Customer Reviews

Absurdistan: A Novel

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I loved this book far too much. Set in the months before September 11th, Absurdistan is a hysterically funny fable of turn of the century America and its geopolitical backyard, leaping effortlessly between an idyllic south Bronx ghetto and a Halliburton rooftop luau in the mid-Caucasus. Mischa Vainberg is a massive, rude, and wonderfully compelling gangsta rapping hero. I think I enjoyed him most in his St Leninsburg home and though I became increasing frustrated with his gullable misadventures in the Absurdi Republic, I don't laugh till I cry very often and I never re-read books, but frankly, I'm missing Mischa already.

'Absurdistan' is the type of book that leaves you wondering, "What was the point of that?" Initially drawing me to this book was the title- 'Absurdistan' (you gotta love a book that loudly declares itself absurd) -and it was, right from the beginning. Gary Shteyngart gives you moments of complete and total hilarity and ridiculousness, and you can see that he is acutely aware of the human condition. He uses this to his full advantage in describing scenes and characters, but eventually, it all dissolves into one big mess with no cohesive plot.

To begin with, the main character, Misha Vainberg, is a morbidly obese Russian whose father was the 1,238th richest man in Russia. Misha is absolutely obsessed with eating, and the descriptions of Misha taking a meal are nothing less than repulsive. Misha finds himself in all sorts of situations that, although they are not supposed to be funny, are made so by his sarcasm and self-deprecating observations. His comical meandering through life begins when, as a young adult, his father forces him to become circumcised, and it all goes very wrong. After enduring this, while in the US attending college (Accidental College!), Misha meets the love of his life, Rouenna. Rouenna is a rough-edged, Bronx-ghetto chick with a flair for commentary and a love for her 325 pound "bobo" (Misha). His love for Rouenna blankets his entire life with a sense of longing and sadness, as he cannot leave Russia to return to her in the US. After his father dies (and after a brief dalliance with his step-mother), Misha attempts to leave Russia and return to the US to his large-love Rouenna. To facilitate this, he becomes a Belgian citizen, and it's from here his escapades begin in earnest. In his attempts to flee Russia, Misha is taken to the country of Absurdistan by his American best friend, Aloysha-Bob. That effort is thwarted because a civil war breaks out in Absurdistan, and Aloysha-Bob leaves on the next flight out, while Misha is stuck in this new country with only a Belgian Visa and some hookers to keep him company. As you can see, it just keeps getting more and more absurd!

Throughout `Absurdistan', Gary Shteyngart inserts political musings in the form of Halliburton and Iraq references, and his ability to take American colloquialisms and turn them into bits of farce is fantastic. Throughout his trials and tribulations, we get Misha-isms (he refers to his hands as "big squishies") which open a window into his soul as a self-loathing and emotional wreck of a guy. All told, Misha and the other characters are very well-developed in their bizarre way, and you really do feel for them. As the story goes on, however, the plot sort of dissolves, and by the end, there really is no plot. At the conclusion, you're left holding a bag of absurd references, going, "What just happened?" It's worth reading if only for the amazing and wry insight Gary Shteyngart has concerning his home country (Russia), his current country (the US), and people in general. It's an interesting combination of farce and irony, yet it sort of leaves you going, hmmmmm?

The book is a strange story about love, the affection for a beloved papa, for the city of New York, for a sweet and poor girl in the Bronx and for the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service).

The story is told by Misha Borisovich Vainberg, aka 'Snack Daddy' a grossly overweight man, an in your face secular Jew with a distinguishably parrot beak and above all, the son the 1238th richest man in Russia. While in the US, on a student visa, he has earned a degree in multicultural studies from Accidental College NY and his sole ambition is to immigrate to the USA and live with his hot Latina girlfriend. However it was not meant to be, it was discovered his gangster father had murdered a businessman in Oklahoma, and to make matters worse his visa card was revoked.

Misha sees his salvation in the oil-rich nation of Absurdistan where consular officers can be easily bought and will sell him a Belgian passport. With his new identity and help from his friend Alosh-Bob and his manservant Timofey, Misha hopes to circumvent previous hurdles but things do not go as planned and everything turns south'.

I am surely not the only one to realize that 338 pages of satire quickly becomes a drag especially if the story doesn't grab you from the start. Maintaining a steady diet of satire and mockery has its limits and is not meant for everyone, Misha's pathetic sex driven and unappealing character reaches a point of over exposure and a turn off. I felt the book to be mostly ridiculous, unbelievable and above all absurd. All this said, it may nevertheless appeal to a certain group with a broader sense of humour.