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    One More Year: Stories
    One More Year: Stories
    One More Year: Stories
    Audiobook7 hours

    One More Year: Stories

    Written by Sana Krasikov

    Narrated by Suzanne Toren

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Sana Krasikov's short story collection has won widespread accolades and earmarked the author as a writer of immense promise. In these affecting tales, Russian and Georgian immigrants find love and fear in their new homeland. "In her stunning short story debut, Krasikov hones in on the subtleties of hope and despair that writhe in the hearts of her protagonists."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 18, 2009
    ISBN9781440759925
    One More Year: Stories

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    Reviews for One More Year

    3.5/5

    61 ratings15 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Although well-written heart-wrenching stories, I found it difficult to relate to the characters in Krasikov's stories and struggled to reach the end. Possibly because of that, to me each story seemed to be like the one before it. Overall, I didn't love it, but I think in this case that is more about me than it is about the book.
    • 4/5
      This collection of short stories deals mostly with Russian immigrant's lives in the U.S. The characters really come alive in all of the stories. Well-written and lead me to be quite empathetic with many of the characters situations.
    • 5/5
      The psychology of endurance, did such a field really exist? Had this woman named it into existence? It seemed ludicrous in a way possible only in this country, spinning your own survival instincts into a new form of expertise, peddling them as though they were something you could teach people. – from The Alternate, page 65 -A woman moves in with an older man out of necessity, a Russian boy visits his mother in New York and the divide between America and Russia widens, a man mourns a woman he once loved and hopes for a connection with her daughter, a young woman tries to break free of a polygamous marriage, a young wife struggles to leave an abusive marriage, a man learns the truth about his beloved niece, a man turns his back on Wall Street success to return to his native country, a young woman takes an extended visit back to Russia to escape the consequences of a bad decision at work…all of these characters people the eight stories in Sana Krasikov’s award winning collection: One More Year. Krasikov weaves her tales around the central theme of immigration and the struggle to adapt to a new country while clinging to the memories and connections of the past.In The Repatriates, this struggle is reflected through the eyes of a woman whose husband decides to leave his lucrative job on Wall Street to return to Russia and start a new business. Grisha resists adapting to his life in the United States, while his wife, Lera, wishes only to support her husband’s desires.Lera would often see her husband off in a corner, rattling his drink and talking with someone about the morbid state of American culture, the absence of any real spirituality here. It was known to happen to such late arrivants – the ones who’d risked nothing, forsaken little, and had not even been required by the Russian government to annul their red passports. – from The Repatriates, page 154 -When Lera rejoins Grisha back in Russia, there are secrets and betrayals waiting for her and the idealized version of her husband’s Russia brings only disappointment.Most of the female characters in Krasikov’s stories slide between wanting their autonomy and independence, to desiring a man’s control in their lives. Often these characters are willing to set aside their own moralities to find love and acceptance from a man…only to be disappointed and alone at the end. The dream of happiness and success in America is rarely attained. It seems as though Krasikov is illuminating a misconception – that where we live has everything to do with self-actualization. And yet, all the characters in her stories are living the immigrant experience of hope, struggle, and the search for a better life by leaving behind what they know to take a risk on the unknown.Krasikov writes with a maturity and authenticity which makes her stories believable. The reader gets the feeling that Krasikov knows her characters intimately and understands their desires, motivations and flaws. Despite the bleakness which infiltrates this collection, the stories also contain some hope and the spirit of survival. One gets the feeling that even though these characters stumble and fall, they will get back up again.Sana Krasikov was recognized for the 5 Under 35 Award (administered by the National Book Foundation) for this debut collection of short stories, and it is easy to see why. Full of empathy, passion and a deep understanding of the struggle of immigrants, One More Year is a beautiful and insightful work of fiction.Highly recommended for those who love literary fiction in the form of the short story.
    • 5/5
      Krasikov is a new writer, so I'd not heard of her before reading this collection, ONE MORE YEAR. But 'whew!" has this young woman got writing chops! Just over 30 years old and she can already write like this?! Remember this name, readers: Sana Krasikov. Because we're definitely going to be hearing more good things about her.The only negative thing I can think to say about these stories is that their subject matter seems to be pretty unrelievedly bleak. Ill-advised, hasty and failed relationships seem to be the central themes in all eight of the stories here, and the men are the bad guys. But they all deal too with the emigrant experience, and most vividly and realistically at that. Krasikov is able to easily switch setting from one tale to the next, alternating from New York to Tbilisi, to Moscow, etc. And her descriptions of the sudden poverty and instability that struck the former USSR when it suddenly crumbled back in the early 90s is right on the mark, with the sidewalk scenes of crippled veterans trying to sell their medals and ribbons, and old pensioners (whose pensions are laughable with the ruble devalued and rampant inflation) and ordinary citizens trying to sell old clothes, shoes - any kind of old junk, really - just to supplement their no longer adequate incomes. And always there are the women characters who are betrayed, lied to, abused, used and discarded by their men, both in the U.S. and in the former Soyuz. In fact one of the main messages here seems to be that men cannot be counted on, cannot be trusted, are scum. I suppose I might have been put off by this overriding theme, but the truth is the writing is so convincing, so good, that I wasn't.I thought of a couple of comparisons as I read Krasikov's stories. One would be another collection I read only recently, Valerie Laken's SEPARATE KINGDOMS. Whereas Laken is an American who knows, has visited and lived in the former USSR off and on for the past twenty years or so, and writes so vividly of those experiences, Krasikov was born in Ukraine, moved to the former Republic of Georgia, then emigrated to the U.S. as a child. The stories they both write are kind of mirror images, stories told from differing vantage points, if you will. And both women are extremely talented writers.The other book I thought of was Marina Lewycka's A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS in UKRAINIAN, the bestselling novel which was set in England but is also about the Russian emigre experience, and also a very engaging and beautifully written book, and one which, in the end, is not quite so grim as Krasikov's stories. So okay, maybe these stories are pretty dark and have no comic relief to speak of - no relief at all, actually. But the talent; the talent is the thing here. Sana Krasikov is a writer, by God. I'll be watching for the novel she's working on. Hurry up, Sana. I'm waiting. If I have any suggestions, how about take a tip from Lewycka and include just a smidgen of happiness for the women in this book, okay?
    • 2/5
      Disappointing.I'm really surprised that this book has such good reviews, have the other reviewers read the same book as me?? I thought it was like reading cotton wool. The characters are in Russia, Georgia or USA (according to the back cover) but I was frequently unsure as to exactly where. The city of Tbilisi is mentioned but without any reference as to what country it is in (and I was on holiday and unable to Google it while reading).I felt that there were some good, if depressing, stories hidden in there, trying to escape - hence the two stars. But it needed some extensive re-writing to produce the crisp effect that is so sucessful with short stories.
    • 3/5
      Although well-written heart-wrenching stories, I found it difficult to relate to the characters in Krasikov's stories and struggled to reach the end. Possibly because of that, to me each story seemed to be like the one before it. Overall, I didn't love it, but I think in this case that is more about me than it is about the book.
    • 5/5
      One More Year was a collection of short stories by new writer, Sana Krasikov. In this book, Krasikov introduced us to memorable characters through eight stories – each focused on Russians and their experiences in America and their homeland. Each short story dropped the reader in the middle of the action, and after several pages, you get the idea of the story. Each story presented a conflict with love and life, and though it’s focused on Russians, their trials and tribulations are universal: Maia struggled with pleasing her teenage son, who she hadn’t seen in years, and was frustrated with the whole process. Anya had enough of the physical and verbal abuse of her husband, Ryan, and sought protection from his ways. And Regina, who traveled to Russia to see her old friend, and ended up judging her friend when Regina herself was making a similar mistake.I found it helpful to look up some of the Russian towns and words on Google to help me understand the story better, but one could follow along without this knowledge. I also devoted one night to each story. Many reviewers complained that they tired of the stories, and I found reading one story per day made each one enjoyable. One More Year is highly recommended to readers who enjoy short stories by women authors and to those who like learning about other cultures. I was reminded of Rose Tremain’s The Road Home when I read some of these stories. Taken in small doses, I found One More Year to be a wonderful depiction of hope and the pursuit for a better life. I look forward to Krasikov’s first novel, which she is working on.
    • 2/5
      Characters are from Russia or live in Russia. I enjoyed the first 2 stories the best. By the end, I couldn't wait to be done with the book because I was tired of the book. The stories seemed very similiar.
    • 4/5
      "One More Year" is a memorable, but depressing collection of short stories written by Sana Krasikov. The author, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, writes almost exclusively about women who either still live in Georgia, Russia, or the Ukraine or who have emigrated from there to the United States. These women struggle on a daily basis with issues like displacement, estrangement, and infidelity. They're frequently involved in unhealthy relationships, possibly as a means to cope with the loneliness and cultural isolation that immigrants often feel.Even though the stories are bleak, Ms. Kasinov writes them beautifully. I found myself rereading passages because they were so well written. I think she made her characters both believable and sympathetic. I would recommend "One More Year" to anyone who enjoys well written fiction, is interested in stories about immigration and assimilation, or who is interested in learning more about the former Soviet Union. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.
    • 2/5
      One More Year, a collection of short stories, deals mainly with the experiences of Russian immigrants to America. The stories follow men and women, young and old, as they adjust to the disappointments and realities of leaving Russia for America. Some of the stories deal with returning to a Russia that has transformed while they were gone, some are set in Russia. The vivid language and stark detail that the author used made the characters' situations come alive, and made the stories themselves very revealing and diverting. The circumstances her characters find themselves in are distinctive and well wrought, but the world her characters inhabit isn't a pretty place. It is a more gritty and unyielding world than most of us are acquainted with, populated with people who are selfish and self-serving. There was a dark energy surrounding these tales that was hard to displace, and as I read, looking for hope, I was scarcely rewarded with it.As a whole, the characters in this book didn't engender any sympathy. They were cynical and sullen people not content with the situations of their life, always more apt to complain than to change. Her characters tended to lament and gravitate towards dejection. Many of the characters were in relationships where monogamy played no part, and this was dealt with in a very indifferent fashion. The flagrant infidelity in these stories was tiresome. One story in particular, about a woman who is competing with another woman to be first in her partner's life, had a gruesome and disturbing conclusion. Another aspect that stood out as a hallmark of the collection was a lack of family cohesiveness. Many were guarded and disconnected from their relations, and mistrust and secretiveness dominated these relationships. Americans were often portrayed as people who frequently stole and ransomed passports and working documents, or were great snobbish bores, occupying opulent surroundings where the focal characters slaved away for them. Most of the marriages were marriages of convenience, lacking any affection or goodwill between partners. The author seems to have a very disenchanted and dismal view of the life of the modern day Russian in America. It's not an unbelievable set of circumstances that these characters have encountered, this struggle for a foothold on a new life, but the idea that among all these stories, there are none of hope or optimism, leads me to regard them as somewhat improbable. I have never encountered a more jaded group of characters.This book was deeply dispiriting. As I read, it seemed too much to hope for that something would go right for these people, and then it became a situation where I was reading, expecting the calamity page after page. The author's statement seems to be that life for the average Russian citizen who decides to take a chance on a better future is bleak and unrewarding. She shows exceptional talent in the ability to render these stories and situations, yet the whole endeavor made me sad and frustrated.
    • 3/5
      ARC Review: I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt, since this is her first collection of short stories. There were a ton of characters to try to keep track of and it seemed that many overlapped stories, which made character tracking even more difficult. I'm not very current on my Russian geography and it seemed to put me in a slight disadvantage since I'm sure the geographical references were important and beneficial to the story.
    • 4/5
      ONE MORE YEARBy Sana KrasikovSpiegel & Grau PublishingISBN: 9780385524391I really love short stories. This book is a compilation of eight short stories all based around Russian immigrants, their lives here in the US and in some cases when they returned to Russia. Having grown up in a small town in the mid-west I was seldom given the opportunity to meet anyone who had moved here from another country so recently. Most people I knew were at least second generation like myself. When I moved to California one of the most exciting things for me was to meet people who had just recently come to this country. Each group comes with its own way of being in this world. What I have seen of people who came from Russia or surrounding countries was so much like what Sana Krasikov portrays in this book. The authenticity of the writing shouted at me.The writing in this book was perfect. I was able to immediately get involved with each new character and by the end I felt that while the story could go on farther I was still left with the satisfaction of a complete story. Most of the main characters were women with the same struggles that women of all nationalities experience especially in a new country.The only thing that I did struggle with in this book was also one of its greatest strengths. The stories were mostly sad and frustrating. I often left each one feeling much the way the main character was feeling. Since I tend to read mostly happy ending types of work I had to work a little harder to hang in there with this book. Like salt in a wound, however, it stings but ultimately it will assist in the healing. I think that it is important that we don’t always look at the pretty side but the things that temper humanity to make it stronger.
    • 4/5
      Sana Krasikov is a Russian writer and this collection of short stories is all about immigrants and their families and struggles. Some are set in the US, some in Russia, but it's all about parents and children, the new country and the old country. It reminded me a lot of Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - also stories about immigrants, but better, more hopeful. Instead of seeming powerless against their misery, Krasikov's characters make choices, change directions, and make the best of bad situations.The only thing that keeps this from being a really stellar work is the focus on infidelity. It seems that the women in every story are either having affairs with married men, or their husband is having an affair, or their husband has a second wife somewhere. The only saving grace is that in at least some cases, the women are able to break out of these bad relationships and change their course.
    • 4/5
      One More Year by Sana Krasikov was an interesting glimpse into the lives of immigrants from the former Soviet Union to the United States. The eight stories presented cover a vast array of age groups, educational backgrounds, and economic status.What I liked most about this book is that each short story was uniquely different. My favorite story was the last one, and unlike the rest of the stories, the final one was the longest at forty two pages, and took place in Moscow. Each short story presented a character at a life changing point in their life. Loneliness, love, aspirations, and family are all very strong themes woven throughout the stories. Every character put forth was so humanly imperfect and realistic. A Russian glossary would be a helpful inclusion in this book, as well as a map to help the reader more clearly understand the context of these stories. Overall, a very well written and enjoyable book that I would recommend.
    • 5/5
      DATE:7-16-08TITLE:One More YearAUTHOR:Krasikov, SanaPUBLISHER:Spiegel & GrauCOPYRIGHT:2008RATING:5 out of 5I must preface my review with the fact that I rarely read short stories collections because I always seem to be left wanting more. I think the last collection I read and really enjoyed was The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. This book was meant for me to read. The day I received it I was so drawn that I put my other books down and started in on it immediately. By early evening, I was about half way through, and I noticed my husband had tuned into a documentary on LINK TV. It was about the effort by AES to bring new electrical service to the people of the Georgia Republic and more specifically the town of Tbilisi. It felt like destiny to be exposed to the trials that so many Soviet citizens have had to endure since the dawning of their democracy.It is the simple stories of individuals that stick with you. The way that the trials of these people make or break them, divide and conquer relationships and families, is brought to the forefront by these stories. Ms. Krasikov has put three-dimension to her characters so you feel like you know them, they live in your town and are the person that you encountered at the doctor’s office or the cab driver you had. Each story gives us all a moment’s pause to have a little more understanding of the sacrifices that many are willing to make to experience what we take for granted, Freedom. Be it, religious, ethnic, political or simply economic, it is the driving force and the risk that many take every day to have a better life. Thank you to Ms. Krasikov for saying it so eloquently.