Ambiguity, liminal spaces - this collection of short stories defies definition, and is nothing short of brilliant.I realize that tells you very little about what's happening in this book. It's not just short stories, but also some essays, some treatises, some humor, and some politics. Imaginings on the washing machine that eats socks, real estate and home ownership in America versus Russia, imagining a world where Italy didn't exist, and some very clever political allegories (like some of her Ru...

This was a book I picked up in Five Leaves just because it looked interesting, and I chose it for a group discussion in 21st Century Literature which starts later this month. This was my first experience of reading Tolstaya, and the collection is a very enjoyable introduction to the diversity of her writing. Many of these stories appear to have autobiographical elements, but others are clearly fictional. They reflect her experiences of living and working in Russia (both before and after the fall...

I loved this book from start to finish. Being a slow reader most of the time, I read this in just two sittings. It is not very often I read Russian authors, no particular reason for that, but almost every time when I came across a book translated from Russian (I successfully avoided studying it in school, which I regret now), I ended up enchanted. This is a collection of autobiographic short stories previously published in her two books, about growing up in Leningrad and living as adult in Ameri...

National Book Award Longlist for Translated Literature 2018. I enjoyed Tolstaya’s caustic sense of humor that is often on display in this short story collection. I also loved her ‘Russianness’ whether it is making aspic for New Year’s Eve (‘Aspic’) despite the fact that no one likes it, just because it is ‘tradition’; or recounting her summers at her family’s dacha (‘The Invisible Maiden’). Tolstaya’s imagination often takes flight—creating whole cloth scenarios from just observing a young man a...

4.5 starsI really didn't want this to end. I had to force myself to finish this because I just wanted to spend the rest of my reading life following in the footsteps of Tatyana Tolstaya, watching her travel, move homes, teach classes, reminisce, fall in and out of love, and, occasionally, spin a story. This book is a miscellany-an essay here, a personal reminiscence there, a travelogue, and, once in a while, a bit of fiction that sweeps you off your feet with its beauty, its strangeness, or its

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/'They passed on, their personal suns went out, and there was no one left to speak of them, to think of them and to tell their stories, to laugh and shake one’s head while remembering.'I loved each of these stories, from tales about art, love and loss, politics and war, childhood and aspic, there wasn’t one story that didn’t captivate me. How does a man falling in love with a marble statue lead to losing his wife and children? Is a gypsy to be be...

Tatyana Tolstaya, a Russian writer, had two of her stories from her collection Aetherial Worlds: Stories in a free online post titled "Two Stories" on Literary Hub on April 5, 2018. I enjoyed her work and would like to read more in the future. I'm including my thoughts about the two online stories. https://lithub.com/two-stories/"Aspic" is a story that is set on New Year's Eve. The ritual of preparing the gelatinous aspic is described in detail. "It's a yearly sacrifice, though we don't know to

This wasn't really for me. I enjoyed some of the stories, but only a few really stayed with me.

Aetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya, beautifully translated from the Russian by Anya Migdal, is a collection of 18 short stories that skilfully cover an array of different topics such as love, loneliness, loss, travel, art, literature, the writing process, and identity, both individual and cultural.The stories that stuck out to me the most were the auto-fiction and essayistic pieces dealing with questions of identity and the range of conflicting emotions that come with being an expatri...

4.5 stars. Loved this collection of short stories and essays, so very Russian in tone, with a pitch-dark sense of humour and startling images.

Tolstaya writes in dreams, it's not often that a writer can alternate writing in a light, carefree style but also in a heavier style. This collection features 18 stories, mostly told in the first person in the form of reminiscences and occasionally dreamlike or fantasy. In a mix of fiction and nonfiction, Tolstaya writes the most divine short stories that sublime the mundane. Reading this I suddenly found myself inhabiting the mind of her characters. Her attention to detail is commendable, it's

Wow. I had high hopes for this one after I cleared the first couple stories which were quick and weird and somewhat accessible. However, I hit a wall when trying to get through the first lengthy story. I was completely turned off and started skimming, waiting for some type of action or relevance to jump off the page. Instead, tedium set in and I found myself wondering why I was even pushing on. It seemed like the label of stories (both short and long) were a mere guise for the author to write se...

This pleasantly surprising collection runs the gamut from mostly autofiction stories in the vein of Knausgard to captivating essays on The Black Square and Tolstoy (a distant relative) and Emaneul Swedenborg to even a fantastic and fantastical allegory on communism. Tolstaya is a natural storyteller with humor and insight, and she has an eye for stunning language. In true Tolstaya fashion, I had left this loaned library book outside overnight accidentally while grilling, and a fateful shower or

4.5 rounded upNot really conventional short stories, but rather a collection of essays, stories, meditative vignettes, digressions, all eluding conventional narrative forms. The line between memoir and imagination, fact and fiction is constantly shifting. Loved it! Especially “20/20”, “The Invisible Maiden”, “Aetherial Worlds”, and the astute and hilarious “Official Nationality”. But then there are also “Nowhere”, “Father”, “See the Reverse”, "Aspic", “The Square” (a fantastic philosophical and

I remember as a child, learning how to write. That off-white page with dark blue lines and the central dotted line- like a road. Those blue lines were rarely to be crossed. Only a few lucky letter could leap under- g, y, f... you get the point. Tolstaya does the same with her writing. Her language and meaning has this hard stop. But it is a beautiful stop. Existing not so much as rule, but as reason. The control of language and meaning in these stories is really quite impressive.

I suppose its oddly appropriate that the great grand niece of Tolstoy would spoil the ending of Anna Karenina for me in this short story collection. Sigh.At its best this is really wonderful. Its pretty clear that both Tolstaya and the translator are very skilled writers. Its hard to exactly pin down one overall theme linking these stories, but a close guess might be nostalgia. For loves, real and imagined, requited and unrequited, past and future. For times and people long past and gone, for a

I have traveled to many different places around the world, been asked to look at things and people differently... Tolstaya's lyrical voice is truly a wonderful guide to these "aetherial" worlds, every story marked my heart in one way or another. The lightness of her words still have so much weight and depth! It's one of those books that you almost regret finishing

I liked these short stories & especially Tatiyana’s voice. It was interesting to read details of like in Russia as well as the immigrant voice. The first story may be the best about how she lost her sight for 3 months & what it felt like to get it back. It the book is too long.

Did not finish. Love Russian literature and saw this in the recommended reads section @ Powell’s Books in Portland and it looked interesting. Alas, it is not. I wonder how much was lost in translation as this felt like a slog notwithstanding the superlative reviews on the cover. On to the next.

Aetherial Worlds by Tatyana Tolstaya.Translated by Anya Migdal. •"Meanwhile, I found that the second world, having first appeared to me in darkness, was here to stay; it turned out to be a multifaceted underside of so-called reality, a dungeon full of treasure, an aetherial world through the looking glass, a mysterious box with passcodes to all enigmas, anaddress book with the exact coordinates of those who never existed."•"The chopped-up legs in the shopping bag are pulling your arm down, and i...

Wow. BIG thanks to the brilliant minds at TBR (Tremendous Books Recommendations) for sending me this book that I hadn't heard of and wouldn't have gotten into my hands otherwise. And to be honest, for a while I'm not sure I would have kept reading as it took me some time to get my bearings with the writing. These short stories are a combination of essay and fantasy to the point where it's hard to know if some of the characters she's talking about are real. But then I googled Turkmenbashi of Turk...

On the whole I enjoyed this collection of 18 stories from acclaimed Russian writer Tatyana Tolstaya, but I must admit that having come to review the book after having read it a few weeks ago I found that few of the stories remained in my memory. So while I found them interesting and very readable at the time, they don’t seem to me to be of any overwhelming merit. Certainly a must-read for anyone interested in Russian literature, which I am, and certainly a useful and pleasurable introduction to

This book was witchy and colorful and dreamy and sure-footed, and now I’m on a very serious mission to read everything Tolstaya’s written. Too bad I don’t have a dacha to do it in. (And yes: she’s THAT Tolstoy’s great-grandniece!)

Even if the rest of the book were complete trash (which it’s not), I’d read it several times over just for the last story, “See the Reverse” (linked below). Tolstaya’s storylines may not be overtly compelling but her writing is so funny — dark, wry, & judgmental — & straight-up WEIRD that it makes it all worth it. I wish I hadn’t read it for book club & that I could’ve consumed it in sips rather than gulps, but I still enjoyed it.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newy...

Loved this book. The stories got better and better

‘The Window’ was my favourite story - that one would be 5 stars

an intriguing and eclectic collection of short stories

A set of mostly autobiographical stories and essays about Tolstaya's experiences in Russia, The U.S. and various locations in Europe. Often funny as well as perceptive, she has written a unique collection of short stories that captures her skill as one of contemporary Russia's best writers.

I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Sometimes life becomes very hectic so that reading becomes a cherished commodity pushed aside which is where short stories step in. This is a beautiful collection of stories that interlock one with another but that can be read at your own pace and can be put down when the time comes. It's definitely worthy of being pre ordered and savor every story as you go along because this book will stay with you long after the last

There's something here for everyone. A meditation on art, a recipe for aspic, a modern fable, and much more. Tolstaya's voice is totally unique; I don't think I've ever read anyone like her. There are a few stories than weren't really for me, but there's enough in here that the good ones, like the aforementioned aspic recipe, are so stunning that I don't mind the weaker stories. Tolstaya is extremely funny, and she writes in such a way that her stories don't just have an ending, they often end i...