Metro: A novel of the Moscow Underground

Metro: A novel of the Moscow Underground by Alexander Kaletski. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780413604200.

When Sasha comes to Moscow as a drama student to avoid the drudgery of life in a provincial munitions factory, he learns many things. He also quickly encounters the Moscow underground: a group of friends and allies who are artists, students, benders of rules, who manage to survive and enjoy life in spite of the system. Drawn into a world of smuggling, subversion and black-market food and drink, Sasha experiences both freedom and a stifling sense of confinement, until, torn by his love for Lena, another student, and for the Russian land and people, he finally considers the possibility of escape .... Hard to match for exuberance, for youth and for outrageous, cheerful invention IRISH TIMES