So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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Western media images from the Cold War era of the USSR often emphasized drab but huge buildings (when not focusing on military parades), suggesting the only interesting architecture was produced prior to the Russian Revolution. This book shows that there were amazingly creative structures sprinkled throughout the empire's vast 11 time zones. Some buildings look like sets for science fiction movies, while others display unexpectedly beautiful attention to detail. CCCP provides a fascinating look at public and private spaces in the late Soviet era (1970-1990).
What a joy to see this book made accessible to English speakers! Leskov has been called the most Russian of Russian writers; and this is regarded as his masterpiece. Leskov's insights are invaluable to understanding the era of his more famous contemporaries, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
A fun introduction to Soviet "pop" culture, this book is a breezy and affectionate "show and tell" of everything from toys and candy, to snowmobiles, cameras, cars (with removable floors for ice fishing), and space satellites. The longer essays give interesting insights into how people interacted with these objects: I loved the afterlife of the Saturnas vacuum cleaners, for example: their tops are popularly used as medieval helmets in role-playing games!
Made in Russia humanizes those who lived on the other side of "the curtain."
This is one of the greatest novels - ever! If you have seen one of the movies or mini-series based on Pasternak's story, but have never read it, I highly recommend you read this masterpiece - in this translation. Although it could be classified as a historic novel, there is nothing dry in this story. Full of passion, romance, intrigue, all set in the context of civil war, the story is compelling. Pasternak showed great courage in having it smuggled out of the USSR and published using his own name. He faced possible imprisonment, or worse, for daring to write critically about the birth of pangs of the Soviet State. He was pressured by the government to decline the Nobel prize, due to his unflinchingly honest depiction of human suffering at the hands of the Bolsheviks (though he was also truthful to show that no side of the civil war was blameless).
Pevear and Volokhonsky again provide a highly readable translation, which effectively catches the nuances of Russian literature.
HIGHLY recommended!
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Interesting read, though I am skeptical of how much truth there is. It is probably at least 50% fiction - though perhaps not as far from reality as one could hope. There most definitely is a tattoo language in the Russian criminal world. I have read enough different accounts (as well as viewing the documentary The Mark Of Cain) to realize that these markings are taken very seriously in the underworld of Russian crime. Some of this author's anecdotes reek of hyperbole, however. I suspect the best approach to the book is to view it as a novel, based on a germ of truth. It reads quickly - though some scenes are quite gruesome. Not for the faint of heart.
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Russian lit-mystery fan has commented on (9) products.
Frederic Chaubin: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed by Frederic Chaubin
Russian lit-mystery fan, September 4, 2011
Western media images from the Cold War era of the USSR often emphasized drab but huge buildings (when not focusing on military parades), suggesting the only interesting architecture was produced prior to the Russian Revolution. This book shows that there were amazingly creative structures sprinkled throughout the empire's vast 11 time zones. Some buildings look like sets for science fiction movies, while others display unexpectedly beautiful attention to detail. CCCP provides a fascinating look at public and private spaces in the late Soviet era (1970-1990).The Cathedral Clergy : A Chronicle
Russian lit-mystery fan, September 4, 2011
What a joy to see this book made accessible to English speakers! Leskov has been called the most Russian of Russian writers; and this is regarded as his masterpiece. Leskov's insights are invaluable to understanding the era of his more famous contemporaries, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design by Michael Idov
Russian lit-mystery fan, August 16, 2011
A fun introduction to Soviet "pop" culture, this book is a breezy and affectionate "show and tell" of everything from toys and candy, to snowmobiles, cameras, cars (with removable floors for ice fishing), and space satellites. The longer essays give interesting insights into how people interacted with these objects: I loved the afterlife of the Saturnas vacuum cleaners, for example: their tops are popularly used as medieval helmets in role-playing games!Made in Russia humanizes those who lived on the other side of "the curtain."
Doctor Zhivago (Vintage International) by Boris Pasternak
Russian lit-mystery fan, July 22, 2011
This is one of the greatest novels - ever! If you have seen one of the movies or mini-series based on Pasternak's story, but have never read it, I highly recommend you read this masterpiece - in this translation. Although it could be classified as a historic novel, there is nothing dry in this story. Full of passion, romance, intrigue, all set in the context of civil war, the story is compelling. Pasternak showed great courage in having it smuggled out of the USSR and published using his own name. He faced possible imprisonment, or worse, for daring to write critically about the birth of pangs of the Soviet State. He was pressured by the government to decline the Nobel prize, due to his unflinchingly honest depiction of human suffering at the hands of the Bolsheviks (though he was also truthful to show that no side of the civil war was blameless).Pevear and Volokhonsky again provide a highly readable translation, which effectively catches the nuances of Russian literature.
HIGHLY recommended!
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld by Nicolai Lilin
Russian lit-mystery fan, July 22, 2011
Interesting read, though I am skeptical of how much truth there is. It is probably at least 50% fiction - though perhaps not as far from reality as one could hope. There most definitely is a tattoo language in the Russian criminal world. I have read enough different accounts (as well as viewing the documentary The Mark Of Cain) to realize that these markings are taken very seriously in the underworld of Russian crime. Some of this author's anecdotes reek of hyperbole, however. I suspect the best approach to the book is to view it as a novel, based on a germ of truth. It reads quickly - though some scenes are quite gruesome. Not for the faint of heart.1-5 of 9next