Customer Reviews

King of Odessa: A Novel

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Rosenstone takes on the daunting task of imagining the life of Soviet writer Isaac Babel, whose literary reputation was lost/destroyed during the Soviet regime's darkest and most repressive days. In this fictitious re-creation of Babel's return to his hometown before being arrested and executed as a spy, Rosenstone creates the possibility that Babel was actually involved in a plot to help political dissidents flee. This is a tragic cautionary tale, a must-read for those interested in the genre.

Rosenstone examines a well known literary character, Isaac Babel, and creates a novel that is quite magical. Babel, who is already a famous writter, goes back to his hometown of Odessa, leaving behind a wife and child in France. While there, he encounters much excitement and intrigue with the many people and places he encounters. Using the letters, postcards and knowledge of the life of Isaac Babel, Rosenstone weaves together fact, fiction and farce, and creates a book which is as ejoyable to read as it is beautifully written. Up until the last pages, the reader is unaware if what he/she is seeing is fact, fiction or both, or if it really does not make any difference in the end. A must for anyone interested in intelligent literally fiction with a unique twist.

The conceit of this new novel is that it is a recently discovered and long-alluded-to lost work of Isaac Babel, written in the summer of 1936, during his last visit to his hometown of Odessa. It is a daring undertaking, and Rosenstone largely pulls it off (only at times giving his narrator a bit much knowledge of contemporary events), delivering a romping and imaginative firsthand (and, yes, Babel-esque) view of life in the brutal chaos that was Russia of the 1930s. (Reviewed in Russian Life)