Davis Szalay - The Innocent

 



   

A short novel, but one that sets your mind thinking. In it is disappointment on a few levels. The main character starts his schooling and his working career in high hopes and trust in the ideology and himself in living according to this. Through the book you see him becoming a real apparatchik. He sticks to the official line and tries not to be too visual. He is aware how to avoid risks. Later he sees how he can take advantage of things that happen and of people. It all looks very cynical, but he seems not to be aware of that, it's the normal behaviour. It causes his downfall. This is mirrored by the developments in the USSR. Ideology has told the nation they are a sort of superior kind of people because of that very same thing. Disappointments are inevitable on different levels: sports, economics for example. The system and the ideology is constantly watered down and can only lead to their downfall, which is not in the book, but illustrated by the main character who has lost faith in everything and himself. He even has to witness that others have done better while not fit and dedicated to the system. I can imagine that there are problems with the names of people for readers. Russians use pet names. The title is very appropriate: who is really innocent and who is not? Judge this yourself. 

                                                                                                                                                

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