Monstrum [Import] [Paperback]

Donald James (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books; New Ed edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099226324
• ISBN-13: 978-0099226321
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,695,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern Russian fairy tale, January 10, 2000

By 

Alexander Suraev - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrum (Mass Market Paperback)

Being a Russian living in Moscow I have a certain advantage over the readers who were not brought up in Russia and have no knowledge of the Russian literary tradition.

You can believe me - this book is superb if you see it in a way that makes the enjoyment unhindered. Please do not compare it to Gorky Park and the schlock of this kind. Also it's unwise to test the novel's characters and events against the patterns of the real life. Just see it as a modern Russian fairy tale.

I am sure the author is familiar with the Russian fantastic tradition of Bulgakov, Odoevsky, etc.- the authors inspired by E.T.A.Hoffman.

If you'll read these tales you will see that usually they start with quite veritable everyday happenings and the characters occupation and rank is stated. But a few pages later the fabric of reality is torn and the world of supernatural is shining through the gaps.

The mood of the novel is dark - it's definitely Russian. Cowards turn into heroes and the heroes are traitors, former classmates are united by vodka but one of them is the chief of the secret police and another - the prime suspect.

I was amused that one of the reviewers could not buy the fact that the rebellious general's husband was recruited as the dictators body double. What would you say about Stalin's comrade Molotov, who had his wife rotting in a death camp and still stood at the Mausoleum near his boss, flinching at his jovial inquiries about the woman's health?

So see this novel as a perfect opportunity to experience the life very different from your own and even if you do not care for the Russian literary tradition the novel's beautiful(and mostly evil) heroines, courageous underdogs and exotic settings will make a couple of your evening very enjoyable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Brilliant, September 6, 1999

By 

Vesselin Milkov jnr "visit me at www.vescomil... (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrum (Mass Market Paperback)

Don't fool yourself it is a difficult book to read and I strongly recommend a sound knowledge of Russian history and Russian habits. Otherwise superb read,deep and breathtaking,original,and a well executed novel. Bravo Donald.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars When historians write novels..., June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Monstrum (Mass Market Paperback)

Monstrum has a sensational premise: gory serial killer terrorizes post-civil war Moscow; inexperienced provincial investigator must confront sinister political forces to apprehend the criminal. Unfortunately, Mr. James confuses the issue by adding two addition plot lines that do little service to the story. The first, a backstory about the investigator's wife, a general with the losing side of the civil war, has little relevance to the story and uses up a great deal of ink; the second, involving a scheme to alter the investigator's appearance through plastic surgery and then use him as a public double for the president, is, to say the least, far-fetched. Without knowing a great deal about secret police strategy, I think its a safe bet to say that the spouse of an avowed enemy of the state would be an unlikely choice for such a role. Regardless, the space required to detail these two extraneous elements means that the book has an underwritten feel. The characters are thinly drawn, in particular the one who should have been the most fascinating - the killer. There was an odd moment when after reading most of the novel, I realized that the author was going to have to tie up an awful lot in the last few pages. Unsurprisingly, the ending was rushed and frankly, pretty stupid. It's a shame, because Mr. James grasp of the Russian culture and its vernacular is tremendous, and had he gone a little lighter on concept and heavier on detail this could have been a tremendous novel. As it is, it's a fun read but not much more.