I'm afraid this Russian novel was lost in translation for me. As much as I tried, I was unable to get involved in the tale - getting caught up in the style. I suppose this one left something to be desired, and it required more attention and patience than I was able to give it at this moment. I will keep it on the shelves in the hopes that one day I will come back to it and be able to enjoy it more fully. As of now, it remains unfinished but not for lack of trying.

I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.

So this was an interesting book. I'm not sure that I "got" it, however, it was really well written and translated. The style is different than what I typically read and I liked that. It made the book unique, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 3. That extra star was for being original and fresh. Overall, this is an innovative piece of Russian literature. ( )

This extraordinary novel takes absolute attention and a willingness to read slowly. It insists and demands much from the reader. It wasn't a natural read for me as such because I'm typically the kind of reader who is in the middle of many novels at once, and I like to read quickly. So the novel stretched me and made me confront my own weaknesses as a reader, all for the good. Some parts of the novel digressive. Some passages are written in a way where I feel far removed from the action, and reminded me of how I feel when reading Gibbon vs. how I usually feel while reading a modern novel. But then something will happen in the novel that grips me absolutely--that makes me laugh, or makes me nod in recognition, or makes me delight in the language itself.

If the word "erudite" doesn't sound like a criticism, you are likely to enjoy reading this novel. If you want to be challenged rather than entertained, you are likely to love this novel. There is much here to entertain, to be sure, but the experience of reading Masha Regina is more like engaging in an at times serious, at times rambling conversation with the author, than it is like sitting back and letting the author do all the work for you the way most novels do. ( )

Middle of the road. Really this is for someone who wants to spend time in figuring out what is going on, commit to rereading, and generally thinking a lot about the character. Which is to say, not really my cup of tea. I don't mind wallowing in literary fiction, trying to peel back layers, but at times it just felt like too much work. It held interest, mostly, but overall it just felt like a summary of life, with important details expounded upon at length.

For the right kind of reader, no doubt this would be a great read, but not for me. ( )

Written in an extremely impressionistic style, Masha Regina chronicles the (unlikely) meteoric rise of a twenty-something Russian woman from the sticks to becoming an over-night sensation as a director of numerous Russian avant-garde films. Using inspiration from her quotidian life and loves in St. Petersburg we get myriad glimpses of the artistic creative process and the influences, thoughts and conflicts therein.

Masha Regina is certainly original and often fascinating and funny, but the steady flow of fragmented stream-of-conscious thoughts and dialogue tired at times. It often seemed more like reading a movie script than a novel. Perhaps more focus was needed or perhaps (doubtful) it had something to do with the translation. Then again, my review is based on having read the book once, and due to the complex multi-level narrative running throughout the novel I suspect it might improve greatly with multiple readings. ( )