Welcome to Litsy!

Found this feature about the “Russian Soul“ (🇩🇪 https://bit.ly/2WaqO4z) shortly after I made my opinion about“Metro 2034”. The plot and especially Homer, the protagonist, felt so “Russian” in all his suffering – and that was why I did a quick research on that trait of suffering said to be typically Russian and found the feature behind the link … Just forgot to post it until today.

@Jari-chan Do you have any helpful comment to set my impression straight❓So much looked forward to it – and it fell so short. For me, there‘s hardly anything left from the original atmosphere, the density, the threat, the creepiness. Homer is just your average Russian who deepens his capacity to suffer. All that weltschmerz and striving for legacy. Couldn‘t relate. Additionally, where‘s Glukhovsky‘s subtlety? Homer, Moby Dick. More allusions, pls.

😕 I couldn‘t relate to any of the 3 protagonists. Sascha is bristle but flat. Hunter is a shadow of his own but it‘s not explained why. Save Homer‘s philosophical waffling, replace it with dialogue and plot.

I was so annoyed by how blurry everything is because the background given does hardly make sense. Plus: The characters don‘t really _talk_. They all only serve private ends.

I more and more lost interest in their fates and their mission.

Finally – on page 278 meeting dear old friends. 😃

I‘m still uncertain about this. Not becoming comfortable with the protagonists. Either Homer nor Sascha. I think I see the idea behind the disillusioned old man – that “sad Russian soul” longing for meaning. But it‘s all laid on it a bit too thick. It‘s described in the text but the emotions do not reach me …

And Sascha, who‘s Sascha❓ Not the angry young girl, she‘s seemingly supposed to be.

👉🏼 https://bit.ly/2ANk1Gv

Link to Wikipedia article of Moscow metro stations. It‘s really annoying that those where the plot take place are not included in the map provided by the book.

„Ohne Bilder und Chroniken fing das ohnehin schon hinkende menschliche Gedächtnis an zu stolpern und lief in die Irre wie ein Mensch ohne Krücken.“ (S. 129)

“Without pictures and chronicles the already limping human memory began to stumble and ran astray like a human without crutches.” (p. 129)

⬆️⬆️⬆️ ? Ableist bulls**it‼️? If you‘re walking on sticks you‘re not going astray without them – without your sticks, you‘re simply going _nowhere_‼️

👉🏼 https://bit.ly/2zEigL9

I know there aren‘t as many snooker fans here. But we met him a few times from a distance, so even if it sounds stupid, it‘s a little bit like I actually knew him. Which is why it makes me a little sad. He was also such a nice man, approachable and always friendly, and, if need be, he stopped every 2 meters for a photo, an autograph, a chitchat or a warm gesture.

„window … window shutters … fresh air and mild light 🤔 … windowsill … morning mist … sunbeams … 🤔 … Pine shoots in the distance … green meadows in between … valley … houses … bell towers.”

⬆️⬆️⬆️ I‘m confused. 😯 Who sneaked in to change the story❓I mean _fresh_ air and _green_ hills – 😶 no, not on post-nuclear-war-surface, I think. No.

Okay, book.
Chapter 4 put me on the leash.

I mean I guessed from the beginning that Achmed was just a minor of the minor characters – but what the heck⁉️ I‘m no fan of that kind of esoteric, which is why I didn‘t like the mud in “2033”, either. (But I had a tiny crush on Khan, yes 😊) But this _needs_explanation_.
A good one, please‼️

Creepy 7 pages in chapter 4 as they encounter the dust. That I wasn‘t as frightened as I was when I first read “Metro 2033” might be to blame on not being the dark season*) and me knowing the universe and Glukhovsky‘s style – but that Charlton-Heston-moment on p. 113. Well done. It has me a bit goosebumpy.

*) Even though it‘s quite misty 🌫 here.

Dear book,

it‘s just a bit (🤥) annoying that your map (https://bit.ly/2BhGGuk) doesn‘t show where they travel in the beginning 😠:

• Serpuchowskaja > Dobryninskaja (Ringlinie)
• Tulskaja
• Nagatinskaja
• Nagornaja
• Nachimowski Prospekt
• Sewastopolskaja > Kachowskaja (L 11)
• Tschertanowskaja
• Juschnaja
• Praschskaja
• Uliza Akademika Jangelja
• Annino
• Bulwar Dmitrija Donskowo > Uliza Starokatschalowskaja (L 1)

(https://bit.ly/3e52jg5)

(End of) First chapter, already meeting familiar faces … At least kind of. Hunter‘s face obviously has got a nasty bashing that I can‘t tell of where exactly it came from … 🧐

@Jari-chan I‘m wrong, ain‘t I, the first acquaintance from “2033” we meet is Istomin, Sewastopolskaja‘s station 🚉 captain, right❓🤔

This morning I wanted some reading in the sun ☀️ before I head to my first appointment – but all the people around me were so chatty.

So I didn‘t come too far.
But far enough to notice that in here, there is an annex, too. 😍

And far enough to wonder why the “Sewastopolskaja”, where the plot starts, is looked for in vain on the included map in the beginning of the book. *sigh*

Guess who _finally_ starts this.
I‘m a tiny bit reluctant to because after finishing “Leviathan” yesterday I wasn‘t really in the mood for _another_ sci-fi-tale.
I guess I let my scepticism about its tediousness get me down.
I forced myself a bit into “Metro 2034” by bringing home to me that _now_ I have the events of the first one still in mind. If I put the series aside again for a year or so another “restart” will be necessary. 🤷🏽‍♀️
So …

I‘m not yet making any decisions. Just spreading the word that @Sace already has a second round in stock.

Thanks for this. I found out those long-run readathons suit me better than those lasting the weekend only.

Already now reserved a corner of my subconsciousness to figure out a manageable theme.

How is that meant❓ Do I chose (audio)books with a topic at my own discretion❓ #cyoReadathon2

Here are my #SummerVibes, @magyklyXdelish :

📖 “Metro 2034”

⛱ • Read outside • Spend long evenings/nights with friends at the pub-garden having a good time

😄 To see the the gift I made found approval

👩🏽💚👩🏽🧡👩🏽 @JennyM @Kalalalatja @Shemac77

I‘m late again, @TheSpineView @RamsFan1963 @Texreader but I‘m sure none of you expects me to be on time anymore. Thank you for tagging me. #Two4Tuesday

1. If any, then to read the 3 original “Metro”-books 😊

2. If I do, then the hot beverage will be cold soon because I ignore it for the story – or it will be empty fast to prevent it from turning cold. 😂 I‘m better with cool beverages and reading, though. But most of the time I‘m just reading.

And now … from “Metro 2033” … to something completely different. 😂

I‘m looking forward to volume 2, so let‘s plunge in. 😄

It was okay I guess... Not even half as good as 2033...

1. That's a tough one... I think it kinda changes a lot. The last one I enjoyed was Azul.
2. Scotland 🥰
3. Quite allright. Might at least reach the 100 books (planned were 110)
4. Terry Pratchett. Read him when I was 14 or so... Now I can't wait for the next book I get to listen to.
5. Favourite reading place for the rainy autumn season?

#friyayintro @howjessreads

Metro 2034 is more of a standalone book than a sequel. Only two characters from Metro 2033 returned for this book- Artyom, the protagonist of the first book in a very limited role, and the militant madman, Hunter. The plot involves Hunter and two cohorts navigating the post-nuclear Moscow Underground trying to solve a mystery while experiencing a gamut of obstacles and horrors. The narrator, Rupert Degas, was excellent.

And the more I think about it the more I think it was a clever choice.

I have the first part on my shelf (read) and the third on my significant other‘s shelf (unread).

Look, what I just ordered.
Needed some other incidentals and decided my shopping cart 🛒 had space for a “tiny” book. 😊

To be honest, the second part of the “Metro”-series was not my first choice. I wanted “Nicht weg und nicht da” more. But that‘s only available as Kindle ebook 🙄 or as hardcover. And as I like paperbacks better because they‘re handier a different choice was a must.