Super Sad True Love Story

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm really not sure whether this should be three or four stars. I think the author does what he sets out to do quite effectively. What I would say, though, is that this is one of the most unpleasant books to read that I've read lately, so I wouldn't recommend the experience to anyone else.

The main character is an aging (39) son of Russian immigrants who works for a business, possibly a scam, selling life extension to HNWI's (High Net Worth Individuals). He becomes obsessed with an utterly uninteresting and much younger woman who is the daughter of Korean immigrants and devotes his life to making her fall in love with him. He only partly succeeds, although he does succeed in enveloping her in his life.

The issues, though, are that American government and commerce have become entirely dominated by our creditors, primarily China, and the dystopia Shteyngart portrays, leading to almost total collapse (The Rupture), throws the lives of these two characters, their families and friends, and the rudimentary social structures that remain into chaos.

Super Sad Love Story presents us with some of the observational wit we are used to from Gary Shteyngart, but it is far from funny. If anything, it is closer to the grim, depressing atmosphere presented in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Consequently, here Shteyngart has failed at one of the essential projects of satire: humor.

As I say, well done, but not recommended.



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Book Review: The Russian Debutante's Handbook

The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Like the author, Vladimir Girshkin immigrated from Russia to the United States as a boy, grew up in New York, and attended Oberlin (not named here). Hence, it is not unreasonable to assume an autobiographical element here.



I don't consider that a weakness.



Vladimir is the opposite of a picaro. Instead of getting into scrapes and living by his wits, Vladimir is generally carried along like a cork. Through various scrapes he manages to come out okay, but he is generally acted upon, rather than actor. If he is the Russian debutante, he is badly in need of a handbook.



Where the book excels is in its exploration of identity. Vladimir moved to the United States at fourteen and settles into what he sees as his natural role, that of a beta immigrant. As the novel progresses, we see him in other identities: minor bureaucrat, hipster hanger-on, organized crime boss. His mother excoriates him for "walking like a Jew", while a few months later his American girlfriend in Prague characterizes him as a "chewer of cud".



The questions his adventures raise are whether he will recognize and survive the real consequences of his choices, which of his adopted homelands he will wind up in, and whether he will ever achieve an identity he defines for himself, rather than take what is assigned to him.



Meanwhile, although not perfect, the book provides some colorful characters, some real laughs, and what I would call an entertaining read.



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