Soul’s torments and the joy of life

We are discussing latest novel called It's Time written by one of Russia's most romantic contemporary Debut Prize writers Pavel Kostin.

In our afternoon tea setting in Covent Garden here in London we have Natalie Meyer, literature critic from California who read and reviewed Pavel's latest book, James Rann who is currently translating IT'S TIME into English and your host Max Bollinger, the editor of Interactive Media and Urban Romantics.  www.urban-romantics.com

"A beautifully, lyrically crafted novel. If one could combine the contradictory ideas of a soul’s torments and the joy of life in one book – this would be the book. Coming from a young author, it was so refreshing to discover no cynicism or crude language so common to the young generation nowadays. It was a joy to read. You felt extraordinary compassion for the protagonist in his tormented quest, you rejoiced in his optimism, you were bound to feel what he felt. Just look at his description of waves coming to shore (my humble translation – the book is in Russian): 'The ubiquitous arrival of waves, one after another. It’s so calming, if you look at it. But the point is not this subtle murmur of waves. It’s the fact that after this wave there will be another, and then another. And so – forever. It never fails to calm me. Forever. Do my problems even have a meaning compared to this word…' But don’t get me wrong – it’s not just a descriptive novel of rumination: there is a plot here – skilfully designed and not resolved until the very end". - Irene Rudra, Texas, USA