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Fiction or non-fiction? Larry Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM
The Russian Revolution?

I'm especially curious to hear your thoughts about this particular topic as the background of the book was written by a product of the time period of the late Tsarist system/early Soviet System and its rare for Americans/Brits/non-Russian Euros to read anything about the Russian Revolution not told from the perspective of the Capitalist West.

Seven Days That Shook the World, plus several excerpts from my 20th century European Cultural History class, along with Bulgakov and Soltzhenitsyn, among others whose names escape me now. I just finished the book and will have a mini-essay on it ready in a few hours. The Russian topology and patronymic patterns did not confuse me much, due to previous exposure.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1645 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 923 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM 846 Views
Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution wahooka - 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM 948 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 779 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 869 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 941 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 904 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 772 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 927 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 830 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 930 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 353 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 762 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 352 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 865 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM 969 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 818 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 903 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM 964 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM 891 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 950 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 866 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 1009 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 333 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 914 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 836 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 888 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 864 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 855 Views
There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM 855 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 737 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 887 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM 1004 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 868 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1154 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM 923 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 816 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM* Rebekah - 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM 330 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 350 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 311 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 983 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 1013 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 853 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 858 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 903 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 921 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 915 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 731 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1120 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 810 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1249 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 898 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 278 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 948 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you? Tashmere - 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM 868 Views
Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM* Tom - 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM 316 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 818 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 993 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 834 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 866 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 876 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 888 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 909 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 801 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 901 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM 844 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 980 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM 666 Views
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