(6/26/2016)
Did I enjoy this book? Hmmm, not so much. Was it compelling reading? Oh yes, absolutely!
Ivan is a teenage boy in a grotesquely deformed body, the result of radiation from a malfunctioning Russian nuclear plant. His mind, however, functions perfectly. Trapped in a deformed body in a rundown hospital, Ivan entertains himself by being as obnoxious as possible until he meets Polina, a recently orphaned teenage girl suffering from a rapidly advancing cancer.
We watch as Ivan and Polina react to each other, their suffocating community and their medical conditions in an unforgiving tale of self-worth, alienation, wonder, love, frustration, ineptness, caring, hope and resignation.
This is a tale that will stay with you, disturb you and,, perhaps, challenge you to change things.