The Ivankiad is a story made effective by its truth. If I were to write a novel detailing the amount of departments, officials, and committees Vladimir Voinovich was forced to confront in an attempt to move into his own apartment, I would be told to dial it back a little.

But Vladimir is telling his own story, and it's both funny and exasperating. I wasn't surprised in the slightest that Voinovich was forced to leave the Soviet Union just a few years after The Ivankiad's release, as he pulls no punches in his denunciation of Soviet bureaucracy and the men who benefit from it.

There's nothing earth-shattering in here, but as this was a backup purchase after a failure to find his far-more-famous The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin at a book sale, this was a pleasant surprise. It's a quick read, and I'd call it required reading for anyone curious about the more mundane effects of Soviet oppression. ( )

A writer in a Soviet apartment building complex learns that a larger 2 bedroom apartment is now vacant and according to the decision made by the special assembly of tenants, he and his pregnant wife were supposed to get this apartment, moving out of their small one-bedroom. However, as things come to pass, his expectation is dashed when he learns that a colonel who already owns a 3 bedroom apartment wishes to add this onto his current 3-bedroom apartment because he has American furniture and needs more space.

What ensues is an absurd satirical comedy of how a simple writer manages to use the bureaucracy of the Soviet Union to thwart the corruption that exists among some in the higher offices of the Soviet government.

It was most enjoyable. ( )

This is a non-fiction memoir of sorts that takes place over the course of less than a year in Moscow, Russia. The title, the Ivankiad, is most likely a concatenation of the name of the nemesis of the main character, one Sergei Ivanko, and 'jeremiad' which is defined as a literary work expressing a bitter lament. The author, Vladimir Voinovich, fresh off circumventing the censoring of his best novel by ensuring a copy makes its way to the West, ends up in an unexpected struggle with a competitor for an apartment. The apartment building is a cooperative dedicated to housing writers (although others related to the writing trade have made it in) and on Voinovich's side, he was promised the apartment. On Ivanko's side is that he is highly connected in the Communist Party with powerful officials, and he is the final say on what gets published in some cases of fiction works.

The book is a satire and mostly well written, and spares us most of the 'bitter lamentation' the author likely really felt. The allocation of apartments in Communist Moscow--and other cities--has been well publicized and anguished over for decades in Russian fiction. Unlike an open market based on supply, demand, and income in the West, apportioning apartments in Moscow is a mix of board rules, ties to the Communist hierarchy and other influence, politicking, votes, and other angles. The book takes subtle shots at a number of values, such as unwillingness to act on principle for fear of losing some right (such as getting published), greed, dishonesty, and others. While there are some helpful comments, on the whole the book is more like a written version of a three-hour verbal account of an amazing story in the life of someone not willing to do whatever the Communist Party says to do. ( )

Instead of Greece and Troy we have Voinovich and Ivanko, with the role of Helen played by...the apartment?

The author's story of his struggle for a Moscow apartment rightfully his against the well-connected toady, Sergei Ivanko, is a quick and enjoyable read. Purporting to be a true story, but reading like a novel, the tale tracks the author's battles against bullying, threats, and bureaucratic corruption in this epic little war, complete with clandestine entry into enemy territory.

Voinovich was a Soviet-era dissident author who was forced to flee Russia, only returning after Gorbachev's rise to power.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to trying his more famous work, The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin. ( )