If you like 1984 by George Orwell, this book is for you... When I stumbled upon Paranoia by Victor Martinovich, I was intrigued by the fact that the book was banned immediately upon its release. This caught my attention. Paranoia takes place in modern day Belarus, and tackles the topic of government overreach. Imagine if Orwell's 1984 wasn't a sci-fi, but instead was real life. When I started reading the book, I was curious what Belarus looked like. When I googled the country, the first thing that popped up was a quote from Belarusian president Lukashenko from last week saying "Belarus is not a dictatorship." Bro if you have to say it... What I loved most about Paranoia, was how well Martinovich was able to make YOU feel paranoid as a reader, always questioning everything you thought you knew about what was happening in the story. There was also a bit of, dare I say, romance? If this is what Belarusian literature is like, I'm all in for another one. Paranoia is published in English from the awesome folks at Northwestern University Press, and translated from the Russian by Diane Nemec Ignashev . .
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