Budman, Mark, (2008). My Life at First Try: a Novel. Washington: Counterpoint.
At first it was the structure that stood out to me. Short sections that break the story up into trim, well-crafted sections. Virtually any of the sections could be enjoyed as a stand-alone work. This is Mark Budman’s best achievement here: muscular sentences that tell a compelling story about the power of the American dream/myth.
The main character and narrator, Alex, tells a series of entertaining stories about his life growing up in the Soviet Union and later his reactions to the reality of contemporary America as they differ from the dreams foreigners have.
This structure at first does not seem to allow much depth, especially emotional depth, and thus the characters seem somehow distant. It could be argued this is a nice reflection of the communist society that is the setting, and yet there is a fresh beauty to the language that makes you want to read on, to finish the book and to find out how it ends. The juxtapositions are both entertaining an thought provoking, and an admirable way to build a story, as in :
“In the conference hall, I climb the podium, armed with a collapsible pointer. It could also be used as a weapon to strike an attacking dog. It’s ninety degrees outside, but indoors it’s chilly like a morgue” (p.146).
In all this novel gave me hope that novels can still be beautiful and relevant and that the genre has a future that is more than academic.