Customer Reviews

Let's Put the Future Behind Us (Jack Womack)

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Jack Womack returns to the present in his sly, humorous tale set in contemporary Russia. Only a writer of Womack's prodigious literary gifts could pull off a great novel about Russia that isn't written by a native. He's done an excellent job examining both the business and political elites of Boris Yeltsin's Russia; every word sounds as though it could be written by a distinguished Russian author. His dense, descriptive prose runs wild through this well written tale of business intrigue and corruption, taking us on a mesmerizing literary joy ride laced with ample doses of black humor. At times I found the passages so funny that I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. "Let's Put The Future Behind Us" is yet another excellent novel by this underrated writer; one who deserves a broad readership beyond science fiction fandom.

Womack's writing is incredibly similiar to Kurt Vonnegut Jr., but unlike Vonnegut, he is able to change the written voice seemlessly. The novel itself doesn't resemble Russian literature, or more accurately it doesn't resemble Russian literature that has been translated into English. Any Lit major will tell you that the majority of Russian novels translated do no justice for the writing. However, Womack's voice is believable without the trite and cliche signifiers American writers use to create a post-Communist scenario.

Although the writing style is far off, the character stylization and interaction is very similiar to Irvine Welsh. Each character symbolizes a much greater question in the protaganist's purpose as opposed to representing a well-rounded life simply interacting as is typical of Western existentialism. The subtle traits of the charcters draw the reader in through introspective comparison in an understated technique that is really what makes this style so enjoyable to read.

The juxtaposition of the apocalyptic events that took place in Russia during the summer of 1997 when I read this book, and the happenings described in the book itself were so weirdly intense. Let me see past the bourgoise pretense to the horror that was such an part of that time.

The similarities between the futuristic New York City Womack describes in in his first novel, AMBIENT (written in 1985) and the present day Moscow in his new novel, are pretty scary. Only he didn't have to make any of it up for LET'S PUT THE FUTURE BEHIND US; post-Soviet Russia is a near-anarchic mess practially ruled by gangsters and former Communist bureaucrats-turned 'entrepreneurs.'

It's a funny, heart-rending, wild ride, featuring Womack's trademark linguistic and imaginative inventiveness.

I very seldom laugh out loud while reading a book; in fact, I very seldom laugh at all. There's not a lot I find funny in this miserable pig-eat-pig, no-win situation we've agreed to call "life"--except, occasionally, the absurdity that most of us choose to go on enduring it what with all the rope, sleeping pills, razor blades, and guns readily available. But Jack Womack's *Let's Put the Future Behind Us,* actually had me chortling and snorting with ill-natured mirth. Truly this is one uproariously funny book: without a doubt one of the funniest I've ever read ((I'd also recommend Matthew Sloan's *Fake Girls*)) and I'd say you'd have to practically be embalmed not to crack more than a rictus grin while reading of the exploits of its anti-hero--and narrator--the sarcastic and cynical and ever-wisecracking, Max Borodin.

First off, one should make clear that the setting of *Let's Put the Future Behind Us* is Russia--the Russia after the fall of communism and the rise of organized crime, unscrupulous financiers, their corrupt government lackeys, and all the other virulent ills that early onset capitalism is heir to--and will eventually succumb to, altogether. It's the sort of place where one can always depend on Soviet-inspired "unobtrusive service"--a euphemism for no service at all--anywhere one goes and where to persuade even the lowliest clerk to provide you with the surliest attention requires a fist always equipped with a generous cash bribe. Womack gives the unmistakable impression that he knows this new Russia intimately--its people, its inner workings, its history, its landmarks and landscapes both famous, infamous, and obscure. He speaks so authoritatively and authentically through his Russian narrator, mimicking the syntax and rhythm of an intelligent but not-quite-native speaker of English to such perfection that you'd almost think he were writing in a second language. Borodin sounds a bit like a very savvy Borat at the start of *Future,* a Borat "in" on the joke, but as the novel unfolds the buffoonery becomes eclipsed by the ultra-violence of events and what emerges is the terrifying and diabolical face of evil which such buffoonery often conceals. Think Hitler. Think Stalin. Comical characters at first. Nothing funny about them later.

Max, a former bureaucrat under the old Soviet system of incompetence, is no different from any other entrepreneur let loose in the New Russia of unlimited opportunities. He's made a decent living for himself as a franchise "banker" and counterfeiter of official documents. But it's easy to find yourself sleeping with the wrong people as a businessman in the New Russia--and before too long, Max has got a veritable mad orgy of the very worst of the worst in his bed.

Things start to unravel for Max in more ways than it's easy to enumerate. Within the first 50 pages, Womack brings on the trouble from so many different directions you can't possibly figure out how it's all going to come together--or how Max will ever escape from this strafing crossfire of woes. But eventually everything that's begun hitting the fan from page one--his hilarious attempts to arrange a funeral for the deceased father of a client--does come together and when it does, Max finds himself in the midst of a bloody monsoon of greed, betrayal, stupidity, lust, corruption, and murder that's sure to bury him alive--if he can even stay alive that long.

And yet, Max, wisecracking even up to his chin in trouble, keeps you in stitches as his own life unravels. His barbed asides on the wonders of "democracy," "capitalism," and the new "free" Russia are as pointed as those on the atrocities of Stalinist Russia. Sarcastic and cynical, Max is nonetheless someone who cares deeply for his wife Tanya--and just as deeply for his mistress, the irrepressibly voluptuous Sonya. He's a liar, a swindler, a schemer, and a thief--but, as he makes it abundantly clear--this is what it takes to survive as a capitalist in the New Russia. It's survival of the fittest and if Max is a bit of a blackguard, he's a little less black than his comrades: it he's an out-and-out criminal, well, then his crimes are considerably less than those of the competition. What is survival, after all, but a crime at the expense of the survival of others to one degree or another? He's not exactly a man of honor; but he's not quite a man without honor altogether. He may do bad things, but he's not unaware of it: he knows what morals are, for instance. He also knows that too strict an adherence to too many of them is the surest and swiftest way to get yourself killed.

Let's say that Max is a pragmatist of the most radical sort. But what endears him to us most of all--even at his worst--is that he won't cut out anyone's eye balls without a perfectly good reason unlike the psychopathic brutes he's up against. And, of course, he keeps us laughing, and that's no small thing. Everyone likes someone who can keep them laughing--it makes it more bearable to ignore the corpses all around us, to accept the awful things we must do to walk from one end of our life to the other. Max, with a wink and a nod, has a highly developed sense of irony about his own dark side, which makes all the difference. There's nothing more unendurable than the morally self-righteous; nothing more banal than unconscious evil. At its most disturbing, *Let's Put the Future Behind Us* hints at what's behind those sly, glinting eyes of Papa Stalin--that, given half the chance, we're really no different than him.

My advice? Whatever you're reading now, finish it, and make *Let's Put the Future Behind Us* the next book you read. It's the sort of novel that could very well end up being one of the top five books you read this year. Of course, if you only read five books this year, it'll finish considerably higher.

Snappy prose, well-paced narrative, sharp humor (a few actual 'I-laughed-out-loud-while-reading' sequences).

I think the book really caught a unique time and place in russia's history. The book would have a more topical impact to the reader of 1996-97 but it is still a great read from a talented writer.

I have got to read Womack's other works! I have a friend who big into Russia and he was amazed by the accuracy (he noted especially the description of the Russian concept of "poshloi"), all from a writer who spent little time in the New Russia. This book is well-paced and full of intriguing characters (especially Max)--a must read for...well, anyone! Words fail to describe it; Just read it!

This is one of the best books I have read this year. With character development, an excellent eye for detail, an engaging story and a wry sarcasm, Jack Womack has created what is undoubtedly his best book. I recommend this quite highly!

I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed Bret Easton Ellis' "American Psycho." Jack Womack puts perfect detail into his work! His book, "Random Acts of Senselss Violence," was an even better book. They are MUSTS!!