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Vita Nostra (Vita Nostra, #1)

Marina Dyachenko,

Sergey Dyachenko

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Feb 13, 2020 Misha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: academia, family, doorway-plot, fantasy, female-protagonist, abuse, doorway-people, friendship, read-2020, doorway-place

This is a weird and mind-bending book. Translated from the Russian, this is a magic school novel where the training is tantamount to abuse and the students are constantly in the dark about why they were chosen and what they are studying. Sasha is 16 when a strange man shows up while she is on vacation with her mother and demands that she swim naked in the lake every morning at 4am, after which she vomits gold coins. He promises that he never asks the impossible. But if she does not comply, someo This is a weird and mind-bending book. Translated from the Russian, this is a magic school novel where the training is tantamount to abuse and the students are constantly in the dark about why they were chosen and what they are studying. Sasha is 16 when a strange man shows up while she is on vacation with her mother and demands that she swim naked in the lake every morning at 4am, after which she vomits gold coins. He promises that he never asks the impossible. But if she does not comply, someone in her life may suffer. Later, this same man finds her near her home and tells her to run every morning and pee behind a bush until he tells her to stop. When she nears high school graduation, Sasha learns that she has been offered a spot at an obscure college in Torpa, an offer delivered by the strange man, who she know knows as Farit Kozhennikov; it's an offer she cannot refuse.

Thus begins Sasha's life as a student at a bizarre institute that will push her and her classmates to their limits to unknown ends. The disequilibrium that Sasha feels is mirrored in the narration so that the reader feels the same sense of fear, displacement, and wonder.

Fear is a major theme, as a motivator for the students to continue with the immense rigor of their studies.
"There are none equal to fear," he said, almost with regret. "It is the consequence of the objective, unyielding laws. To live is to be vulnerable. To love is to fear. And the one who is not afraid--that person is calm like a boa constrictor and cannot love." (394)

Lev Grossman called this "A book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre" and encouraged the translator in her work.

This is a very naturalistic fantasy, and could be viewed as a fantasy/SF hybrid. I think it would provide rich discussion, and I am eager to read the sequel when it is translated. This would be a good suggestion for fantasy readers looking for a unique challenge and a fresh look at the magic school trope.

Shorter & less subjective review:
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergei Dyachenko is a weird and mind-bending book. Translated from the Russian, this is a magic school novel where the training is steeped in mystery and is transformational in ways that the students do not understand, at first. Sasha is 16 when a strange man shows up and gives her off tasks telling her that if she does not comply someone in her life may suffer. When she nears high school graduation, Sasha learns that she has been offered a spot at an obscure college in Torpa, an offer delivered by the strange man, who she know knows as Farit Kozhennikov; it's an offer she cannot refuse. Thus begins Sasha's life as a student at a bizarre institute that will push her and her classmates to their limits to unknown ends. The disequilibrium that Sasha feels is mirrored in the narration so that the reader feels the same sense of fear, displacement, and wonder. First in a projected trilogy, with the second novel Assassin of Reality, already translated, this is a book that will upend your expectations. ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Liz Laurin rated it it was amazing

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to adequately describe what this book is about. But I loved every confusing, incomprehensible bit of it. Hints of magic, hints of Mount char, hints of fairy tale esque world. I just loved it so much. ...more

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Aug 09, 2020 Lasairfiona rated it it was amazing

Fascinating. Weird. Complex. I don't even know how to describe this book. I'm confident I'm missing many metaphors but the transformation in this book, literally, is the most original I've ever read. What do we know as children? How much should be explained to us as we grow and transform? This book both asks and shows how the transformation cannot be explained. I rail against this idea but the story and form of transformation - the most creative! Even when the book seemed to just describe studyi ...more

1 like · Like · see review