Personally, I did not enjoy reading “Master and Man.” I understand that this book is considered a classic, offering lessons about life, greed, guilt, and societal status. However, the book did not resonate with me. The story and parts of the book felt very slow and dragged in my opinion. An example of this is when the narrator describes the snow and harsh conditions. At the start of the book, I didn’t mind reading it, but as the book progressed, I quickly felt myself losing interest, as it seemed repetitive, constantly filled with descriptions of the weather and hopelessness.
Additionally, I didn’t like the story of Vasili, who was a selfish, greedy, and mean main character throughout the majority of the book. “Vassili Andreyich was lit up by wine he had drunk with his guests and consequently extra satisfied by everything that belonged to him and everything that he did” (p.67). He was a challenging character for me to connect with; this includes the changes his character undergoes at the end of the story, when he sacrifices himself to save his servant, Nikita. You would think that when the author tries to redeem the character at the end, I would feel more sympathy for him, but I still couldn’t connect with him, and I had no interest in him at all.
Overall, the tone of the story, my inability to connect with the characters, and the pace throughout the book made reading Master and Man was a struggle for me to enjoy or even finish reading. Even thought I can see, how some people reading might find meaning it the storys lessons, but for every reason, I would not consider the story “Master and Man” a book I would read again, or recommend to other students and kids my age.