Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic debut, May 20, 2011
Vaclav & Lena is set in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Both characters are Russian émigrés - children 10 and 9 years old. Vaclav has a fair grasp of the English language but is keen to master it. His mother Rasia is loving and kind, determined to make a better life for her son. Lena's life is much different - she has no support at the place she calls home, often has nothing to eat, does poorly in school and tries to blend into the woodwork in an effort to hide. Rasia does her best to mother her as well. Vaclav and Lena share a love of magic and dream of the day when Vaclav will be a famous magician and Lena will be his stunning assistant. When Lena disappears from his life under never discussed circumstances, Vaclav is heartbroken. Until the day seven years later when their paths cross again.... Vaclav is such an earnest, eager, spirited child. He sees the positive in everything around him. He dreams of the future. The barriers placed in his way do not stop him or deter him. This character touched me so much and literally brought tears to my eyes. "Rasia looks at Vaclav, holding these dollar bills, smiling his goofy smile. Most people do not really mean their smiles, most of the time. For most people, their smiles are a lie, a trick, or a promise. Vaclav's smile is just a smile, and he always means it." Two years ago I worked in a very small library. Every day we were open, a young boy, his sister, mother and baby brother came in after school. They were recent immigrants from an Eastern bloc country. The oldest boy had attended school in his home country, his language carried an accent and mangled syntax, he was awkward socially, but tried so hard to fit in. It broke my heart to see him rebuffed by the other children. I can only imagine what his mother felt. She and her husband had chosen to seek a better life for their children. Rasia's love for Vaclav... "As she watched him walk out into the big American crowd, under the big American roller coaster, she felt the world spinning wildly away from her, and she sat and cried because she was happy and sad that he did not look back, because of how much she loved his little body, and his awkward, cowlicky head and that tiny rib cage, and the way that he knew, already, to take a girl's hand if she was afraid." Tanner has perfectly captured what I observed. The dialogue, feelings, emotions, situations and settings all evoke and capture the experience of a new citizen from a child's and parent's view. But there is much more to the story - it is a tale of tenacity, love and hope. Vaclav & Lena is a rich, poignant narrative that will capture you from first page to last. Loved it! I look forward to reading what Tanner writes next.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming debut, May 23, 2011
I am afraid to say that "Vaclav and Lena" is a coming-of-age story for fear that will turn people off, because this book is anything but cliché. Vaclav and Lena are Russian-Americans in modern-day New York. The story is told from the viewpoints of Vaclav, Lena and Vaclav's mother, Rasia, but mostly we live in Vaclav's world. At ten, he is a budding magician, and his life revolves around developing his magic show. Lena is his beautiful assistant, and they spend hours together planning and making lists. Rasia struggles to be a good "American" parent to Vaclav. They share the struggles that immigrants and first-generation American's face. Vaclav and Lena meet in ESL classes and sit with the other "smelly lunch" children. Vaclav's father revisits Russia every night on satellite TV. I was charmed by young Vaclav and his dreams. I was charmed by his love for Lena and Rasia. I was charmed by his naiveté. I wanted to be Vaclav's friend. The style of the book is spot on. Between the narrative and action, we listen to the characters think out loud, and Tanner's prose mimics the mental tug-of-war that we all experience. The tussle between what we believe and what is real. The seesaw of she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not. The quandary between right and good. As the minds of Vaclav, Lena and Rasia race to the conclusion, so does the reader. This is one of those books that grabs hold and doesn't let go. I sacrificed sleep to be able to finish it and was not disappointed. The book is not so much about uncovering secrets as finding out how everyone will respond when the secrets are out. I am a sucker for a debut novel, and this is Tanner's first. It made me nostalgic for Irving's "Setting Free the Bears." Some people might have difficulty with the simplicity of the language or the first-generation English of the characters, but I think that was part of the appeal.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome love story, but so much more than that - a must read for this year!, May 17, 2011
I received this book as an ARC through Shelf Awareness. I immediately wanted to read it, because it sounded like such a sweet story, but it goes a lot deeper than just a romance between two people. Vaclav and Lena were first forced together when they were young, neither one really having any friends. Their imperfect English held them back from fully connecting with the American kids they went to school with. However, when they were together, they knew that the other would accept them unconditionally. It was easy to how much Vaclav adored Lena and that he would do anything for her. It was obvious that Lena cared for Vaclav as well, but her shocking and appalling home life made her extremely introverted; it was as if she had a wall up, even around her best friend, Vaclav. I could sense that there was something darker going on in Lena's home life that wasn't coming to light at the beginning, something more awful than just being left to fend for herself all of the time. My heart broke when Lena disappeared from Vaclav's life. She was his world, his sun and she was simply ripped away from him. No goodbyes, no finality. Just left to wonder if he would ever see her again. The first part of the book went between telling the story from Vaclav and Lena's perspectives. I liked that, as it was nice to get a glimpse into what both of them were going through (although like I said, Lena remained somewhat of a mystery). The middle of the book takes place 7 years later and it is split up into two parts: Lena's story and Vaclav's story. This gives a lot more insight into Lena's life, especially in the time when she was very young, before she even met Vaclav. I think the sweetest thing is that even after all of that time, Vaclav still said goodnight to Lena, every single night. He was afraid that if he stopped doing so something bad would happen to her. Even after all of the time they spent apart, she was still the last thing he thought about before he went to bed. Each section of the book is split up into little chapters. I liked the cute, descriptive chapter names (you'll see what I mean when you read it!) and I loved how short the chapters were. They were each like little stories all in their own. The last part of the book reveals a lot of answers I had been waiting for the whole time and that is why I'm not going to go into too much more detail about the book. I do want to share one of my favorite quotes from the book (however, keep in mind that I read the ARC, so things might be different in the finished copy): "Vaclav had already known that she was sitting there before he even saw her. He had felt her looking at him, He had known it was her, had to be her, because he felt, suddenly, the compulsion to turn and look at that bench, to look in her direction, like there were magnets in his eyes and she was a supermagnetized hunk of some other planet, just fallen to earth." This was a wonderful book, showing how love can withstand space and time. It also shows how childhood can shape a person, for better or worse. I definitely recommend giving this book a chance; it's a fairly quick read, especially since I couldn't put it down, and it was impossible not to feel for the characters and fall in love with them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
