Our Country Friends

I really wanted to love Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart. I loved the premise. A couple owns a country home with several guests houses (bungalows) and invites some friends and a work associate to hang out with them during the early part of the pandemic, in March 2020, when things were first getting serious.

I enjoyed parts of the novel, but other parts just dragged on. The characters were interesting. In reflecting, I enjoyed the interactions between most of the characters and sometimes it seemed as though there wasn't enough of the interactions that I liked. The writing style reminded me of a Russian novel... like Doctor Zhivago... which I couldn't get through. But at least here, the names were familiar enough so I could keep everyone straight.

I loved the character of Nat, the young, precocious daughter of the "landowner" and his wife. And I really enjoyed the relationship that Karen, one of the guests and the landowner's old friend, was able to develop with Nat.

I wouldn't deter anyone who has this on their radar from reading this. But I'm not sure I can truly recommend it.