"From the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Svetlana Alexievich, comes the first English translation of her latest work, an oral history of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia. Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive documentary style, Secondhand Time is a monument to the collapse of the USSR, charting the decline of Soviet culture and speculating on what will rise from the ashes of communism. As in all her books, Alexievich gives voice to women and men whose stories are lost in the official narratives of nation-states, creating a powerful alternative history from the personal and private stories of individuals"--
"Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style of oral history, Secondhand Time is a monument to the collapse of the USSR, charting the decline of Soviet culture and speculating on what will rise from the ashes of …
"From the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Svetlana Alexievich, comes the first English translation of her latest work, an oral history of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia. Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive documentary style, Secondhand Time is a monument to the collapse of the USSR, charting the decline of Soviet culture and speculating on what will rise from the ashes of communism. As in all her books, Alexievich gives voice to women and men whose stories are lost in the official narratives of nation-states, creating a powerful alternative history from the personal and private stories of individuals"--
"Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style of oral history, Secondhand Time is a monument to the collapse of the USSR, charting the decline of Soviet culture and speculating on what will rise from the ashes of Communism. As in all her books, Alexievich gives voice to women and men whose stories are lost in the official narratives of nation-states, creating a powerful alternative history from the personal and private stories of individuals. When the Swedish Academy awarded Svetlana Alexievich the Nobel Prize in Literature, they praised her 'polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,' and cited her for inventing 'a new kind of literary genre.' Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, added that her work comprises 'a history of emotions--a history of the soul'"--
This book has been haunting me. It feels like both my past and my future. My past because so many of the interviews go back to World War II era genocide. My future because it also focuses on the violence and genocide that sprung like a virus as the soviet empire was collapsing. This is a very bleak book. I give it five stars because my criteria is whether or not the book stayed with me and changed me, not because I can say I enjoyed it exactly. Don't read it if you are not in a place where you can handle hearing about the worst of humanity.
To say that this book is heavy is an understatement.
The reason for five stars is that the selection of interviews depicts the Soviet culture so very clearly. The culture of generational trauma, their fears, full scale of emotional confusion and bewilderment, soul wrenching despair and methods of adaptation to the harsh climate of the Soviet Union and the life after it's fall. The authors interviews show the fall of the Soviet Union from various perspectives: from government officials to regular working people.
It's very clear that the author is very nonjudgemental and there in lies her power. She allows people to open up and show their true selves all their hopes dreams and most of all the deepest pain. I think the author succeeds in transporting us into other people's lives, in making the history personal and relevant.
The translation into English is superb, the translator was able to …
To say that this book is heavy is an understatement.
The reason for five stars is that the selection of interviews depicts the Soviet culture so very clearly. The culture of generational trauma, their fears, full scale of emotional confusion and bewilderment, soul wrenching despair and methods of adaptation to the harsh climate of the Soviet Union and the life after it's fall. The authors interviews show the fall of the Soviet Union from various perspectives: from government officials to regular working people.
It's very clear that the author is very nonjudgemental and there in lies her power. She allows people to open up and show their true selves all their hopes dreams and most of all the deepest pain. I think the author succeeds in transporting us into other people's lives, in making the history personal and relevant.
The translation into English is superb, the translator was able to carry through not just main ideas but also many nuances of the culture and the language.
