Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (231)

Content

Fishing With Tolstoy

JC Newhouse

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

FISHING WITH TOLSTOY is a timely and heartwarming story of friendship that pokes tongue-in-cheek fun...

war fiction drama

Hazel (1853 KP) rated All That is Solid Melts into Air in Books

Dec 14, 2018

My rating: 3.5

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

All That is Solid Melts into Air (the title taken from a Karl Marx quote) is the debut novel from Irish author Darragh McKeon. Set mostly in 1986, it follows the lives of several people in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.

On reading the blurb I thought that the plot would be solely focused on the Chernobyl disaster however this was not the case. In fact it is difficult to pick out what the actual plot line was. Each character has individual storylines, some of which connect up, but the disaster is not completely the entire focus of the novel.

Beginning in April 1986 we read about Yevgeni, a nine-year-old piano prodigy and his life in Soviet Russia. We also discover his aunt, Maria, who, although through third person narrative, describes her life, thoughts and difficulties at this period of time. The person who appeared to be the main character for the majority of the narrative was Grigory Ivanovich Brovkin, a surgeon who so happens to be Maria’s ex-husband that gets sent out to Ukraine to assist with the clean up after the Chernobyl incident. In Ukraine lives Artyom, a thirteen-year-old boy who is forced to evacuate his home to get away from the radiation. Here, while not until November 1986, Grigory and Artyom’s storylines merge together.

The novel ends in April 2011, but by this point Artyom’s story has fizzled out, his sole purpose being to show the reader what life was like for the evacuees: shockingly terrible.

As I have said, there was not really a main plotline, however the book gives a good account of what happened and how things were dealt with after. That is, of course, if it is historically accurate. Despite studying the Soviet Union at school, my knowledge of the Chernobyl disaster was virtually non-existent. There is also a hint of romance regarding Grigory and Maria.

Overall it was incredibly well written, full of description and very interesting.