't always continue to provide the material you need to write.
I am quite sure that I'm not alone in wishing Paul Greenberg continued success in his writing career...
Rating: 1
Summary: Banality in Print
Comment: Reading most of the previous reviews, I have to wonder if I just finished the same book. However, one reviewer used the term banal and that's a good summary for this whole book: the characters (especially Daniel), the plot (such as it is) and the writing. Well, ok, the writing isn't banal but it's nothing special.
I kept thinking something interesting might happen to the hapless and aimless Daniel to at least make this book worth finishing. In the end, I finished it only because I also went to Russia just after the collapse of the USSR and it brought back some memories of Russia and its beautiful women. But just barely.
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Title: The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart ISBN: 1573229881 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Winter Zoo: A Novel by John Beckman ISBN: 0805069046 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 04 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Wild East: Stories from the Last Frontier by Boris Fishman ISBN: 1932112154 Publisher: Justin, Charles & Co Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Prague : A Novel by Arthur Phillips ISBN: 0375759778 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 10 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Fear of Flying by Erica Jong ISBN: 0451185560 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: December, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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