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The People's Act of Love
by James Meek | Literature & Fiction
Registered by sarradee of Dallas, Texas USA on Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Average 9 star rating by BookCrossing Members 

status (set by GateGypsy): reserved


3 journalers for this copy...

Journal Entry 1 by sarradee from Dallas, Texas USA on Tuesday, April 18, 2006

This book has not been rated.

I was undecided if I was keeping this for my personal collection or not. I've decided to pass it along to another BXer who I hope will enjoy it as much as I did.

I received this book from Elle Magazine last year when I was a juror. My review follows:

The People's Act of Love is set in an isolated religious commune in 1919 Siberia, that is also occupied by a regiment of Czech Legion soldiers who were on the wrong side of the recent revolutionary conflict. The Legion has lost a third of its number to battle, hunger and cold and is desperate to go home. Into this uneasy community trudges Samarin, an escapee from an Arctic gulag. Before his arrest Samarin claims to have been a university student, who was at the wrong place during an activist action. His trial sent him to the White Garden, from which he escaped with the assistance of another convict, the Mohican. During the long walk, he discovers that the Mohican brought him along as a “cow”, a lesser prisoner that is fattened for the slaughter, and is butchered and eaten so that the Mohican may survive the hazardous trek to freedom. Samarin eludes the Mohican but fears he is yet being chased by a hungry cannibal bent on revenge.

Anna Petrovna is a woman who moves to this isolated community to discover what really happened to the husband she thought had died in battle. Lonely and estranged from the villagers as a non-practitioner, Anna Petrovna stakes her life as bond in order to host Samarin in her home. Has she made a bad choice? Balashov is the enigmatic leader of the religious community, who first meets Samarin on the mountain and through his actions brings Samarin to Anna. His followers seek Utopia through personal sacrifice to God, this sacrifice bringing them closer to being angels on earth. It is Balashov's fate that gives title to the book.

This book gets off to a slow start. At first glance, the opening chapters appear to be individual parables instead of a cohesive narrative. The author created a complex web of interconnecting stories, for which a scorecard would be helpful to keep all the characters straight. Once everything falls into place, a reader who truly enjoys historical fiction will be transported. The attention to detail is extraordinary. Another reviewer commented that this book is reminiscent of classic Russian literature translated into English, rather than contemporary fiction. This isn’t an easy read, nor one that is easily forgettable.

Mailing surface mail, hope it arrives in a timely manner.
 

Journal Entry 2 by zzz from Rakovica, City of Belgrade Serbia on Sunday, June 04, 2006

This book has not been rated.

This book has arrived on 3rd May 2006 as a part of BALLYSWAPPERS-exchange group (I'm Mr. June !) and tortured me for almost a month!
Thank you Sarra,it was one of the most wanted books on my wish list! I'm absolutely sure I’ll enjoy very much!
 

Journal Entry 3 by zzz from Rakovica, City of Belgrade Serbia on Tuesday, November 27, 2007

9 out of 10

WOW what a strange novel this is! This beautiful piece of historical fiction written in the best spirit of Russian classics is set in the coldest, isolated part of Siberia during the Russian Revolution. Place where common rules can’t be applied or can easily be neglected and therefore perfect (whatever that means) place to test your humane values and scruples.

I’ve read somewhere one comment about the books as if ”Anna Karenina meets Silence of the Lambs” and that’s pretty much true with the difference that somehow you feel oddly sympathetic with Hannibal Lecter probably because he is breathtakingly convincing (and therefore much scary). His mission is so pure that you’re finding yourself how you almost ignoring the methods; through his words it sounds perfectly right:

“…he’s a man so dedicated to the happiness of the future world that he sets himself to destroy all the corrupt and cruel functionaries he can; till he’s destroyed himself. He’s not a destroyer, he is destruction; to hold such a man to the same standards as ordinary man would be strange, like putting wolves on a trial for killing an elk, or trying to shoot the wind.”

And indeed you simply can’t apply the same standard not only to that specific character but (as I said above) to the whole place where the novel is set in. Because just imagine the question like this: “under what circumstances is eating another human being justifiable?” Is there an answer on that question at all? OK maybe if you think now about that horrible true story about plane crash in South American Andes where survivors had to eat pieces of their friends who didn’t survive the crash to stay alive I should reformulate question: “under what circumstances is killing and then eating another human being justifiable?”.
Other question that emerges is “How far are you ready to go in dedication yourself to the God?” and I assure you, if I tell you the answer you wouldn’t believe!

So, the story is set in the middle of Siberia in the village of Yazyk and the characters is one the most impossible group of people: marooned legion of Czechoslovak troops; the members of the strangest Christian sect I’ve ever heard about; a shaman with spiritual “third” eye on his forehead; a strange widow and her son; an escapee from an Arctic gulag and of course the man who “is not destroyer but destruction itself”.

Story about first two groups (Czechs and Christian sect “skoptsy”) is based on historical facts. The year is 1919 and maybe it would be nice to explain historical background of the story (but I should stress that novel is NOT about this):

A turning point in the history of the Russian civil war was the rebellion of the Czech troops, surely one of its most curious episodes. The Habsburg monarchy, Russia’s enemy in the First World War, was like imperial Russia, a multinational empire. The large Slav minority within it felt oppressed, and at the time of the war showed little loyalty to the Habsburgs. A large number of Czech soldiers, for example, easily allowed themselves to be captured by the Russians. The tsarist government hesitated to play the nationality card. They refused to form an army from these prisoners of war and allow them to fight on their side. That situation changed in 1917: Czechs formed an independent corps and fight the Germans. The Czechs were enthusiastic soldiers, for they rightly believed that only the defeat of the central powers, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, would allow them to form an independent state. When the Russian army fell apart, this tiny force alone wanted to continue fighting, but the Brest-Litovsk treaty made it impossible for them to continue their struggle. After long negotiations with the Soviet government, it was decided to allow them to travel to the Western front through Siberia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Czechs, however, never reached their destination, because while traveling through Siberia they started to fight the Bolsheviks.

And this is where/when the novel is set: In one Siberian village full of Czech soldiers on their way to Pacific but trapped by the Bolsheviks and their crazy “cheef”.

This novel is extremely thought provoking with such incredible twists. Truth, the start is little confusing and slow with introduction to the characters; it’s kind of little stories about them which will be joined in one story and then the book becomes un-put-down-able. Honestly I can’t remember when was the last time I was so surprised with how the story goes in the book. It’s amazingly unpredictable with turns that leave you speechless. And in the end everything is about love, about many kinds of love and sometimes in quite weird way.

[it’s very hard to write about the novel and avoid the spoilers and I’m aiming to avoid them. I know I would be furious if I have found something that could spoil this great reading adventure. So here is little advice: Do not read comments on Amazon, they are full of spoilers (I’ve read them after I finished with the book)]

This book is definitively not for everyone but it was very enjoyable read for me. It’s not an easy read and (as Sarra said above) “nor one that is easily forgettable”.
Probably you’ll get the best image of what can you expect from this novel, from this quote:

“Did you hear the story about the monk who arrived in a mall town in Poland one time, rang the bell in the marketplace, gathered all citizens and told them that he had come to warn them of a terrible plague which would soon afflict them? Somebody asked him who was carrying the plague. The monk said: I am”


**********This book is on its way to GateGypsy who has it on her wish list. Enjoy!**********
 

Journal Entry 4 by GateGypsy from Whitehorse, Yukon Canada on Friday, May 30, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Arrived safely in the mail today! The large stamp panels are lovely! Thanks so much for sending me this wishlist book, zzz!

reserved for VeganMedusa, who won it in the Mt TBR swap at bookobsessed 



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