9780062876348
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Vita Nostra audiobook

  • By: Marina & Sergey Dyachenko
  • Narrator: Jessica Ball
  • Category: Fiction, Literary
  • Length: 18 hours 21 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: November 13, 2018
  • Language: English
  • (12773 ratings)
(12773 ratings)
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Vita Nostra Audiobook Summary

The definitive English language translation of the internationally bestselling Russian novel–a brilliant dark fantasy with “the potential to be a modern classic” (Lev Grossman), combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.

Our life is brief . . .

While vacationing at the beach with her mother, Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin.

As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies. Though she does not want to go to this unknown town or school, she also feels it’s the only place she should be. Against her mother’s wishes, Sasha leaves behind all that is familiar and begins her education.

As she quickly discovers, the institute’s “special technologies” are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.

A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction–brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey–is reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, Max Barry’s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, but will transport them to a place far beyond those fantastical worlds.

Other Top Audiobooks

Vita Nostra Audiobook Narrator

Jessica Ball is the narrator of Vita Nostra audiobook that was written by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko

MARINA & SERGEY DYACHENKO, a former actress and a former psychiatrist, are co-authors of thirty novels and numerous short stories and screenplays. They were born in Ukraine, lived in Russia, and now live in the United States. Their books have been translated into several foreign languages and awarded multiple literary and film prizes. Marina and Sergey are recipients of the Award for Best Authors (Eurocon 2005).

Born in Moscow, JULIA MEITOV HERSEY moved to Boston at the age of nineteen and has been straddling two cultures ever since. She lives north of Boston with her husband, two daughters, and a hyperactive dog, juggling a full-time job and her beloved translation projects.

About the Author(s) of Vita Nostra

Marina & Sergey Dyachenko is the author of Vita Nostra

More From the Same

Vita Nostra Full Details

Narrator Jessica Ball
Length 18 hours 21 minutes
Author Marina & Sergey Dyachenko
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date November 13, 2018
ISBN 9780062876348

Subjects

The publisher of the Vita Nostra is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, Literary

Additional info

The publisher of the Vita Nostra is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062876348.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Rincey

January 28, 2021

This book is like Harry Potter, but if it was written by Kafka.Watch my full review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMfo...

Emily

September 29, 2022

This is one of the weirdest books I've read but I really enjoyed it!Dark academia, magical school, mini time loops and.... lots of confusion but it was all worth it.

Rachel

December 03, 2018

At the start of this novel, 16-year-old Sasha Samokhina is on a seaside vacation with her mother, where after a few days she finds herself stalked by a mysterious man with pale skin and dark glasses. She is eventually confronted by this stranger, who entreats Sasha to wake up at 4 am every morning, go to the beach, take off all her clothes, and swim to a buoy and back. She reluctantly agrees to this strange task, and as soon as she's back on shore that first morning, she starts to vomit gold coins.Thus begins the wildly unconventional journey that the Dyachenkos take the reader on in Vita Nostra, which has safely earned its distinction as the most unorthodox book I have ever read. This doesn't follow any kind of narrative formula that will be familiar to many western readers - it's bizarrely lacking in conflict, resolution, plot twists, and structure. But it's also the most singular and enchanting and darkly horrifying book I have ever read.Honestly, the marketing team has my sympathy for this one, because I don't think I've ever read another book that so staunchly defies categorization. There are recognizable elements from traditional coming of age novels, but it isn't a bildungsroman; there are hints and whispers of magic but it isn't really fantasy; there are some classic Magical School tropes but it isn't remotely comparable to Harry Potter; and it's filled to the brim with philosophical references but its maddeningly esoteric approach is strangely alienating even to readers who are interested in its central themes. A large part of this book is just stumbling blindly alongside Sasha and waiting for everything to be made clear, which it never really is. It's proving to be quite the challenge to explain what the appeal exactly is of a book like this, and I fully accept that this isn't going to be for everyone. This isn't really for readers who need to be entertained by plot or readers who need to be invested in complex character dynamics. This is more for the readers drawn equally to a compelling atmosphere and big ideas; readers who are both thrilled and terrified at the idea that their own worldview is more limited than they ever could have imagined. This book mesmerized me from the very first page and proved to be the most unexpected reading experience I've ever had. At times it's frustrating and incomprehensible but never for a single moment does it fail to stimulate. This is one of the most exceptional things I have read in a very long time, and one of those books that will absolutely reward the effort you put into it.Thanks so much to Harper Voyager for the copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

Tatiana

November 19, 2018

Who in the world wrote this book's blurb, comparing "Vita Nostra" to, of all things, Katherine Arden’s "The Bear and the Nightingale"? I know they both are set in Russia, but what do they really have in common? Snow? Don't be fooled, and if you want to pick up "Vita Nostra" because you liked "The Bear and the Nightingale," just don't, ok? If you need another fix of Russian bear, fur hats and balalaikas nonsense, Leigh Bardugo can supply those. "Vita Nostra" was written by Russian authors, about post-Soviet Russia, and although this portrayal is not exceedingly complex, it is not a fetishized version of Russia, but a truer one, in all its vodka/undies-drying-on-a-heating-unit/retrograde-views-on-sex-and-relationships glory."Vita Nostra" is a completely different kind of beast, a mind trip, if you will. It's a book of ideas, rather than a plot- or character-driven narrative. In the beginning you think you are reading a story about a girl coerced into going to a magic school where nobody explains to her what she is studying and why. And then gradually you learn along with this girl and go through a metamorphosis of your own and yes, you understand that the annoying teachers that kept telling Sasha that one day she'd be ready to comprehend what the final goal of her education is, are correct. Dyachenkos' novel reminded me more of Ted Chiang's work, whose strength is in ideas rather than character development. "Story of Your Lives" offers similar type of mind-expanding concept, IMO. "Vita Nostra" is by no means a crowd pleaser, but I did enjoy this trip.

ELLIAS (elliasreads)

February 24, 2020

There are concepts that cannot be imagined but can be named. Having received a name, they change, they flow into a different entity, and cease to correspond to the name, and then they can be given another, different name, and this process— the spellbinding process of creation— is indefinite: this is the word that names it, and this is the word that signifies. A concept as an organism, and text as the universe. I don't think there's a word in this entire universe that can be spoken, that can be said, that can be even thought of....to explain the feeling I had, reading this book. This was like a composing song, flitting to one musical note to the next— a percussion of colors and sound that was so encompassing and transcending. It was so, so fulfilling. I feel lived. I lived entire lives, traveled through different dimensions and cosmoses, and come out through myself, in and out again. Transformation. It doesn't really make any sense. It doesn't have to make sense. It just does.I don't even think I'll be able to explain what this book is even about. The Goodreads synopsis doesn't even come close to explaining anything what this book is about. As it should. I think it's something that should be experienced as you read. It could become clear. Or it could not.It's only the February, the second fucking month of this year and I already have a new found favorite. God bless. "Luminous dust folds into a flat silver curve with two soft spiral arms."Let the metamorphosis begin. Vita Nostra. Our Life. Will never be the same.5 STARSTwitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |

David

July 27, 2013

This is a most unusual novel, especially for Western readers. It's strange and thoughtful and dark, full of psychological twists and turns, metaphysical tangents, and the desperately humorous shenanigans of young adults carrying on at a grim Russian boarding school that is turning them all into... what, they do not exactly know.I described Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's novel The Scar as "swords & sorcery if written by Fyodor Dostoevsky." I don't think I'm stretching the Russian-lit analogy too much to call this book "Harry Potter if written by Leo Tolstoy."I liked The Scar so much that I sought out other works by the Dyachenkos translated into English. Sadly, there are was only one: Vita Nostra, the first book in their "Metamorphosis cycle." And it's only available on Amazon as an ebook. According to the afterword, it was translated by a Russian-born fan living in the U.S., which explains why the translation didn't read with the same professional smoothness as the Tor-published The Scar.The Scar, with its themes of morality and consequences, punishment and redemption, reminded me of Dostoevsky. Vita Nostra is an even darker story, with occasional flashes of humor surfacing in the dark waters of a story that seems to be dragging you along toward some unknown, unknowable fate, with characters who have few choices, who know they exist only to act out their predefined roles. They resist this predestination, even knowing that resistance is futile. This valiant effort to find hope in the face of crushing inevitability reminded me more of that grim old sourpuss Graf Tolstoy.Alexandra "Sasha" Samokhina is a 17-year-old straight-A student, preparing to apply to university. She's been a good girl, a dutiful daughter to her single mother. Then one day a stranger appears while she and her mother are on vacation at the beach, and makes an unusual demand of her. He demands she swim naked out to a bouy every morning at exactly 4 a.m.Following some instinct, Sasha complies... and each morning after her swim, she vomits up gold coins. She soon learns that the world is indeed fragile, and that refusing Farit Kozhennikov's demands has a heavy price.Farit's unusual "tasks" continue when Sasha and her mother go home. Sasha finds herself alienated from her friends, and distanced from her mother, who does not understand what strange pressures her daughter is under. It only gets worse when Sasha informs her mother that instead of the university they both planned on, she has to attend the Institute of Special Technologies, a technical school no one has ever heard of in a small town that's practically off the map.Aren't you tired of books being called "Harry Potter for adults"? But I'm sorry, it's such an easy comparison to make, and Vita Nostra may deserve that label, albeit it's set in an adult unworldly boarding school in a very Russian vein. Sasha has to ride a train to the middle of nowhere to arrive at Torpa, where the Institute of Special Technologies is located, but the Institute is no Hogwarts. The teachers are sometimes warm and friendly, sometimes cold and demanding, but they all force students to study things they don't even understand, pursuing a degree they can't comprehend, to do things after graduation that they can't even imagine.The oppressive lack of information and the constant undercurrent of foreboding, the threat of sinister consequences for failure, makes the reader as frustrated as Sasha for much of the book. What is the Institute for Special Technologies? Are they teaching magic? Are students learning to alter the fabric of reality? Are they being transformed into something inhuman? It's not really explained at all until near the end, and even then it's very abstract and metaphysical. Sasha undergoes transformations, exhibits frightening powers, and moves from a frightened, confused First Year to a confused, increasingly alienated Third Year, one with a talent that exceeds that of all her classmates, though her own teachers won't even tell her what her talent is and why she's so special.All of this takes place in a fictional Russian town with a heavy flavor of magical realism. There is a "Sacco and Vanzetti" Avenue. The townspeople seem to tolerate without really accepting or understanding the Institute's students. Sasha initially shares a dorm room with other students, and as she's struggling with her bizarre, incomprehensible subjects, she's engaged in petty roommate conflicts, college students getting illicitly drunk, and eventually relationship drama. The townspeople seem vaguely aware that Institute students are not "normal," but dismiss them as strange, not entirely welcome visitors to their town.In a very real sense — more real than most so-called "Young Adult" novels — Vita Nostra is a novel for young adults. It's about becoming an adult, and discovering truly hard tasks where failure actually has consequences, and doing so amidst the swirling temptations of song, dance, parties, alcohol and sex. It's about the confusion of not knowing what you're going to be when you grow up, of seeing yourself as a free-willed individual with choices lying ahead of you and then discovering that you are at the mercy of forces you cannot control or negotiate with. It's about trying not to lose the parent-child bond even when you are forced to let go.“You’ve just seen me?” Portnov sounded surprised. “You manifest entities, read highly complex informational structures, and you’ve only just seen me?”Sasha managed a shallow nod, and then shut her eyes, trying to drive the tears back into her eyes.“What’s the matter?” now Portnov sounded worried. “Sasha?”“You are not human,” Sasha whispered.“So? Neither are you.”“But I had been human. I had been a child. I remember that. I remember being loved.”“Does it matter to you?”“I remember it.”This is not a "traditional" fantasy novel. It defies Western genre labels. It's as much horror as fantasy, as much contemporary realism as it is magical realism. It's rather hard to describe and it was sometimes frustrating to read and there are depths that I sensed lurking beneath this translation that might be more evident to its Russian audience. If you like dark fantasy, I think you will like it. If you like Russian literature (and don't mind a fantastic element), you will definitely like it. But it's a very strange book, and it doesn't follow a standard Western fantasy arc. Things are described in vague, esoteric terms and the relevance and meaning is never always made clear to the reader, which forces you to swim in the same existential confusion afflicted upon the characters.Please, folks, go buy this ebook. It's only $2.99. Yeah, I know, it's Amazon. Someone should tell them how to sell ebooks on other sites. But I want you to read it and I want more people to buy it because I want more of the Dyachenkos' work to be translated into English. You may not love this (my final rating is 4.5 stars for a somewhat raw translation and many moments of befuddlement) but if you want something different from the same-old, same-old fantasy novel, these are some authors who deserve a wider audience.

Sofia

January 17, 2023

Vita Nostra changed the way I see the world. This book inspires obsession. My awareness of existence after reading it feels shifted, reframed somehow. I feel like I’ve stepped over the bounds of reality and entered some transcendental state. I can’t stop turning it over and over in my mind. This novel is nearly impossible to encapsulate in a synopsis. It is about many things: words, time, delusion, transformation, debts, the power of fear. The disconnect between people who have changed in opposite ways. The unspoken rules that govern us. Seeing your own reflection in other people with whom you’ve left a piece of yourself. It gets more abstract as it goes along, in incredibly inventive ways that seem almost logical and matter-of-fact when you’re reading. It’s like dreaming, where everything makes sense in your sleep and sounds ludicrous when you’re trying to describe it to someone else. Every time I picked up this book, just to briefly read a page or two, it became the only thing I wanted to do. I was totally riveted, fully immersed. Vita Nostra is many genres in one: suspense, fantasy, Gothic fiction, psychological terror. It has some of my favorite horror aspects: a suspicious school, along with its drama and intrigue and complex character relationships, and the discovery of deeper, sinister meaning in seemingly innocuous situations.Sasha is a perfect main character for the story this book is telling. Her development is one of my favorite parts of the novel. Sasha at the end of the book is completely different in many ways than how she was at the beginning, but she’s still the character I had grown to respect and care about despite her increasing detachment, single-mindedness, and isolation from reality. She is resilient, determined, inquisitive, and strong-willed. The side characters also have surprising and realistic depth. They aren’t just there to create cheap conflict or to be killed off.The writing isn’t the type where you can pick out specific, especially eloquent lines. Rather, every sentence works together, leading into the next, each idea illustrated deliberately. It’s satisfying, seamless, and spellbinding. Sasha thought of life as a collection of identical days. To her, existence consisted of days, and each day seemed to run like a circular ribbon—or, better yet, a bike chain, moving evenly over the cogs. Click—another change of speed, days became a little different, but they still flowed, still repeated, and that very monotony concealed the meaning of life… The way this is written makes everything feel constantly ominous, even when nothing outwardly disturbing or uneasy is happening. That’s another aspect that makes it stand out to me. A typical terror element is the inability to communicate with the outside world, but this book subverts it. Telephones are always accessible. But it’s not that Sasha can’t leave… she just starts to realize that she doesn’t want to. I have only felt this same feeling in a book once before: in Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill by Otfried Preußler, which is another outstanding, transfixing masterpiece.It’s difficult to escape the Harry Potter comparisons that always seem to appear in discussions of Vita Nostra. I have to disagree—I don’t think there are many similarities at all. Although they both have schools, the contents of these two books are totally different. I think it’s unfair to market this book as a darker Harry Potter when they are so contrasting in tone, atmosphere, and plot that Harry Potter never would have come to mind had I not read some comparisons online. However, there is one book that I can connect pretty convincingly to Vita Nostra: Babel by R.F. Kuang. I know R.F. Kuang has read Vita Nostra and likes it because she is quoted on the cover of the sequel. The way the two books are written and the discussions of language they contain stood out to me especially as similar elements. As someone who likes both novels, I thought it was interesting to note how one might have had a hand in inspiring the other.Vita Nostra made me feel like I was spinning through a supercut of flashing images, everything moving silently in my head, feverish and unnerving. This book feels otherworldly in a mesmerizing way. It’s hard to grasp that actual people wrote it. I cannot recommend this highly enough. It took me to another world, then sent me back to my own, and everything feels different now.5 starsTranslated by Julia Meitov Hersey

Boston

March 25, 2022

Gonna do shrooms and reread this

CC

December 31, 2022

I don't know how to write a review right now. When a book truly speaks to me, when I find myself so fully absorbed and affected by the powerful world that mere words can create (oh, I didn't mean the allusion here, for those of you who have already read this book), I simply can't calm my thoughts and turn them into coherent sentences.Please don't be misled by that blurb. Vita Nostra is nothing like The Bear and the Nightingale, and it's definitely not a coming-of-age fantasy where a dark academy serves only as a hook or background prop. In fact, I'd hesitate to even call it fantasy at all. The speculative elements are equal parts fantasy and sci-fi: the "magic system", methodically studied at the university and meticulously explained to us readers, is reminiscent of higher-dimensional science, and many aspects of its application echo The Matrix and Westworld. But there is much more than that. The processes which the students go through to learn this system--focusing not on the physical challenges and dangers but rather on paradigm shifts, existential dilemmas, struggles of isolation and inclusion, etc.--are examined so closely that they essentially take the central stage of the story. And that is what makes Vita Nostra such a unique, philosophical work of art.It is difficult to go into too much detail on the ideology side of the book without spoilers, so I'll have to settle for saying that one of the authors used to be a psychiatrist, and it shows. The journey of our main character Sasha is a transcendental one, but at the same time, it is portrayed so realistically that I found myself resonating deeply with it. In a strange way, I could relate so well to the thrill of penetrating an invisible wall that limits one's perspective, the bizarre and detached peace of looking at the world from the outside, and at times I envy Sasha for being able to live and breathe that kind of experience.Speaking of envy, most readers would probably disagree with me on that. Most other reviews will tell you that this book is dark and unsettling, and it'd be an utter nightmare to live in that world. While I can't say those opinions are wrong, I do think that everyone's take on "dark" will depend on their personal background. For me, Vita Nostra isn't precisely dark, but rather hauntingly realistic. The academy is a blown-up version of a communist military-style education system. The conflicts between the students and teachers mirror real-life questions that I don't think we can confidently answer: do our actions have consequences? Do we truly have full agency over our choices, or are we being pushed along in one way or another? Do we really understand our role in the universe, and do we need to take responsibility for it? Even the more sensitive topics touched upon, such as (view spoiler)[discipline and submission, sex and virginity, aggression, addiction (hide spoiler)], are all within our daily reach as well. So I'd say this book is only "dark" in the sense that it challenges you to inspect those less pleasant things in life under a big magnifying glass, and makes you ponder. Which is why I loved it.By all means, it is not perfect. I'll be the first to admit that the story might not have captured me initially if not for all the glorious reviews from friends I trust. The beginning was very slow and things didn't quite pick up until Part Two (167 pages in), though once they did, I couldn't put the book down. There were also many places where the plot and characters could've been better developed. (view spoiler)[The theme of "using fear to control and manipulate" was one of them. To me, Farit Kozenikov was the only person who had ever taken real action to induce fear from the students, and even those actions could've been perceived ambiguously most of the time. For example, if it's true that he never asks for the impossible, and if it's true that these students have to fulfill a certain destiny to sustain reality (which hopefully will be explained in the sequels), then can we really say that he is threatening them unfairly? Also, it wasn't obvious for most of the book whether he was really the one causing the deaths of the students' families or not. Since this is clearly a world where unknown magic exists, one could just as easily believe it's the student's own actions that led to those tragedies, simply due to the rules of the universe. These ambiguities significantly undermined the "threat" theme, and that's probably also why the story didn't turn out as dark for me.For the same reason, I thought the ending was a bit forced. There wasn't strong enough of a buildup to Sasha's choice of "love over fear" during the final test, and that choice itself seemed somewhat contradictory to her character, given that the main conflict between her and the teachers had always stemmed from her craving for new knowledge and power, not love or fear for the people around her. (hide spoiler)]But let's be fair: for a book this cerebral, it's probably not feasible to wrap up all the loose threads with a satisfying conclusion. And at the end of the day, Vita Nostra is not about the plot or the characters as much as it is about an idea, an experience. So I can look past all these imperfections and still call it the best book I've read this year.

Rebecca

March 25, 2019

I absolutely loved this book. Another reviewer described it as "like Harry Potter, but if it was written by Kafka" and I couldn't agree more, in the best way. Dark, clever, and with a wonderfully creative and original magic system that I wish I'd thought of first. It resonates so deeply as some kind of theological truth about creation that feels both specific and universal and I'm into it. The pacing is solid (hard to put down), the mystery at the heart of the book is revealed slowly but once I understood it, I was 100% in. The characters feel real and honest and the worldbuilding and setting are effortless and ring culturally true. I have heard some talk about things lost in translation (one of the authors says as much in the acknowledgments) and it makes me wish I read Russian, but, alas. It's still one hell of a book.

Books with Brittany

January 20, 2021

Im not totally sure what I just read. But I liked it.

Mayim

October 25, 2019

“Anything that is truly valuable is beyond material substance if you think about it.”Among the people who write fantasy novels, there is a clear over-representation of the English-speakers. However, there are many talented writers of other nationalities; the Dyachenko duet, winners of numerous literary awards, is one of them. I think the Dyachenkos are at the moment a strong contender to dethrone the Andrews in my personal “married couples writing” hierarchy.Alexandra Samokhina, an average teenager, spends holidays with her mother at a seaside resort. This is the last high-school summer for her and the approaching year will be crucial as it will determine which university she will be admitted to. One day, a mysterious man subjects her to a series of strange tests designed to develop Sasha’s discipline and strong will. Sasha fulfils them almost perfectly, and this “almost” has serious and unpleasant consequences. To her astonishment, the girl is admitted to a non-listed Institute of Special Technologies in a provincial town of Torpa. Vita Nostra is a perfect example why you should never trust the cover blurbs. Whereas the description on the back suggests that you will read a Harry Potter style novel, this is very far removed from the actual content of the book. Yes, there is a “magic school” inaccessible to the average person; learning to fly, predicting the future, telekinesis: all these elements appear in the tale, but in a completely different form you’d expect them to! Indeed, “magic” itself is not what is commonly understood by this term, but denotes a way of perceiving the reality, and transforming it according to rules that are not clearly defined and, what is repeated frequently throughout the pages, extremely difficult to explain. What further distinguishes Vita Nostra from Ms Rowling’s cycle is that, while education at Hogwarts remains my unfulfilled dream, an admission to the Institute of Special Technologies in Torpa would score quite high on my personal list of nightmares (not only because of my inherent laziness and reluctance to do absurd things whose purpose is obscure).“Everyone in the world has a chance of encountering someone whom he himself spoke out loud.”Is this a fantasy book? Perhaps yes (because: it’s magic, stupid!). Nonetheless, the action takes place in our world (Crimea?), somewhere in the 1990s and the strange, little-known university in Torpa is so unlikely that the book can also be considered science fiction. The cover description suggests a cheerful story for teens with an occasional thrill of horror to boost the mysterious climate. What you should expect, is rather a constant shiver of anxiety interspersed with cheerful flashes from the lives of ordinary students (although the school itself is far from ordinary). Normal, almost banal life is combined with constant insecurity, fear, and lack of understanding rooted in an incomprehensible educational process. A heavy blanket of dark atmosphere, mystery, anxiety, and danger permeate the whole book. What are they learning? To what ends? What do physics, personality breakdown, and sprats in tomato sauce have to do with this? The novel presents a unique, sensational idea, a combination of metaphysical vision and purely humanist tribute to the powers of the human mind. It combines metaphysics with the everyday student life. The authors should definitely be praised for holding their cards close to their chests for so long. The modest dosage of information about what students of the Institute of Special Technologies in Torpa really learn means that each subsequent morsel related to this causes a faster heartbeat. The Dyachenko wrote a tale of change, both mental and physical; complicated, sometimes sudden and uncontrolled, frightening, but also fascinating. Metamorphosis is necessary to reach one’s destiny, yet the shape of this destiny remains clouded. The motivation for continuous development is fear, the only emotion that is strong enough to prompt the human being into action. The rich psychological portrait of the heroine makes us feel all these transformations on a very personal level. The deceptively simplistic albeit captivating writing style beautifully marries the personal banalities with the philosophical intricacies. And if you decide to go for Vita Nostra, be warned that while it is an amazing, it is not an easy book as it contains depths and reflections touching upon many philosophical issues. And the intellectual development of the main plot is truly fascinating moving the novel, in the ending sequence, far beyond fantasy, onto the mystical realm. Vita Nostra is a novel that makes the return to the gray reality all the more difficult. Earnestly recommend to all who want to read something fresh and placed East of the West but West of the more popular Far East tropes.

Justine

February 13, 2019

Vita Nostra is a dark and deeply provocative novel about psychological and metaphysical transformation that defies explanation even after you get to the end. It is so compelling to read, with endlessly twisting turns that loop back as often as they split off or move forward. I wouldn't necessarily be able to explain it all to someone, but I'm confident it will keep my internal dialogue going for a long time.

Choko

March 28, 2020

*** 4.75 ***"... “There are words that are simply trash, refuse, they turn into nothing immediately after they are spoken. Others throw shadows, hideous and pathetic, and sometimes gorgeous and powerful, capable of saving a dying soul. But only a few of these words become human beings and pronounce other words. And everyone in the world has a chance of encountering someone whom he himself spoke out loud . . .”... I don't think I can give the right explanation, and it is weird that the word "Explanation" is needed here, but it is, for this very interesting and unique book. While I was reading the first half of the book, the only other book I could compare it in my more recent reading history, was The Magicians series, but much better written and much more thought out. Then about the 60% mark things become bigger, become more...!!! It is not a book of things that happen, but a compilation of the emotional and mental experiences of a person with unlimited potential, going through and destroying the barriers in themselves on the way to reaching that potential... It is about the experience of self discovery and our relation to the world around us. It is about breaking oneself down to their basic components and rebuilding themselves according to their will and imagination. It is big, larger than life, reaching for omnipotence...!!!! And it is experienced through the nerve endings and sensory input and output of a teenage woman who, as most of us would, wants to retain the idea of who and what she is, but is driven by her insatiable hunger for knowledge and the rewards and losses that come with that... "... “There are concepts that cannot be imagined but can be named. Having received a name, they change, flow into a different entity, and cease to correspond to the name, and then they can be given another, different name, and this process—the spellbinding process of creation—is infinite: this is the word that names it, and this is the word that signifies. A concept as an organism, and text as the universe.”― Marina Dyachenko, Vita Nostra... Ultimately, this book is art, and just as art, it attempts to show us, in more tangible way, what life really is, what all humans must go through if they are to be More! To not be satisfied with little effort and a pittance of results, but to strive for More, and the harder you go at it, the harder it gets, but the rewards are immeasurable and so very worth it! The end result of who you are depends on what you put in it. And the work is never truly done. You are always in construction, you can always become more... So, stop blaming your childhood, your parents, society, school, all those things that are uncomfortable and try to keep you in check... Yes, they are limiting, but within their limits you can still find ways, without endangering anyone else, to reach for your potential. You just have to try harder, in order to become the words, which create the World! "... “The world, as you see it, is not real. And the way you imagine it—it does not even come close. Certain things seem obvious to you, but they simply do not exist.”“And you, do you not exist?” Sasha couldn’t help herself. “Are you not real?”Portnov removed the scarf from her face. Under his gaze, she blinked confusedly.“I exist,” he said seriously. “But I am not at all what you think.”― Marina Dyachenko, Vita Nostra ... This is a book I would recommend to all, but I do realize that is one of those which you either love, hate, or they leave you ambivalent and confused... There isn't much action, the way it slowly develops step by step in front of you. It is deliberate and many who look for it to entertain you, would be disappointed. The authors want you to look for the meaning and find the entertainment in it by yourself. It builds and it builds and it builds, and the ending will be up to you to discover. It needs patience and an open mind. If you feel that it is something you want to tackle, then you really should!!! "... “This institution of higher education had no such concept as mercy.”..." Now I wish you all Happy Reading and may you always fond what you need in the pages of a good Book!!!!

Frequently asked questions

Listening to audiobooks not only easy, it is also very convenient. You can listen to audiobooks on almost every device. From your laptop to your smart phone or even a smart speaker like Apple HomePod or even Alexa. Here’s how you can get started listening to audiobooks.

  • 1. Download your favorite audiobook app such as Speechify.
  • 2. Sign up for an account.
  • 3. Browse the library for the best audiobooks and select the first one for free
  • 4. Download the audiobook file to your device
  • 5. Open the Speechify audiobook app and select the audiobook you want to listen to.
  • 6. Adjust the playback speed and other settings to your preference.
  • 7. Press play and enjoy!

While you can listen to the bestsellers on almost any device, and preferences may vary, generally smart phones are offer the most convenience factor. You could be working out, grocery shopping, or even watching your dog in the dog park on a Saturday morning.
However, most audiobook apps work across multiple devices so you can pick up that riveting new Stephen King book you started at the dog park, back on your laptop when you get back home.

Speechify is one of the best apps for audiobooks. The pricing structure is the most competitive in the market and the app is easy to use. It features the best sellers and award winning authors. Listen to your favorite books or discover new ones and listen to real voice actors read to you. Getting started is easy, the first book is free.

Research showcasing the brain health benefits of reading on a regular basis is wide-ranging and undeniable. However, research comparing the benefits of reading vs listening is much more sparse. According to professor of psychology and author Dr. Kristen Willeumier, though, there is good reason to believe that the reading experience provided by audiobooks offers many of the same brain benefits as reading a physical book.

Audiobooks are recordings of books that are read aloud by a professional voice actor. The recordings are typically available for purchase and download in digital formats such as MP3, WMA, or AAC. They can also be streamed from online services like Speechify, Audible, AppleBooks, or Spotify.
You simply download the app onto your smart phone, create your account, and in Speechify, you can choose your first book, from our vast library of best-sellers and classics, to read for free.

Audiobooks, like real books can add up over time. Here’s where you can listen to audiobooks for free. Speechify let’s you read your first best seller for free. Apart from that, we have a vast selection of free audiobooks that you can enjoy. Get the same rich experience no matter if the book was free or not.

It depends. Yes, there are free audiobooks and paid audiobooks. Speechify offers a blend of both!

It varies. The easiest way depends on a few things. The app and service you use, which device, and platform. Speechify is the easiest way to listen to audiobooks. Downloading the app is quick. It is not a large app and does not eat up space on your iPhone or Android device.
Listening to audiobooks on your smart phone, with Speechify, is the easiest way to listen to audiobooks.

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