On Page 275 of his tightly woven debut novel, “Child 44,” Tom Rob Smith reveals what the title means. The moment is a shocker — but its full effects can be felt only if you’ve read the 274 pages that precede it. This book is much too densely, ingeniously plotted for its secrets to be accessible via shortcut.
The idea of a Child 44 makes sense only when playing by Mr. Smith’s elaborate, period-piece rules. Most of his story is set in 1953 amid a Stalinist-Orwellian nightmare, which led to Mr. Smith’s most marketably perverse angle: It is not morally possible for Leo to contemplate that violent crime should ever visit his beloved country. He put too much faith to communism that he firmly believes that crime only belongs to the western capitalist decadence. In a worker’s paradise only political-thought crimes matter.
Here are some pro forma book-group discussion questions about “Child 44,” since it is looking like an upcoming big screen thriller: Will Leo question his blind loyalty to Stalinist Russia? Will he decide that crime can happen anywhere because it is part of human nature? Will his life be at risk when he begins to question authority? Will his indifferent marriage to Raisa be strengthened or weakened as Leo becomes his own man? Will there be anything sexy about Raisa’s realization that she is not married to a ruthless automaton?
Sooner or later, though, Mr. Smith must reveal what has been at the heart of all the life-changing events in this story. And its denouement feels surprisingly superficial. Motivation counts for nothing among the book’s characters; it’s just an excuse for the author to put them through the elaborate paces of a far-flung chase through Russia.
If there’s one single development in “Child 44” that has the most lingering effect, it is Leo’s choice at the end of the story. What will he do next? He needs a new career. Suffice it to say that Stalin has died during the course of the story, that Leo has traveled far and wide, that Moscow now looks like a good home base. Expect to see him again, jaded yet indefatigable, figuring out what evil lurks in the dark heart of his chosen city.
The idea of a Child 44 makes sense only when playing by Mr. Smith’s elaborate, period-piece rules. Most of his story is set in 1953 amid a Stalinist-Orwellian nightmare, which led to Mr. Smith’s most marketably perverse angle: It is not morally possible for Leo to contemplate that violent crime should ever visit his beloved country. He put too much faith to communism that he firmly believes that crime only belongs to the western capitalist decadence. In a worker’s paradise only political-thought crimes matter.
Here are some pro forma book-group discussion questions about “Child 44,” since it is looking like an upcoming big screen thriller: Will Leo question his blind loyalty to Stalinist Russia? Will he decide that crime can happen anywhere because it is part of human nature? Will his life be at risk when he begins to question authority? Will his indifferent marriage to Raisa be strengthened or weakened as Leo becomes his own man? Will there be anything sexy about Raisa’s realization that she is not married to a ruthless automaton?
Sooner or later, though, Mr. Smith must reveal what has been at the heart of all the life-changing events in this story. And its denouement feels surprisingly superficial. Motivation counts for nothing among the book’s characters; it’s just an excuse for the author to put them through the elaborate paces of a far-flung chase through Russia.
If there’s one single development in “Child 44” that has the most lingering effect, it is Leo’s choice at the end of the story. What will he do next? He needs a new career. Suffice it to say that Stalin has died during the course of the story, that Leo has traveled far and wide, that Moscow now looks like a good home base. Expect to see him again, jaded yet indefatigable, figuring out what evil lurks in the dark heart of his chosen city.
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