One More Year

Customer Reviews

• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Feminist from Calcutta, 28, India | Jan 11, 2009
  

  Sana Krasikov, in her first published collection, brings a filling and current group of short stories, and in them, creates honest characters whose interactions cannot be forgotten. Dramatic and awful at times, desperate and sparse, the stories move through time as each day does. Eagerly, you turn the page, hoping for the best, but you see it doesn't always happen.
  
  As a graduate of the reknown Iowa Writers' Workshop, Krasikov sounds like Raymond Carver at times: despairing and hopeless with a sliver of brightness that develops through clear storytelling. Capturing fond emotion and likening the everyday uncomfortable human element of strangers, the author leaves no image unseen. Reflecting the roots of Krasikov's life, characters often originate from both the Ukraine and the Soviet Republic of Georgia in recent times and are transplanted to the East Coast of the United States. In developing characters, she juxtaposes and successfully conveys the understanding and assimilation of the Western lifestyle, which proves trying for the immigrants. Necessity for survival exists as uncertainties prevail.
  
  Somber and gray, dirty and stark, stories often involve senses of infidelity and mistrust by confused working souls. In addition, they present a weaving of passionate and determined people holding high expectations of relatives believed to be just as compassionate, but who are confused, real, and imperfect. In "Asal," the main character encounters her husband's mistress and the reader is left to wonder how she can interact with her so sensibly, witnessing the heated conversation of the deteriorating relationship. Often, family members add backstory and a thicker fabric of life to the stories.
  
  The images Krasikov creates demonstrates her eloquent mastering of the craft. As a reader, you feel her images striking deeply, and you need to breathe after each story because you completely witness the heated banter or grevious silence between characters. The author leaves no point unseen and no character untouched. As the reader, you exist among the characters and feel the ambiance conveyed through remarkable definition.
  
  Read this collection and go for a walk. Appreciate the world around you because One More Year definitely becomes a part of you. You take it with you wherever you go.
  
  Review by Carolyn Espe

  
  
   1 people found this review helpful
  
  

  ---

• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Robert from Long Beach, CA | Nov 17, 2008
  

  Stark stories of assimilation and identity that ask if we can ever be anything other than who we are. By this I mean that one's culture in inextricably tied to one's sense of self. When one's culture is stripped away, whether by choice or not, one begins to lose one's identity leaving a void into which myriad issues accumulate.

  
  
   2 people found this review helpful
  
  

  ---

• 4 out of 5
  
  
  by Literary Feline from The United States | Sep 24, 2009
  

  Short stories come in all different styles. Some are character studies; others have more of a vignette feel to them, that slice of life view; and then there are short stories that are more plot driven, with a clear beginning, middle and end. Sana Krasikov manages to capture all three in her collection, One More Year. Her characters are richly drawn and fully developed. Their stories are complex and I feel as if, for the instance of each story, I am walking in their shoes. One More Year is made up of stories of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Some have settled in while others still struggle to find their footing. There was not a story I did not like in this collection.

  
  

  ---

• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Donura from The United States | Jul 16, 2008
  

  
  
  
  DATE: 7-16-08
  TITLE: One More Year
  AUTHOR: Krasikov, Sana
  PUBLISHER: Spiegel & Grau
  COPYRIGHT: 2008
  
  RATING: 5 out of 5
  
  I 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.
  

  
  

  ---

• 4 out of 5
  
  
  by Alea from The United States | Jul 13, 2008
  

  One More Year is a collection of short stories that explore the lives of people from the former Soviet Union. Some have immigrated to the United States and others still live or have returned to Russia. The collection explores all sorts of relationships, from care takers, to husband and wife, to uncle and niece. Many different parts of life are captures as snapshots.
  
  Some of my favorite stories include Asal, about a relationship not normally talked about, Better Half about a young couple that marries too soon so one can remain in the United States, and There Will Be No Fourth Rome about an aunt and her niece.
  
  To me, the stories slowly reveal themselves like peeling back an onion. You know so little in the beginning and slowly more and more information is revealed. I really like this style of writing, it keeps you on your toes and you have to pay very close attention. It's not just laid out from page one.
  
  It is a quiet sort of collection that explores everyday life, but not the life that I'm used to or the struggles I've had to face. For that, I really enjoy it. I feel like I learned things I hadn't really known or thought about much before. I can definitely understand the comparisons to Jhumpa Lahiri. I have read her novel The Namesake, which I also enjoyed.

  
  

  ---