This book was different the second time I read it. Less enchanting -- perhaps because I knew how it would end. (The narrator tells you in the first chapter, as a matter of fact, but last time I managed to forget.) It sparked a good book club discussion about many things, including the nature of love. Can you fall in love with someone with whom you cannot speak? Our answer was a solid, hopeful yes.

My favorite episode this time was when the Russian, Fyodorov, enlists Gen's help as translator while he confesses his love to Roxanne Coss. Gen is caught up in his own dramas and does not realize at first what Fyodorov intends to say. As the Russian works his way through a long-winded anecdote, it dawns on Gen what he is going to say. Gen is mortified and wishes he had never begun translating this conversation, but it is too late. Roxanne is more gracious. She thanks Fyodorov, but tells him she has nothing to give him in return. He smiles and tells her that her understanding of love is too narrow, too American. He asks for nothing; he just offers up this gift to her, like precious stones or a beautiful painting.