This is a literary novel set in Armenia. This is a saga of the people living in the village.
The writing is so descriptive. This book is full of magical realism and folklore

A fantastic read

When I started reading this book, one that I had languishing on my virtual shelf for far too long than is acceptable, I could not have imagined the way it ended. For once, I feel the strong urge to reread the entire thing with fresh eyes and use that feeling to better enjoy it.
The story is of a little fictitious town in Armenia where repeated issues have caused a dwindling of fortunes and the local population.
It took me a couple of chapters to figure out that the back and forth in time had a pattern. We are introduced to one inhabitant and then go back to see their ancestors, what might have caused them to be called with the names they are now and where they are at mentally and emotionally in the current time. This is basically the entire book in a nutshell. The concept is simple, and each person introduced is so realistic and relatable in some form or the other. At the core, they are genuinely nice people (the primary characters at least), and this means a very pleasant read despite all the hardships they encounter.
One other factor makes the narrative stick with you (at least it did to me). This is something I think a reader would have to be open to to 'feel' for the events. This factor is the question of faith, not just in the god-related sense (although that is sprinkled in there, it doesn't come off as a focal point) but the simple belief that things happen for a reason. The events eventually will help us realise why the train of thought is being directed in such a manner. The stories weave us into the community and keep us hooked.
Therefore, the liking of the people and, consequently, wanting them to be happy and watching the times change in such a small community was lovely. The concept of the three apples was fun to learn as well.
I highly recommend this to anyone on the lookout for work from a lesser-known area of the world. Even if the summary sounds remotely appealing, I recommend picking it up and seeing it all the way through. Wish me luck with my reread!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This was another DNF. After about 130 pages I was just wanting to fall asleep.

I loved the village setting, so that alone gets 2 stars. My biggest issue is the pacing. The story just seemed to drag. I might give this another shot in the future but for now I'm going to have to shelf it.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the ARC ebook in return for my honest review.

Netgalley sent me digital copies of Vanishing Falls, Three Apples Fell from the Sky, and Love After Love. Unfortunately, for me, all three of them were somewhat of duds. I made it about 100 pages into each. About 30% of the way through, and found that I wasn't interested in any of them. I really struggled just to get to 100 pages. Normally I try to give books time to get into it, but none of these worked for me. It's not a hit to the authors at all. They just weren't what I was looking for. I usually don't do group reviews for books either, and I think this is the first time I've done one. But I didn't see the point in reviewing three separate times. Maybe the next ones will be more interesting.

2/5 Stars for all

I adore Eastern European literature, and while this one started off strong it slowly seemed to lose me. I think I also went into it with expectations of a structure similar to Baba Yaga laid an egg. I can't get enough of small slavic villages though - and this one was exquisitely written

And three apples fell from heaven:
One for the storyteller,
One for the listener,
And one for the eavesdropper

This old Armenian saying opens Three Apples Fell from the Sky. Originally published in Russian in 2015, this novel by Moscow-based Narine Abgaryan is now being issued by Oneworld Publications in a flowing and idiomatic English translation by Lisa C. Hayden. And what a delightful book it turns out to be.

The novel is set in Maran, a small, isolated village in the Armenian mountains, where time seems to have stood still. Indeed, the temporal setting of the novel remains vague. Maran seems untouched by modern technology and one gets the impression that the story could be happening over a hundred years ago. But there are hints (especially when the city is mentioned) that the setting is much more recent. It all enhances the feeling that the narrative stands out of time. Several tragedies across the decades – war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes and landslides – have threatened to wipe out Maran, but the tightly-knit community clings on to life, even though its few inhabitants have grown old and infirm.

The novel follows a tripartite structure inspired by the opening proverb. Part I, titled “For the One Who Saw”, focusses on the librarian Anatolia. Although she now in her late fifties, Anatolia is one of the youngest inhabitants of Maran. She is frail and in poor health, resigned to the fact that death has reached her, just as it has taken away her abusive husband and close relatives. But the other villagers, who treat her with almost parental affection, will have none of this. They play matchmakers and, somewhat unexpectedly, set her up with the widowed blacksmith Vasily. The first part of the novel also introduces us to a rich supporting cast of colourful characters who reappear in later sections.

Part II is titled For the One Who Told the Story and its protagonists are Vano, his wife Valinka and their orphaned grandson Tigran. Tigran is the only Maran infant to survive the epochal famine, and he has a solitary upbringing with his doting grandparents. His only companion is a strange white peacock which appeared roughly around the time when Vano and Valinka took Tigran into their care. This section of the novel follows Tigran’s journey into adulthood until his marriage and the birth of his son.

Part III, For the One who Listened, combines the two threads of the story, leading to an unexpected and heart-warming conclusion.

This is a magical novel. It manages to be life-affirming without descending into cheap sentimentality. Tragedy and death stalk its pages, and are never trivialised and understated, yet there is always an underlying seam of humour and hope.

Abgaryan achieves this challenging balance in part through the beauty of the novel’s prose, which mimics the oral storytelling of myths and legends. The novel is, in fact, imbued with a particular brand of magical realism which I particularly associate with Russian and Eastern European authors – the likes of Bulgakov, Remizov, Hamid Ismailov. At times it even reminded me of Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad, despite the very different context. It is a style which is on the one hand earthy and realistic, delighting in minute descriptions of everyday village life, and on the other hand marked by supernatural elements drawn from fables and biblical/religious imagery. Ghosts which haunt the twilight hours; dreams and premonitions; miraculous events… these appear in the novel as matter-of-factly as the delicious dishes prepared by the old villagers.

This novel was a prize-winner in Russia and the English translation will hopefully earn it the new fans it deserves.


4.5*

This novel is like a warm, soothing cup of tea. The village setting comes to life through the pages and you find yourself in an Armenian folk tale. I recommend it for curling up with on a rainy weekend.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advance digital copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Three Apples Fell From the Sky is a charming story of an isolated community in the Armenian mountains. Over the decades, the village of Maran has been touched by war, pestilence, famine, and has dwindled to a few dozen, mostly elderly residents. These endearing characters emerge in a series of folktale or fable-like stories.

At first I did think this was going to be connected short stories, but it gradually converges around one or two main players, in an Olive Kitteridge sort of way. There are some light magical realist touches, but for the most part this narrative remains grounded in daily village life. It also achieves a measured balance for this kind of story, being neither too twee, nor too bleak and miserable, and despite all the misfortune that befalls Maran, ends on sweet and hopeful note. 4 stars.

What a charming book! I dare you to not be utterly charmed by this cast of characters and their quiet mountain lifestyle. I really loved being transported to this tiny mountain village where neighbors are family and family is the thing that matters most in the world. The casualness with which we learn about families' histories, including so much death and destruction, really drives home how tough and resilient these people are. I am not quite sure why the different sections felt disconnected; I would have liked them to be a bit more tied together when we jump from one character's life to another. In the end, though, we follow up with the characters we started with - Anatolia and Vasily - and are really happy with how their lives have turned out.

An absolutely lovely story of the strength., struggles, joys, and beauty of life in a small village. The characters are engaging and the way their tales interweave is authentic to any small community experience.

The movement around in time and the number of characters, along with a few elements of cultural unfamiliarity weaken the read ever so slightly; however, the reward far outweighs these minor issues. We can only hope that more of Abgaryan’s works will become available to readers of English. We can only be enriched by them.

What a gorgeous, amazing book. Wow.
I had no idea what to expect when I started this and as I read and read, I just was continually blown away by the lyricism of the writing, the beauty [and sadness] of the story, the resilience of the people in the book and just how they continue to survive and thrive in the midst of some of the most horrific circumstances ever and by the beauty that they find over and over again in the midst and because of adversity. And the love that is shown, but rarely spoken. There are moments, when things are happening, that you just feel the love oozing off the page and it permeates you as you sit and absorb this story. And then you sigh and realize that even in the midst of all the hardships, you too want that kind of love. And family. And friends.

This is just a gorgeous book that I will be thinking about for years to come - I just want to sit in this book and revel in the story. I could easily not read anything else this year and be content. THAT is how good this is. The author is an amazing storyteller and I am her willing victim. She totally captured me with this book and I will never be the same because of it. If you ever get the chance to read this [and I highly recommend that you do], I hope you take that chance and sit and absorb this beautiful story. You too will never be the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

And three apples fell from heaven:
One for the storyteller,
One for the listener,
And one for the eavesdropper.

This old Armenian saying provides the structure for this mostly quiet, gentle story of family, friendship, tradition, endings and beginnings. Originally published in the Russian language in 2015, it has now been flawlessly translated into English by Lisa C Hayden.

Anatolia is one of the youngest residents of Maran, a remote, isolated village on the slopes of the Armenian mountain, Manish-kar. In her late 50s, she has outlived her immediate family by decades - even her abusive husband has been gone for more than 20 years - and in poor health, she is ready to die. But fate, and another villager, have different plans for her, and day after day Anatolia awakes to find she is still amongst the living. Her elderly neighbours, who remember her parents fondly, are a great support to Anatolia, and encourage her to accept the new direction her life seems to be taking.

In another part of the village, Vano and Valinka dote on their grandson Tigran, the only surviving infant born during the famine. He lost his own parents, so he developed a strong and close bond with his grandparents, who don't want to (but can't help) believing that the little boy's fate is somehow tied to the grumpy, snow-white peacock that came into their care at around the same time.

In the most surprising way, these two families are brought onto the same path to provide some hope for the village's future.

This book is really special. It reads like a fairy-tale with little sprinklings of magical realism to keep the story moving forward. I loved the pace of the story, which matched exactly the pace of village life, where everything is done by hand and life is lived largely at the mercy of nature. There are a lot of characters to keep track of - both living and dead - and I just adored them all. I have no doubt that I will re-read it at some point (and perhaps create my own little mudmaps so I know which ancestors belong to which current villagers).

I enjoyed this a lot! I had a little trouble telling the characters apart, but that was probably due to the fact that I read this in small parts before going to bed when I was really sleepy. Overall it was a great read and I will definitely recommend it,

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51551602-three-apples-fell-from-the-sky" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Three Apples Fell from the Sky" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580657341l/51551602._SX98_SY160_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51551602-three-apples-fell-from-the-sky">Three Apples Fell from the Sky</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4817784.Narine_Abgaryan">Narine Abgaryan</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3199273336">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Anatolia has decided that she is dying, so she lays out her funeral clothes, completes her household chores, and lies down to wait. Spoiler alert: she doesn't die. She becomes the target of her matchmaking neighbors. <br /><br />Anatolia is one of the characters in Maran, an Armenian mountain village that is so hard to get to that the mailman has to use a donkey-drawn cart. The village itself becomes a character in this fable, with its aging villagers and abandoned homes that still have the character of their previous owners. Each person has a history: of how they got their name, how they loved and lost, what their lives have become, and which ghosts haunt them. <br /><br />The writing in this book evokes a beautiful mountainside village of easily pictured people, where time seems to stand still. Small town living is elevated, figuratively and literally, because no one leaves, and no one moves there. Even the priest only comes for special occasions. Because of their close-knit community, the Maran folk support each other- and know which buttons to push to get things done.<br /><br />There is no lack of humor. An example: One of the villagers is haunted by her recently passed husband. He died the day he got new shoes, and she didn't bury him with them. He hadn't worn them, after all. She could get her money back. His ghost is disgruntled, so when a woman from the village passes on, the haunted woman sticks those shoes on the feet of the recently deceased to send to her husband. The priest is so distracted by those big shoes sticking out of the coffin that he has trouble performing the funeral. I still chuckle imagining his face. <br /><br />There are allegories in this book. Anatolia is the Asian part of Turkey-neighboring Armenia. After a quick glance at Armenian history, it seems that the book could easily be interpreted in that vein. Or it could just be enjoyed for its face value. <br /><br />This is a delightful book. Set in a timeless village, where tragedy occurs, but happiness is much more frequent, it demonstrates how family lore becomes folklore, and how powerful friendship can be. <br /><br />4.5 stars rounded down for Goodreads. <br /> <br />Thanks to Netgalley and Oneworld Publications for the advance copy. <br /><br /><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/10770751-tracy">View all my reviews</a>

Author, Narine Abgaryan, gave me plenty to enjoy in this fable detailing the difficulties facing Maran, a small mountain village in Armenia. Much of the book details the lives and history of the townspeople with a focus in particular on several of their stories. Coming to part two I thought it might be a book of three shorter stories. I guess it was, yet the stories were linked by setting, by surrounding people.

I loved hearing about the food, the houses, the work and chores, the gardening, the plants, animals, clothing, the struggle to keep the library open, the ceremonies and markets. The struggle. I was fascinated by all of that. Then on top of that there was the story lines: tragic, the moving, the joyous, the ‘magical’ (and I don’t mean Harry Potter stuff).

It was like going back in time in many respects. I really felt like I got a good idea of how the characters lived and survived there and that part, for me, was fascinating. Their lives were simple - but not always in a good way. The town was dying gradually, it’s people ageing and suffering through famine, war and disasters. Maran residents rarely had access to the goods and services they needed, including medical care. Yet it wasn’t all negative, either. There was a lot of sharing, caring, teasing, and love in the community.

If I had a paper version of this book, I would place it with my favourite books. It’s one I may well refer back to. 

Thank you to Oneworld Publications publisher, Net Galley, and the author, Narine Abgaryan, for my copy of the book. It was given in return for an honest review.

Three Apples Fell from the Sky follows an Armenian woman named Anatolia through various parts of her life, and the life of the town. You may be thinking to yourself, towns don't live lives. This one seems to. This is magical realism on par with the writing style of One Hundred Years of Solitude, but more modern. It's a small town, and everybody knows everybody's business. Not many people come to the town, and not many people leave to live elsewhere. The place and the people are truly magical, though.
From mysterious travelling women who take jewelry to boys who can see the future, the magical realism is the driving force of this book. They are ordinary people living out ordinary lives, or are they? This one felt better to me than One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it still wasn't my cup of tea. I do not typically seek out the genre of magical realism because it is neither magical enough or real enough for my liking. I tend to like the two kept separate in storytelling. However, this book held my interest throughout, and was easy to read. I found myself breezing through the pages.
I really enjoyed the ending, as Abgaryan tied up loose ends quite nicely, bringing back around many of the mysterious magical elements of the book, and explaining them. I was particularly enthralled with the white peacock's role in the story, and glad there was more to it than originally told.
I would recommend this for fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' work, or anyone who likes magical realism and broad family/generational stories.

Three Apples Fell from the Sky is a really strange novel.

Written in Russian by an Armenian writer, the novel tells the story of Maran, a village in the Armenian mountains suffering from famine, drought, locusts and a hint of war in the East. The villagers live simple lives, farming the land, taking honey from the bees, living in ancient stone houses with the only connection to the outside world being a donkey track through the mountains to the valley below. The time setting is never revealed, but the occasional reference to food expiry dates, baby formula, Caesarian sections and the like give it quite a recent setting - perhaps the 1990s with the war referencing Azerbaijan and the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. But most of this feels as though it could have been a hundred years ago or more.

In broad terms, Three Apples tells the story of Anatolia, a woman who is lying on her bed, bleeding to death and calmly awaiting her fate. The story then pans out backwards and forwards in time (often with very little signposting) as we see the world around Anatolia. The short novel includes a plentiful cast and their relevance and inter-relationships is not always obvious.

There is some light and humour in Anatolia’s relationship with Vasily, the blacksmith, but it is bucking the trend in what is a fairly bleak tale of the demise of the village, slowly withering in the absence of a younger generation.

The style of the narrative is journalistic; facts are presented with little background or commentary. It reads like a folk tale. After a while, I’m afraid, this can be quite disengaging. There’s a view of people travelling back and forth, intoning statements in grave tones but without the reader fully appreciating the significance of what is happening.

The setting does ring true; the lives feel real; but it just never adds up into anything that really captures the reader’s imagination.

A very quaint and simple story of life in an aging and forgotten mountain village. Not plot driven, but still a sweet and endearing tale. A good long distance train journey read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This book was utterly beautiful. After many days, here was a book that made you smile and smoothed your brow and wrenched your heart and even made you shed a tear or two. It was all things that make for wonderful reading.

So, first things first. That cover is so typical of those Soviet years missed sorely by readers around the world from the time when we read umpteen number of translated Russian books in various Indian languages. The beautiful, dark stories and those gorgeous illustrations at such affordable prices. This cover is a throwback to that time and does full justice to the book. Although would a white peacock have been more emotive of the story? Nitpicking here.
The title is part of an Armenian folk tale/ adage, it is not clear which. The author explains it at the end which turns into an 'Aha' moment because I spent the whole book trying to understand where the title came from. When you search this title, there are quite a few other entries that pop up on Google which only solidifies the importance of this proverb/ folk tale/ adage and of storytelling in Armenian culture.

The story is that of a small Armenian mountain village, now peopled by a clutch of old folks. The author takes us through the histories of almost each resident and makes them come alive. There are tragedies, there are superstitions, there is downright magic, there are super miracles that occur in this tiny village. And the residents take it all in their stride with a philosophy that is stoic and matter-of-fact. The most affecting scene has to be that of the disposal of the yeast packets. It is genius in its simplicity and can probably be thought up only by someone who has witnessed something like this happen in real life.

It’s a small novel and a slow one. It needs to be paced out and savored. It made me want to look up more translated contemporary novels from the former Soviet republic, for it made me realize what I have been missing for the past few decades. To try and find out what the present day east European is thinking – are they still the boisterous, uber fatalistic writers of a hundred years ago or are things lighter and shinier in their writing now. This book, although it deals with so much tragedy and loss, also carries with it a message of so much hope and happiness.

The translation is extremely well done. At no point did it feel that the translator failed to convey what the author was trying to accomplish by her words. 

Definite recommendation for all who like a story that deals with life in small communities and is open to accepting the idiosyncrasies and foibles of their inhabitants, along with their generosity and straight-forwardness.

story is one of a remote Armenia village deep in the mountains. This is a visit to that village and the chance to meet all the people there, see them live everyday, experience their trials and tribulations and get to know them.

Anatolia for example is 58 and is convinced she’s terminally ill. Life has not been easy for her as she’s spent so long in a very unhappy marriage. The only pleasure she gets from life is her books and the local library. She gets the chance to decorate it and look after it and I loved this insight into village life and a woman’s happiness. Reading for her really is an escape.

The mountain landscape is one of high peaks and deep valleys which used to be used for farming. IT’s a harsh environment in more ways than one and due to the weather and earthquakes, people realise that they are never safe, even at the top of the world. Moving around is common and poverty is rife. This is a tough, tough place to life and each day is a struggle.

But do you know what? It’s not a sad novel but a look at the life, the trial and tribulations of a community who quite literary live on the edge. They are dwindling in size as the young ones move away and homes are ruined but their strength and perseverance never wavers. They also never stopped gossiping which I found amusing and made them all seem even more very human and real.

This is the kind of novel that sweeps over you like a wave on the beach and you don’t realise what effect it has had on you until you look down and realise the waves and sand of time have changed you forever.

A quiet song of a novel.