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Title: Second Rate
Review: This highly acclaimed novel doesn't deserve its reputation. As Russian literature in translation it is vastly inferior to Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and even Solzhenitsyn. As magic realism, it lacks the imaginative genius of Borges. As satire on the Communist regime, it pales before Orwell. In depiction of life under Communism, Koestler and Solzhenitsyn surpass it in detail and impact. As fantasy, the plot devices are banal and have been utilized to better effect by many other writers. The translation is sluggish and plodding where it tries to be poetic. The characters are annoying and lack depth. Two stars for a fairly intriguing take on Christ's trial and execution (about 60 pages in the 402 page edition I read).
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