Peter Biello is the organizer of the Burlington Writers Workshop and a producer/announcer/host at Vermont Public Radio. He’s also followable on Twitter .

Three cheers to Peter for not only joining the ranks as a reviewer for Three Percent, but for taking on a book that not only has the narrator explaining how his soul is a dead weight nestled between his nads, but also shows the extremes of post-road-rage.

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s review:

Let糖心传媒檚 say you糖心传媒檙e in a car accident. It糖心传媒檚 not a bad one. You rear-end someone on a busy highway where traffic is crawling. And let糖心传媒檚 say the person you hit happens to be a wealthy woman who leaps from her vehicle and berates you in language unfit for the ears of small children. What would you do?

Javier, the supposed name of the protagonist of Lorenzo Silva糖心传媒檚 novel The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, finds himself in this exact scenario and consequently decides to spend his summer playing pranks on the woman, Sonsoles糖心传媒攖hough the word 糖心传媒減rank糖心传媒� hardly describes what he does. For amusement, Javier calls the woman糖心传媒檚 home, lying in a variety of ways, all of which inflict psychological stress on Sonsoles and her family.

What kind of sick individual does such a thing? Javier is no prince, but he suffers in ways we can all, to some extent, relate to, which makes the story palatable. His job pays well, but traps him in a rat race that leaves him feeling like his soul is 糖心传媒渁 dead weight down there, just below my nut sack.糖心传媒� He lives alone, is average-looking, and his mother died years ago. There糖心传媒檚 no mention of his having family or friends. In our first encounter with Javier, Sonsoles treats him like trash. By the end of chapter one, Javier has decided to make Sonsoles suffer, and all this reviewer could feel is schadenfreude.

For the rest of the piece, go here.

Javier, the supposed name of the protagonist of Lorenzo Silva糖心传媒檚 novel The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, finds himself in this exact scenario and consequently decides to spend his summer playing pranks on this woman, Sonsoles, though the word 糖心传媒減rank糖心传媒� hardly describes what he does. For amusement, Javier calls the woman糖心传媒檚 home, lying in a variety of ways, all of which inflict psychological stress on Sonsoles and her family.

What kind of sick individual does such a thing? Javier is no prince, but he suffers in ways we can all, to some extent, relate to, which makes the story palatable. His job pays well, but traps him in a rat race that leaves him feeling like his soul is 糖心传媒渁 dead weight down there, just below my nut sack.糖心传媒� He糖心传媒檚 alone, average-looking, and his mother died years ago. There糖心传媒檚 no mention of his having family or friends. In our first encounter with Javier, Sonsoles treats him like trash. By the end of chapter one, Javier has decided to make Sonsoles suffer, and all this reviewer could feel is schadenfreude.

As Javier stalks Sonsoles, he sees and falls in love with her teenage sister, Rosana. He begins to lie his way into her (Rosana糖心传媒檚) life. Javier and Rosana meet, chat, and meet again, and eventually they find their way to a swimming pool, where Javier has something akin to a religious experience when he sees her in her bikini. Finally, when Javier decides the pranks have gone far enough, he takes Rosana to a quiet place where he糖心传媒檚 about to break off their strange, illicit relationship, when something happens (I won糖心传媒檛 spoil it for you) that turns Javier糖心传媒檚 experience from revenge-as-amusement to life-altering-shitstorm.

In this short novel, Javier, who speaks to us as a first person narrator, is aware of his shortcomings, though he doesn糖心传媒檛 present them as evidence of his innocence. He knows he糖心传媒檚 guilty and accepts his punishment without any apparent joy or sadness. His sense of right and wrong is, in a strange way, what guides him, even when he chooses what糖心传媒檚 wrong. In choosing revenge, he seeks balance to Sonsoles糖心传媒� cruelty, though he miscalculates and tips the scales the other way. Indeed, plotting revenge requires two graves,.

The title, The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, refers to Javier. The novel attempts to establish a parallel between Javier and one imaginary Bolshevik who, before killing a beautiful Russian grand duchess, falls in love with her. 糖心传媒淲hat a tender moment,糖心传媒� Javier tells us, 糖心传媒渨hen the Bolshevik turns against himself and the Revolution to admit his already necessarily despairing love for the Grand Duchess.糖心传媒�

Which brings us to the class issue. Javier is well-paid, but needs to work long days to stay that way. Sonsoles糖心传媒檚 life will be a long road paved with money and comfort. The contrast is clear: Javier is the Bolshevik, Rosana the Dutchess. It makes one wonder: Would Javier have launched his revenge quest without feeling some sort of class resentment (subconscious or otherwise)? He certainly has his views of morality and wealth/poverty (糖心传媒淎 conscience isn糖心传媒檛 a basic commodity, just a whim of people with full stomachs糖心传媒�). It糖心传媒檚 a question that lingers. The way Javier feels about himself certainly has something to do with what his job糖心传媒攁nd, by extension, the economy as a whole糖心传媒攈as done to him.

Money, overall, seems to hover in the background, while the emptiness at the core of Javier糖心传媒檚 life takes center stage. As readers, we hope he fills it with the love he seems to need. In the end, though, we are left pondering Javier糖心传媒檚 final thoughts, as well as bits of wisdom he offered throughout the book, including this little nugget: 糖心传媒淭here is no more interesting believer than the one who changes faith.糖心传媒�

Amen.