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Hyvää, sanoi mustapartainen mies. Tämäkin on kirjassa mukana. Mutta ei päivää, vaan kahvia. Mainioita oivalluksia siellä täällä, sanoilla leikkimistä, ajatuksia herättävää. Myös sekavaa ja väliin käsittämätöntä. Loppu alussa, tai alku lopussa. Kirja on esineenäkin taideteos, mutta jotenkin minun makuuni homma jää keskeneräiseksi. Kai vaatii minulta lukijana enemmän ajattelemista kuin mihin olen valmis.

Omaelämäkerrallinen kirja jonka tarina kantaa pitkälle. Kirjaa on vaikea laskea käsistä. Tekstiä olisi tosin muutamassa paikassa voinut hioa hieman enemmän, ja erityisesti lopussa on hieman liikaa selitystä asioista jotka ovat selittämättäkin selviä. Show, don't tell.

I liked this book very much. It shows how Ukraine and Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union chose different paths, and how this led to the current total confrontation. In this book, the Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian political elites are shown as the independent actors making rational decisions, not puppets of the west or the Kremlin. The authors do not ignore the differing historical narratives, neither do they choose to follow one of them. Instead, they show how these narratives are being used politically by the different actors. There is some repetition and the language could have just a little bit of polishing here and there, but on the whole, very close to 5 stars.

The beginning was good enough, but the apocalyptic moment was not credible at all, and I soon stopped wasting my time.

I started reading it and couldn't stop, the conversations, the characters and the settings seemed so real and... meaningful, maybe? But what do they mean? And does it matter?

It starts off very good, stylistically, and some of the characters are relatively credible. The idea is interesting. But... there is too much of some stuff, like weird sex. And some other stuff seems to be missing. A bit disappointing, after the good beginning.

Мені цікаво побачити, як виглядає Швеція українцям, яки вже деякий час мешкають тут. Авторка переїхала в Швецію понад десять років тому й як історикиня вміє захоплююче розповісти про минуле Швеції та сучасне життя країни. В основному все достеменно, хоча деякі деталі трошки перебільшенні. Рекомендується.

This is a book about life, the universe and everything. And marriage. But it's difficult to take anything in the book seriously, as everything and everyone seems to be a caricature.

Ei ehkä paras lukemani Pamuk, hieman liikaa mystiikkaa minun makuuni. Mutta hyvin kirjoitettu tietysti, ja mainio käännös.

This is some kind of steam punk mashup of The Time Machine and The War of The Worlds. There is even a Mr. Wells in the book. The beginning is nice, with Victorian milieu and language, but there is no depth in the story and I considered abandoning the book several times. Well, I did not, so now I at least know how the story ends.