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Panic in a Suitcase
A dazzling debut novel about a Russian immigrant family living in Brooklyn and their struggle to learn the new rules of the American Dream.
In this account of two decades in the life of an immigrant household, the fall of communism and the rise of globalization are artfully reflected in the experience of a single family. Ironies, subtle and glaring, are the Nasmertovs left Odessa for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with a huge sense of finality, only to find that the divide between the old world and the new is not nearly as clear-cut as they thought. The dissolution of the Soviet Union makes returning just a matter of a plane ticket, and the Russian-owned shops in their adopted neighborhood stock even the most obscure comforts of home. Pursuing the American Dream once meant giving up everything, but does the dream still work if the past is always within reach?
If the Nasmertov parents can afford only to look forward, learning the rules of aspiration, the family’s youngest, Frida, can only look back.
In striking, arresting prose loaded with fresh and inventive turns of phrase, Yelena Akhtiorskaya has written the first great novel of Brighton a searing portrait of hope and ambition, and a profound exploration of the power and limits of language itself, its ability to make connections across cultures and generations.
In this account of two decades in the life of an immigrant household, the fall of communism and the rise of globalization are artfully reflected in the experience of a single family. Ironies, subtle and glaring, are the Nasmertovs left Odessa for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with a huge sense of finality, only to find that the divide between the old world and the new is not nearly as clear-cut as they thought. The dissolution of the Soviet Union makes returning just a matter of a plane ticket, and the Russian-owned shops in their adopted neighborhood stock even the most obscure comforts of home. Pursuing the American Dream once meant giving up everything, but does the dream still work if the past is always within reach?
If the Nasmertov parents can afford only to look forward, learning the rules of aspiration, the family’s youngest, Frida, can only look back.
In striking, arresting prose loaded with fresh and inventive turns of phrase, Yelena Akhtiorskaya has written the first great novel of Brighton a searing portrait of hope and ambition, and a profound exploration of the power and limits of language itself, its ability to make connections across cultures and generations.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
77 people are currently reading
3313 people want to read
About the author
Yelena Akhtiorskaya
5 books22 followersYelena Akhtiorskaya was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1985 and immigrated to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn at age 7. She holds an MFA from Columbia University. She is the recipient of a Posen Fellowship in Fiction for emerging Jewish writers, and her writing has appeared in n+1, The New Republic, Electric Literature, Tablet, Triple Canopy and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
July 24, 2014
In the midst of so much gloom, a little happy news out of Ukraine: Yelena Akhtiorskaya can’t resolve the separatist crisis or repel Vladimir Putin, but this 28-year-old writer from Odessa subordinates the violence of nations for a moment and offers the balm of laughter. Her first novel, “Panic in a Suitcase,” is equal parts borscht stew and Borscht Belt — an immigration comedy that can’t tell whether it’s leaving or coming to America.
For a country of great comics, we could still use more comic novels, so it’s encouraging to see free trade at work here. Like the Russian-born writer Gary Shteyngart, Akhtiorskaya was raised in the United States, but her prose retains a Slavic accent and sense of humor pickled in Eastern European endurance.
The Nasmertovs, the family at the center of “Panic in a Suitcase,” have been in Brooklyn for 715 days. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
For a country of great comics, we could still use more comic novels, so it’s encouraging to see free trade at work here. Like the Russian-born writer Gary Shteyngart, Akhtiorskaya was raised in the United States, but her prose retains a Slavic accent and sense of humor pickled in Eastern European endurance.
The Nasmertovs, the family at the center of “Panic in a Suitcase,” have been in Brooklyn for 715 days. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
November 18, 2014
I won this book from Goodreads, and I was very much looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately I just could not get into it. I found both the writing style - lack of punctuation, unfinished thoughts, confusing phrasing, and the unlikeable characters so off-putting that I could not, and quite frankly would not allow myself to spend anymore time on this novel. I made it almost halfway through, but it was just annoying.
June 16, 2016
"The morning was ideal, a crime to waste it cooped up. They were off to the shore. That means you too, Pasha -- you need some color, a dunk would do you good, so would a stroll. Aren't you curious to see Coney Island? Freud had been. Don't deliberate till it's too late. Strokes are known to make surprise appearances in the family. Who knows how long...? Now, get up off that couch!
"Pasha had just flown in last night and didn't feel well...fourteen hours strapped into an aisle seat near the gurgling lavatory of a dented, gasoline-reeking airplane, two layovers...would have been tough on any constitution and Pasha didn't have just any constitution but that of a poet...If he'd been smart, he would have been born a half-century earlier into a noble family and spent his adult life hopping between tiny Swiss Alp towns and lakeside sanitoria, soaking in bathhouses and natural springs, rubbing thighs with steamy neurotics, taking aimless strolls with the assistance of a branch, corrupting tubercular maidens...
"Instead Pasha was born in 1956 to a family whose nobility was strictly of spirit."
Meet the Nasmertovs in 1991, all but Pasha planted in Brighton Beach two years ago but pining for Odessa. Scraping by in circumstances significantly reduced in status and income (both grandparents had been physicians), three generations live under one roof in a neighborhood that replicates home, even in its proximity to the sea. Gently, hilariously and mostly brilliantly, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, herself born in Odessa and raised in Brighton Beach, captures the struggle between striving for assimilation and yearning for home. Despite their urging Pasha to emigrate and join them in Brooklyn (where he won't have to do anything but sit on the couch so they can look at him), he is their connection to Odessa, keeper of the apartment in a prime location and the beloved dacha. Fifteen years later, Frida, the youngest Nasmertov, now in her twenties and at loose ends, visits Odessa and despite finding life there no rosier feels drawn to a place she barely remembers and that her parents and grandparents fled.
Akhtiorskaya has said that her next book might be fantasy or sci-fi. Thankfully, she wrote this one before forswearing further fiction based on her family. She is a talented writer and it will be interesting to see how she applies her talent in other realms following this fine debut.
"Pasha had just flown in last night and didn't feel well...fourteen hours strapped into an aisle seat near the gurgling lavatory of a dented, gasoline-reeking airplane, two layovers...would have been tough on any constitution and Pasha didn't have just any constitution but that of a poet...If he'd been smart, he would have been born a half-century earlier into a noble family and spent his adult life hopping between tiny Swiss Alp towns and lakeside sanitoria, soaking in bathhouses and natural springs, rubbing thighs with steamy neurotics, taking aimless strolls with the assistance of a branch, corrupting tubercular maidens...
"Instead Pasha was born in 1956 to a family whose nobility was strictly of spirit."
Meet the Nasmertovs in 1991, all but Pasha planted in Brighton Beach two years ago but pining for Odessa. Scraping by in circumstances significantly reduced in status and income (both grandparents had been physicians), three generations live under one roof in a neighborhood that replicates home, even in its proximity to the sea. Gently, hilariously and mostly brilliantly, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, herself born in Odessa and raised in Brighton Beach, captures the struggle between striving for assimilation and yearning for home. Despite their urging Pasha to emigrate and join them in Brooklyn (where he won't have to do anything but sit on the couch so they can look at him), he is their connection to Odessa, keeper of the apartment in a prime location and the beloved dacha. Fifteen years later, Frida, the youngest Nasmertov, now in her twenties and at loose ends, visits Odessa and despite finding life there no rosier feels drawn to a place she barely remembers and that her parents and grandparents fled.
Akhtiorskaya has said that her next book might be fantasy or sci-fi. Thankfully, she wrote this one before forswearing further fiction based on her family. She is a talented writer and it will be interesting to see how she applies her talent in other realms following this fine debut.
July 10, 2019
what a book! loved everything about it! two places the author has first-hand knowledge on: brighton beach in brooklyn in 1993, preferred place of relocation (immigration) of most of the jewish population of odessa - and then, 15 years later (2008), odessa itself. a family of medical and literary people searching for meaning and fun, a great gloomy ukainian, pardon: russian, jewish but christian orthodox poet hesitating to make the move and whose biography must be written, a whole bunch of wonderful warm-hearted, unusual, typical characters to meet and enjoy.
fun to read, wise, wonderful prose, full of humor and very relatable. highly recommended in these times of permanent relocation and search for identity and reasons to be someplace or other.
„she was addicted to the possibilities of the world“
great!
fun to read, wise, wonderful prose, full of humor and very relatable. highly recommended in these times of permanent relocation and search for identity and reasons to be someplace or other.
„she was addicted to the possibilities of the world“
great!
March 5, 2015
Getting through this book has felt like being forced to listen to a constant stream of inside jokes by people who are too clever for their own good. The only people who mildly had a chance of getting "the joke" or "the point" would need to be fellow Soviet émigrés. If you are not one of them and now feel cheated, fear not. There was, in fact, no point to the 300 pages I just endured and there was very little humor.
Immigrant shtick is overdone. So if you're going to embark on the genre, please don't mistake incoherence for originality. Read some Jhumpa, some Junot. Don't try to be the new Shteyngart by taking what's most annoying about his writing and spinning it into an entire novel. There is no plot, the characters are flat and undeveloped, and exist not because they drive the story but only to validate that the writer is in fact an immigrant and is successfully presenting a picture of what immigrants and Soviets must appear like to the expectant American reader.
Perhaps what's most disappointing about this book is that the author has loads of potential. There is a great writer there somewhere. That's what the second star is for. A promissory note of sorts. Unfortunately, in her quest for originality and cleverness, she is incoherent, pointless and plain annoying. If I were her literary agent, I would suggest she takes a break, visits a writers retreat and tries again, or goes to Apex institute of technology, or something.
Immigrant shtick is overdone. So if you're going to embark on the genre, please don't mistake incoherence for originality. Read some Jhumpa, some Junot. Don't try to be the new Shteyngart by taking what's most annoying about his writing and spinning it into an entire novel. There is no plot, the characters are flat and undeveloped, and exist not because they drive the story but only to validate that the writer is in fact an immigrant and is successfully presenting a picture of what immigrants and Soviets must appear like to the expectant American reader.
Perhaps what's most disappointing about this book is that the author has loads of potential. There is a great writer there somewhere. That's what the second star is for. A promissory note of sorts. Unfortunately, in her quest for originality and cleverness, she is incoherent, pointless and plain annoying. If I were her literary agent, I would suggest she takes a break, visits a writers retreat and tries again, or goes to Apex institute of technology, or something.
August 8, 2014
"If you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved,and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can." Beryl Markham
Panic in a Suitcase takes a 20-year look at the Nasmertov family, who left Odessa, one city on the Sea, for another, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When the story opens in 1993 the family is firmly entrenched in the Russian/Ukrainian enclave in Brighton Beach (often referred to as Little Odessa) except the Nasmertov's son Pavel who had chosen to stay behind. Pavel is a poet and more than a bit baffled by the external world. Concerned for his health the family has him fly over for a vacation. He spends a month in Brooklyn with his family and friends before returning to Odessa. Years later, his niece Frida returns to Odessa for the wedding of Pavel's son. The book's story is not really plot-driven as much as it is driven by an examination of how emigrants deal with their experience as a stranger in a strange land and how that experience is viewed by those they left behind. In the first half of the book we have Pavel casting a critical eye on Little Odessa and the life lived by his family. On Frida's return to Odessa the camera-eye is reversed and a critical eye was cast on the city where their yesteryears are buried deep.
Panic in a Suitcase had a particular resonance for me. My grandparents left (fled may be the more accurate word) Odessa for Brooklyn about 90-years before the Nasmertov family. They fought through poverty, despair, family dysfunction until their place here in the U.S. was secure. I know very little about their day-to-day experience but have heard enough so that the vignettes of the Nasmertov family and their quirks, oddities, and living on what I call the fault-line of better living through maternal guilt complexes to believe that as exaggerated as some of the characterizations may seem to the reader they are not all that far-fetched.
I very much enjoyed Panic in a Suitcase. The writing was crisp and often funny. My reaction to Yelena Akhtiorskaya's Panic in a Suitcase was very similar to my reaction to Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. They were both excellent first-novels focusing on some of the same ground; stories of the lives, loves and dysfunctional family relationships of those who left Ukraine behind for distant shores.
As with Marina Lewycka (whose second novel was excellent) I hope that her next book lives up to the promise of her first effort.
Panic in a Suitcase takes a 20-year look at the Nasmertov family, who left Odessa, one city on the Sea, for another, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When the story opens in 1993 the family is firmly entrenched in the Russian/Ukrainian enclave in Brighton Beach (often referred to as Little Odessa) except the Nasmertov's son Pavel who had chosen to stay behind. Pavel is a poet and more than a bit baffled by the external world. Concerned for his health the family has him fly over for a vacation. He spends a month in Brooklyn with his family and friends before returning to Odessa. Years later, his niece Frida returns to Odessa for the wedding of Pavel's son. The book's story is not really plot-driven as much as it is driven by an examination of how emigrants deal with their experience as a stranger in a strange land and how that experience is viewed by those they left behind. In the first half of the book we have Pavel casting a critical eye on Little Odessa and the life lived by his family. On Frida's return to Odessa the camera-eye is reversed and a critical eye was cast on the city where their yesteryears are buried deep.
Panic in a Suitcase had a particular resonance for me. My grandparents left (fled may be the more accurate word) Odessa for Brooklyn about 90-years before the Nasmertov family. They fought through poverty, despair, family dysfunction until their place here in the U.S. was secure. I know very little about their day-to-day experience but have heard enough so that the vignettes of the Nasmertov family and their quirks, oddities, and living on what I call the fault-line of better living through maternal guilt complexes to believe that as exaggerated as some of the characterizations may seem to the reader they are not all that far-fetched.
I very much enjoyed Panic in a Suitcase. The writing was crisp and often funny. My reaction to Yelena Akhtiorskaya's Panic in a Suitcase was very similar to my reaction to Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. They were both excellent first-novels focusing on some of the same ground; stories of the lives, loves and dysfunctional family relationships of those who left Ukraine behind for distant shores.
As with Marina Lewycka (whose second novel was excellent) I hope that her next book lives up to the promise of her first effort.
February 8, 2015
A lot of the reviewers of this book did not finish it, myself included. I made it to page 200 (and that took awhile), before deciding that I didn't want to continue. The writing style required a lot of careful reading and even re-reading to fully understand what the author was saying. Sometimes it was worth it, but most of the time it felt like she was making it intentionally difficult. There isn't much plot, which is probably why I finally lost interest. Akhtiorskaya is very witty, and has a sharp eye. I hope her next novel is more accessible and focused.
February 7, 2015
I found this book truly funny and engaging. I loved the vivid characters, their strange idiosyncrasies, and how ordinary events loomed larger than reality, and triggered either exasperation or explosion. I loved Akhtiorskaya's style, her language, and fresh analogies. The lack of quotation marks didn't bother me, nor did any supposed run on sentences or over embellishments, as other reviewers have noted. I soaked it all up.
There's enough written about the premise of the story, so I won't reiterate. People have commented about a lack of plot, or that the novel is confusing or episodic. I disagree. For me, the story pivots on two characters and how they relate to one another: "Pasha" Nasmertov, a renowned poet living in the Ukraine who doesn't want to join his family in Brighton Beach, and his niece, Frida, who lives in Brighton Beach. They have much in common. They are both floundering, for different reasons, and apathetic. In a sense, they allow life to happen to them. Pasha visits America but isn't tempted to stay. Then Frida gets the opportunity to visit the Ukraine for the wedding of her cousin (Pasha's son). She stays with Pasha. It's there in Odessa that Frida has a revelation and discovers her purpose in life. This will certainly impact Pasha's life, although this is something readers will have to imagine. This is not the kind of novel that ties everything up in a neat bow.
The novel isn't for everyone. Some readers are put off by the lack of quotation marks. For me, it read cleaner without them, and was not difficult to understand. It's a stylistic choice the author makes. Her sentences are long and wieldy. She demands the reader pay attention. Why anyone would criticize her for this is beyond me.
There's enough written about the premise of the story, so I won't reiterate. People have commented about a lack of plot, or that the novel is confusing or episodic. I disagree. For me, the story pivots on two characters and how they relate to one another: "Pasha" Nasmertov, a renowned poet living in the Ukraine who doesn't want to join his family in Brighton Beach, and his niece, Frida, who lives in Brighton Beach. They have much in common. They are both floundering, for different reasons, and apathetic. In a sense, they allow life to happen to them. Pasha visits America but isn't tempted to stay. Then Frida gets the opportunity to visit the Ukraine for the wedding of her cousin (Pasha's son). She stays with Pasha. It's there in Odessa that Frida has a revelation and discovers her purpose in life. This will certainly impact Pasha's life, although this is something readers will have to imagine. This is not the kind of novel that ties everything up in a neat bow.
The novel isn't for everyone. Some readers are put off by the lack of quotation marks. For me, it read cleaner without them, and was not difficult to understand. It's a stylistic choice the author makes. Her sentences are long and wieldy. She demands the reader pay attention. Why anyone would criticize her for this is beyond me.
February 19, 2015
An intriguing fresh voice but ultimately the book was too anecdotal and not enough novel to hold my attention. Characters float in and out of focus and the whole is less then the sum of the tasty but disjointed parts.
August 25, 2014
The author can craft a sentence well, but I found the characters vacuous and the story insipid. I only made it to page 68, skimming the last 10 or so before I just gave up. I nearly always finish a book once I start, but just couldn't slog through this one.
December 13, 2014
Thank you Huffington Post for recommending this read. OK, not really. I had a really hard time with this book. However, once I start a book, I will finish it, no matter how long it takes. In the beginning, I had a hard time following whether it was actual storyline being presented or if it was a conversation because of the lack of punctuation. (Personally, I didn't think books made it past the editor without proper punctuation). About 1/4 of the way in, I finally got use to that part.
I don't feel that the characters we fully developed either. You're given a glimpse of them but nothing that really helps you understand them or that makes you want to connect with them.
The actual story was the same way. None of the storylines let anywhere. There was so much potential to a few of them, then they just stopped. It's sad because I did have high hopes for this novel after reading the blurb on the dust jacket and all the rave reviews.
I don't feel that the characters we fully developed either. You're given a glimpse of them but nothing that really helps you understand them or that makes you want to connect with them.
The actual story was the same way. None of the storylines let anywhere. There was so much potential to a few of them, then they just stopped. It's sad because I did have high hopes for this novel after reading the blurb on the dust jacket and all the rave reviews.
August 28, 2014
The rave reviews in NY Times and other national venues raised expectations too high and thus led to disappointment. The novel had no characters that one could find compelling--they were not loveable nor hateable. A disconnect between the first part and the second allowed the author to avoid developing the characters over time. Further, the syntax and editing: as an American who speaks Russian, I understood the peculiar grammar by thinking about how it might sound in Russian which helped. However, the author was not helped by her editor--some of the sentences simply needed to be rewritten. Additionally, she used Russian words without italicizing them which I found irritating, and I would suspect that non-Russian speakers would find mystifying.
February 17, 2015
The critical reviews of this book greatly exaggerate its strengths. Akhtiorskaya is witty and there are some very sharp scenes drawn in this book. However, the entire volume could have been condensed to a ten-page short story without losing much. There is almost no plot, the characters seem implausible and their relationship to each other even more so, and the odd bifurcated structure only serves to further diminish the reader's interest. The trip to an Odessa wedding that is the anchor of the entire second half seemed literally unbelievable - as in, impossible to believe. It was a hard book to finish.
February 6, 2015
Totally frustrating read. Gave up on page 78. No punctuation!! WTF? That's not arty or smart. It's lazy and stupid. I am done. And it's boring too.
January 5, 2016
I have never gotten to the end of book and actually felt cheated/bored/confused by the ending. I actually said out loud "what.....? it's over....?" at the end. Would not recommend this book.
March 24, 2019
PANIC IN A SUITCASE follows the story of the Nasmertovs, a Jewish family from Oddessa, who emigrate to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn at the start of the 1990s. Akhtiorskaya's prose is deliciously expansive and at times lyrical, but ultimately, this is a book without a plot, without conflicts that get resolved in a meaningful way, which at times makes the whole thing feel rather slow.
September 16, 2020
Next time I pick up a book at a library book sale, I will try to check the Goodreads reviews before buying it. The author is no Gary Shteyngart- I can see where she tried to apply similar humor but it just fell flat. I couldn't figure out why the author went the route of minimalism in terms of punctuation and formatting. It works for some books but did not work for this book. It was frustrating to try to figure out which parts were spoken aloud by a character (such as a sentence in the middle of a paragraph) versus just more narration. Even just italicizing could have helped. Maybe a different editor could have helped the final version of the book be more coherent.
None of the characters were compelling, interesting, or likable. That would have been okay if there was a plot or conflict for them to resolve (Gary Shteyngart is great at writing unlikable characters, but there is always something else redeeming about the story). There seemed to be interesting setups that could have taken the book somewhere, but they were all just mentioned then forgotten.
None of the characters were compelling, interesting, or likable. That would have been okay if there was a plot or conflict for them to resolve (Gary Shteyngart is great at writing unlikable characters, but there is always something else redeeming about the story). There seemed to be interesting setups that could have taken the book somewhere, but they were all just mentioned then forgotten.
July 29, 2014
First off, I want to thank Riverhead Books and thank GoodReads FirstReads Giveaway Program for the Advanced Uncorrected Proof of this novel.
The novel revolves around the Nasmertov family, who have emigrated from Odessa-one city by the sea, to Brighton Beach-another city by the sea. Brighton Beach was often called "Little Odessa".
The comfort level of the area is one reason the family chose the location. An immigrant from Odessa could find anything that their homeland offered, in Brighton Beach. From food to furniture to household items to material goods, it could all be had.
This very fact is what held the elders of the family within its fold. It is what prompted them to convince their son, Pasha, to emigrate from Odessa. Pasha, on the other hand, procrastinated, and waited until the last minute.
His role in the book is one of a man who doesn't seem to be motivated by anything in life, positive or otherwise. He lags behind in everything. He doesn't quite get the situation or the city he has arrived in, and has no desire to find out the aspects of life within the realm of Brighton Beach.
The story deals with the way that life is perceived during a time of assimilation. It brings the reader snippets of the procedures to assimilate, and also yearnings for what once was in the homeland. The desire for change does not necessarily overrule the comfort of what the homeland held in a person's daily life.
The reader is taken on a twenty-year journey through the Nasmertov family's treks to fit in, to understand the cultural divide between homeland and their new land. The journey is humorous at times, but only to the extent of familial actions, and also how they are viewed by those around them. The humor is more of an enhancement of what it means to survive in a country so unlike the one you emigrated from.
Yelena Akhtiorskaya's debut novel is filled with descriptions of Coney Island and Brighton Beach, that one can capture through their five senses. The novel is also an examination of the immigrant and the experiences and endeavors to fit in, despite strong memories of the past.
I enjoyed reading about the cultural issues, and enjoyed the word-imagery regarding the beach cities.
August 31, 2014
A Memorable Debut Novel About a Russian-American Family
Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s debut novel “Panic in a Suitcase” is not just the finest mainstream literary debut novel I have read this year. It is an important addition to emigrant fiction literature, and one that can be compared favorably even with the likes of Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes”, simply for the exceptional quality of her prose and storytelling. It is also the only debut novel I have read this year that truly captures the sights and sounds of New York City across the span of two decades, offering readers a compellingly fictional depiction of New York City’s ascendancy as a tourist mecca for visitors around the world, even as it reminds me of the departed sights and sounds of the streets around Union Square that exist now only within the realm of memory. Akhtiorskaya’s novel lacks the self-evident satire present in fellow Russian emigrant Gary Shteyngart’s critically acclaimed novels, but it is often hilarious in its own right, with an emigrant family, the Nasmertovs, who, as characters, are as memorable as any found in Shteyngart’s fiction. Her novel shows readers how the Nasmertovs seek to become genuine Americans, trying to live the American dream in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. Given unexpectedly a chance to return home following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they wrestle with their notions of what it means to be an American while still clinging to the intellectual life of their place of birth, trying to decide whether they are still Russian, even after spending decades in America. What the writer has wrought is a compellingly readable family saga that is rich in wisdom as well as humor.Without question, Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s “Panic in a Suitcase” will be remembered as one of the notable debut novels published this year, well received by critics and readers of mainstream literary fiction.
Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s debut novel “Panic in a Suitcase” is not just the finest mainstream literary debut novel I have read this year. It is an important addition to emigrant fiction literature, and one that can be compared favorably even with the likes of Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes”, simply for the exceptional quality of her prose and storytelling. It is also the only debut novel I have read this year that truly captures the sights and sounds of New York City across the span of two decades, offering readers a compellingly fictional depiction of New York City’s ascendancy as a tourist mecca for visitors around the world, even as it reminds me of the departed sights and sounds of the streets around Union Square that exist now only within the realm of memory. Akhtiorskaya’s novel lacks the self-evident satire present in fellow Russian emigrant Gary Shteyngart’s critically acclaimed novels, but it is often hilarious in its own right, with an emigrant family, the Nasmertovs, who, as characters, are as memorable as any found in Shteyngart’s fiction. Her novel shows readers how the Nasmertovs seek to become genuine Americans, trying to live the American dream in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. Given unexpectedly a chance to return home following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they wrestle with their notions of what it means to be an American while still clinging to the intellectual life of their place of birth, trying to decide whether they are still Russian, even after spending decades in America. What the writer has wrought is a compellingly readable family saga that is rich in wisdom as well as humor.Without question, Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s “Panic in a Suitcase” will be remembered as one of the notable debut novels published this year, well received by critics and readers of mainstream literary fiction.
February 3, 2016
“Panic in a Suitcase” is like a woman with too much makeup, too much jewelry, strong perfume, and multi-colored clothing. There’s a lot going on, but you can’t seem to look away. The woman (or in this case, the debut novel of Yelena Akhtiorskaya) makes you sit up and take notice, even if you are not sure the woman (or book) is your type.
In the case of the novel here, it’s a richly colored, multi-layered affair, with all the characters vivid and bold (even in the case of the Pasha, the poet uncle, who appears to never make any decisions at all). It’s a room of Russians all speaking at once, and the reader isn’t sure if he or she can even understand the language, although the nuance is clear.
The main story centers around the Nasmertovs (a thinly veiled fictional family with which the writer herself is clearly familiar), who have emigrated from Odessa to Brighton Beach (a Russian enclave in New York City). The two worlds are different and yet the same, so too the people who populate each. The plotline roughly centers around the poet uncle whom the family is trying to convince to make the permanent move to New York (as they have). He wavers, he fails to decide, and ultimately remains in Odessa following his month-long summer sojourn in NYC.
Years later, his niece goes to visit the uncle in Odessa. She’s the one family member who likely remembers the least about her childhood there, yet she is the ambassador sent to represent the family and report back.
None of these events, however, are truly the heart and soul of the book, which is more about the dysfunctional (yet cohesive) nature of a single immigrant family living in another country, yet retaining the essence of who they are. It’s a simple story made complex by its vocabulary, its dramatic events, and its larger-than-life characters. They cannot be but who they are, and readers won’t be able to look away.
In the case of the novel here, it’s a richly colored, multi-layered affair, with all the characters vivid and bold (even in the case of the Pasha, the poet uncle, who appears to never make any decisions at all). It’s a room of Russians all speaking at once, and the reader isn’t sure if he or she can even understand the language, although the nuance is clear.
The main story centers around the Nasmertovs (a thinly veiled fictional family with which the writer herself is clearly familiar), who have emigrated from Odessa to Brighton Beach (a Russian enclave in New York City). The two worlds are different and yet the same, so too the people who populate each. The plotline roughly centers around the poet uncle whom the family is trying to convince to make the permanent move to New York (as they have). He wavers, he fails to decide, and ultimately remains in Odessa following his month-long summer sojourn in NYC.
Years later, his niece goes to visit the uncle in Odessa. She’s the one family member who likely remembers the least about her childhood there, yet she is the ambassador sent to represent the family and report back.
None of these events, however, are truly the heart and soul of the book, which is more about the dysfunctional (yet cohesive) nature of a single immigrant family living in another country, yet retaining the essence of who they are. It’s a simple story made complex by its vocabulary, its dramatic events, and its larger-than-life characters. They cannot be but who they are, and readers won’t be able to look away.
March 7, 2018
At first, I was super impressed by Yelena Akhtiorskaya. She's my age and has an MFA from Columbia, one of the most prestigious literary schools. She's a talented writer, the likes of which I could only dream of being. I used to enjoy writing as a student. Her way with words stands out and I recognized that I was reading the work of a truly talented person. However, I thoroughly hated this book. It was a huge slog to get through. And trust me, I am normally not intimidated by "different" writing styles. I tackled the slang of A Clockwork Orange and I am about to embark on the same journey with Trainspotting. But Akhtiorskaya's "no dialogue" run-on sentences constantly caused me to drift off and lose sight of the point of the story. Which I still do not really get, to be honest.
I could not relate to any of the characters. Pasha was stuck in a world of self-pity even though he had opportunities to make it as a poet. Marina was miserable in the United States. And Frida, who I enjoyed the most, had no idea who she was because she could not figure out whether her true allegiance was to the United States or to Odessa. I feel like the story of this family would have been more relatable if I, myself, was a Ukranian immigrant. But because I am not, a lot of the references and humor was lost on me.
Wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I think there are a lot more stories out there which can capture the immigrant experience better than this story did.
I could not relate to any of the characters. Pasha was stuck in a world of self-pity even though he had opportunities to make it as a poet. Marina was miserable in the United States. And Frida, who I enjoyed the most, had no idea who she was because she could not figure out whether her true allegiance was to the United States or to Odessa. I feel like the story of this family would have been more relatable if I, myself, was a Ukranian immigrant. But because I am not, a lot of the references and humor was lost on me.
Wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I think there are a lot more stories out there which can capture the immigrant experience better than this story did.
December 29, 2014
Not your Typical Immigration Saga
This is not your typical immigration saga. Stories of families relocating to another country, dealing with cultural displacement, and (hopefully) making a go of it have become increasingly commonplace. Yelena Akhtiorskaya would like to turn those conventions on their head.
To be fair, she succeeds at that goal quite well--and with a great degree of humor. Panic in a Suitcase is about the Nasmertovs, who left Odessa to come to America--only to settle in a Brighton Beach, Brooklyn neighborhood that offers many of the comforts of home and they are surrounded by people who know their customs and speak their language. The cultural displacement they face is staggeringly different from the kind typically featured in novels. The Nasmertovs are now stuck between two worlds: the old and the new. How do you adapt to new surroundings when you have even the most obscure comforts of the old? How do you let go and move on when you could almost be in your old country if you squinted your eyes?
Fans of Gary Shteyngart will particularly take to Yelena's quirky sense of humor and style of writing. For me, I tend to tire of his style about halfway through his novels, and that trend continues with Yelena--except at a slightly accelerated rate. She gets bonus points for wild originality (and for making a great point about how globalization has drastically changed the immigration story), and she's definitely a talent to watch. But it's hard to get lost in Panic in a Suitcase.
Grade: C+
This is not your typical immigration saga. Stories of families relocating to another country, dealing with cultural displacement, and (hopefully) making a go of it have become increasingly commonplace. Yelena Akhtiorskaya would like to turn those conventions on their head.
To be fair, she succeeds at that goal quite well--and with a great degree of humor. Panic in a Suitcase is about the Nasmertovs, who left Odessa to come to America--only to settle in a Brighton Beach, Brooklyn neighborhood that offers many of the comforts of home and they are surrounded by people who know their customs and speak their language. The cultural displacement they face is staggeringly different from the kind typically featured in novels. The Nasmertovs are now stuck between two worlds: the old and the new. How do you adapt to new surroundings when you have even the most obscure comforts of the old? How do you let go and move on when you could almost be in your old country if you squinted your eyes?
Fans of Gary Shteyngart will particularly take to Yelena's quirky sense of humor and style of writing. For me, I tend to tire of his style about halfway through his novels, and that trend continues with Yelena--except at a slightly accelerated rate. She gets bonus points for wild originality (and for making a great point about how globalization has drastically changed the immigration story), and she's definitely a talent to watch. But it's hard to get lost in Panic in a Suitcase.
Grade: C+
July 1, 2015
This book was a chore to get through. The characters are Russian in a very classic, always unhappy about everything sense. There's no particular plot to speak of, which all the rave reviews are quick to say is not a criticism; I believe however this is a valid criticism. There's no plot, and the characters appear to be written solely for comic and dramatic effect, so they are just not very believable. And none of them are likeable. They don't seem to have much heart. Even the nine-year-old girl is oafish and not sweet or charming. And NOTHING goes right for these people. They go on a canoe trip and lose an oar. REALLY? Can you not just have ONE NICE CANOE TRIP?
The author's writing, though, really shines. Her ways of describing things and people are often hilarious and sometimes stunning, bringing totally new perspectives on common things with unusual juxtapositions. Truly reading her sentences was a joy. It's just that what she was writing about was very difficult to get through.
I just read five reviews of this book which all raved about it as a sparkling debut and quite funny. I just didn't think it was that funny. For me, it needed more heart. It was the kind of book I put off reading and as a result didn't read very much of anything while I was reading it, and who wants that?
This author is quite talented, though; I'd be interested to see what she comes up with next, if she can invest in some characters long enough to make them three-dimensional and not just laugh lines.
The author's writing, though, really shines. Her ways of describing things and people are often hilarious and sometimes stunning, bringing totally new perspectives on common things with unusual juxtapositions. Truly reading her sentences was a joy. It's just that what she was writing about was very difficult to get through.
I just read five reviews of this book which all raved about it as a sparkling debut and quite funny. I just didn't think it was that funny. For me, it needed more heart. It was the kind of book I put off reading and as a result didn't read very much of anything while I was reading it, and who wants that?
This author is quite talented, though; I'd be interested to see what she comes up with next, if she can invest in some characters long enough to make them three-dimensional and not just laugh lines.
Want to read
December 13, 2014From Flavorwire's "Best Novels of 2014":
This was not only the year of the debut, it was the year of the debut of tantalizing sentences — and Akhtiorskaya’s are the best of the bunch. She understands that great prose has zero to do with experimentation for experimentation’s sake. Instead, each of Akhtiorskaya’s often hilarious sentences is a world unto itself. And what a world to discover in 2014.
This was not only the year of the debut, it was the year of the debut of tantalizing sentences — and Akhtiorskaya’s are the best of the bunch. She understands that great prose has zero to do with experimentation for experimentation’s sake. Instead, each of Akhtiorskaya’s often hilarious sentences is a world unto itself. And what a world to discover in 2014.
June 5, 2015
The author can turn a phrase, for sure, but eventually all the flair and elegance becomes exhausting. I wanted to yell, Just tell the freakin' story already! Overall, it was a frustrating reading experience for me.
July 26, 2024
Apparently, someone from Vogue called this, “a virtuosic debut [and] a wry look at immigrant life in the global age.” As I think back on what I read though, that’s not what I got. Yes, it’s about a family of Ukrainian immigrants in Brooklyn —Well, at least the first part— but it didn’t feel like it was dealing with anything broader than the Nasmertov family, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except that I never really found myself caring much about them. They aren’t unlikeable, and some of their idiosyncrasies were amusing, but I guess I wasn’t ever all that interested in what they were doing.
And that’s probably because they weren’t ever really doing anything. There isn’t much plot —The first part seems to be mostly about their mother’s recent cancer diagnosis and their cousin Pasha, who is visiting, and whom they are trying to convince to move to the US permanently; and the second part taking place 15 years later after the mother’s death, and primarily follows Frida’s visit to her uncle (Pasha) in Odessa.
I can see (and appreciated) how the author was examining immigrant/native identities through these two characters, both going through life without much direction or conviction, but there was a similar lack of direction in her writing, too. I liked the first half significantly more, but there was a dramatic shift from immigrants’ tale to satire of the literary world in the second half that just did not intrigue me. A lot of the people who gave it 4 and 5 stars (which only make up a combined 25% of readers) talk about how funny it is, but I only found parts in Part 1 humorous — the row boat scene for example.
I also chuckled at some of the observations about the US from an immigrant’s perspective she made:
She stood in front of the TV, demanding attention. Images flickered behind her, commercials, which constituted their first major disenchantment with the States. How did people cope with these constant interruptions? This was no way to watch a program. They’d asked around, friends and neighbors, to see if it was possible to rewire the TV or pay somebody off so these commercials would stop. If a democracy made everyone sit through these idiotic advertisements, it wasn’t for them. You don’t have to sit through them, said friends and neighbors. You could get a sandwich or take a piss. The country’s bladder condition was clearly contagious.
Wall-to-wall carpeting was a chief discovery in terms of pure shock value. Marina had just one question: Why? The carpets were like a bib for the house, soaking up everything that never made it to the mouth.
I could objectively see the humor about poets and literary circles in Part 2, but subjectively, it didn’t do much for me. Add that to the fact there is hardly any connective narrative between the two parts, and an underwhelming conclusion —What can you expect from a book with minimal plot though?— and the final impression is much worse than how I was feeling at the beginning.
I’d give Part 1 three and a half or four stars, but I couldn’t give Part 2 more than two, for an aggregate of 2.75-3 stars.
And that’s probably because they weren’t ever really doing anything. There isn’t much plot —The first part seems to be mostly about their mother’s recent cancer diagnosis and their cousin Pasha, who is visiting, and whom they are trying to convince to move to the US permanently; and the second part taking place 15 years later after the mother’s death, and primarily follows Frida’s visit to her uncle (Pasha) in Odessa.
I can see (and appreciated) how the author was examining immigrant/native identities through these two characters, both going through life without much direction or conviction, but there was a similar lack of direction in her writing, too. I liked the first half significantly more, but there was a dramatic shift from immigrants’ tale to satire of the literary world in the second half that just did not intrigue me. A lot of the people who gave it 4 and 5 stars (which only make up a combined 25% of readers) talk about how funny it is, but I only found parts in Part 1 humorous — the row boat scene for example.
I also chuckled at some of the observations about the US from an immigrant’s perspective she made:
She stood in front of the TV, demanding attention. Images flickered behind her, commercials, which constituted their first major disenchantment with the States. How did people cope with these constant interruptions? This was no way to watch a program. They’d asked around, friends and neighbors, to see if it was possible to rewire the TV or pay somebody off so these commercials would stop. If a democracy made everyone sit through these idiotic advertisements, it wasn’t for them. You don’t have to sit through them, said friends and neighbors. You could get a sandwich or take a piss. The country’s bladder condition was clearly contagious.
Wall-to-wall carpeting was a chief discovery in terms of pure shock value. Marina had just one question: Why? The carpets were like a bib for the house, soaking up everything that never made it to the mouth.
I could objectively see the humor about poets and literary circles in Part 2, but subjectively, it didn’t do much for me. Add that to the fact there is hardly any connective narrative between the two parts, and an underwhelming conclusion —What can you expect from a book with minimal plot though?— and the final impression is much worse than how I was feeling at the beginning.
I’d give Part 1 three and a half or four stars, but I couldn’t give Part 2 more than two, for an aggregate of 2.75-3 stars.
November 8, 2023
This is a very unusual book. In most books I've read, the impact of the book comes from the plot or the characters or the topic. In this one, the writing style is so fresh, so unique, so artistic that the characters, plot and topic are practically inconsequential compared to the impact of the writing style itself. The author has not just produced a piece of writing. She has reinvented writing itself. I was taught that in order to create good writing, we need to create relatable characters, have some challenge, and have the reader root for the main character to overcome it. This book does none of that. And now that she has shown us a new way, I'm wondering why we ever fell for those restrictive rules in the first place. What she has done instead is to simply observe a slice of life, and describe it in such a way as to reveal her complex, intricate take on life. We don't really get to know the characters so much as we get to know how the author's unique mind works. Ever since I read her book, 'normal' novels seem really lame and predictable and stale.
June 4, 2018
An impressive debut novel about new immigrants in search of the American Dream is well written and a pleasure to read. Born in Odessa, but raised in Brooklyn, the author, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, writes movingly about Ukrainian émigrés trying reinvent themselves in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. The Nasmertov family move from Odessa, Ukraine to Brighton Beach and struggle to assimilate while resisting the pull of their native land. Spanning fifteen years, the Nasmertov's story is the universal tale of people who leave their homeland in search of a better life in America. (Reviewed by Rina, West Windsor branch)
November 5, 2017
I really wanted to like this book. It seemed promising and funny; however first chapter in and I can't seem to keep interested. I hate starting and not finishing book, but life's too short for unnecessary suffering. Maybe some other time I'll try again.
Read
August 5, 2020DNF. Got scared off by the reviews asserting the plot goes nowhere. Might return to it later.
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