Mother

Title: Mother

Author: Maxim Gorky

Pages: 389

Genre: Russian Classic, Socialist Realism

Grade: B

Synopsis: This book was published in Russia in 1906, ushering in the era of socialist realism and pushing the citizens of Russia towards the Russian Revolution.  Pavel is a disenchanted factory worker who is working hard to publish and distribute literature against the bourgeois class. After many secret meetings held late into the night in her house, she begins to gain passion in her son's cause although she doesn't understand everything about it. She begins secretly helping the cause whenever she can.

My Review:  This is a famous Revolutionary book in Russia (in fact, the famous Gorky Park in Moscow is named after the author).  I would compare it to an Uncle Tom's Cabin or Common Sense type publication here in the states that ushered in revolutions of their own.

From the Book: "(p. 125) Life flowed on swiftly. The days were diversified and full of color. Each one brought with it something new, and the new ceased to alarm the mother. Strangers came to the house in the evening more and more frequently, and they talked with Andrey in subdued voices with an engrossed air. Late at night they went out into the darkness, their collars up, their hats thrust low over their faces, noiselessly, cautiously.  All seemed to feel a feverish excitement, which they kept under restraint, and had the air of wanting to sing and laugh if they only had the time. They were all in a perpetual hurry. All of them--the mocking and the serious, the frank, jovial youth with effervescing strength, the thoughtful and quiet--all of them in the eyes of the mother were identical in the persistent faith that characterized them; and although each had his own peculiar cast of countenance, for her all their faces blended into one thin, composed, resolute face with a profound expression in its dark eyes, kind yet stern, like the look in Christ's eyes on his way to Emmaus."

"(p. 332) Family life always diminishes the energy of a revolutionist. Children must be maintained in security ,and there's the need to work a great deal for one's break. The revolutionist ought without cease to develop every iota of his energy; he must deepen and broaden it; but this demands time. He must always be at the head, because we--the workingmen--are called by the logic of history to destroy the old world, to create the new life; and if we stop, if we yield to exhaustion, or are attracted by the possibility of a little immediate conquest, it's bad--it's almost treachery to the cause. No revolutionist can adhere closely to an individual--walk thorough life side by side with another individual--without distorting his faith; and we must never forget that our aim is not little conquests, but only complete victory!"

Farewell to Matyora

Title: Farewell to Matyora

Author: Valentin Rasputin

Pages: 227

Genre: Fiction

Letter Grade: C+

Synopsis: This book is a sanctioned piece of Soviet literature. It was published in the Brezhnev (post-Stalin) era and portrays how a Soviet village is destroyed because of a large hydroelectric dam project. The book describes how the older people in the village struggle to change and adapt and how the younger villagers are much more willing to give up their village and move to a new, larger village. The book provides an argument that the Soviets can only be spiritually regenerated by returning to and embracing the old way of life.

My Review: I found this book to be a pretty easy read, but I did not find it all that interesting. The book is full of symbolism and metaphors. The book seems to be lacking a climax and most of the story is simply filler. I'll be reselling this book on half.com.

From the Book: "(p. 92) "So don't live to be that old," Darya said with sudden anger. "Know your limit," and she stopped, lowering her voice, realizing that it is not given for man to know his time. "Is it for one's sins that God keeps you alive beyond your time? Oh, they must be terrible sins for that...Where do you collect them? Man must live only as long as he serves a purpose.""

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Title: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Author: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Pages: 139

Genre: Historical Fiction

Letter Grade: B+

Synopsis: As the title so simply states, this book chronicles one cold, January day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Shukhov is in a Stalinist work camp in Siberia. He was sent there because he escaped from the Germans as a prisoner of war and returned to the Russians (i.e. no concrete reason, just like most of the people in the camp). The book is a single narrative and has no chapters. Although this book clearly chronicles one of the "good days", it still makes you shudder that people were forced into such awful conditions. In many ways, this book is a satire of "Socialist Realism", which is the concept of what Soviet art (including literature) should be. This book shows how Shukhov is a model prisoner, yet still receives no special treatment. He is generally kind to others, while still looking out for his own good.

My Review: I quite enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and realatively easy to understand. Most of us know very little about the forced labor camps and the purges under Stalin. While this book does not deal with the purges, it shows very effectively how men were placed in these camps without reason. It is a vivid depiction of humanity under extreme duress. Disclaimer: This book had quite a bit of foul language, supposedly included as a knock against Socialist Realism.

From the Book: "(p. 134 - Shokhov talking to a Baptist prisoner, Alyosha) But, Ivan Deisovich it's because you pray too rarely, and badly at that.Without really trying. That's why your prayers stay unanswered. One must never stop praying. If you have real faith you tell a mountain to move and it will move..."

"(p. 101 - Walking back to the camp after a hard day's work) Now we could take things easy. Everyone was elated. As elated as a rabbit when it finds it can still terrify a frog."

Sofia Petrovna

Title: Sofia Petrovna

Author: Lydia Chukovskaya

Pages: 120

Genre: Historical Fiction

Letter Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book is a fictional account of the Stalin's great purge. The main character of the book is Sofia Petrovna, a workingwoman trying to be the best Communist that she could be. Her son, Kolya was a great Communist. He was a member of the Young Komsomols and an ingenious inventor. Regardless of all this, he was arrested because somebody had fingered him as a terrorist or something (he wasn't of course). This book chronicles how Sofia Petrovna would wait in line day after day after day trying to learn more about the whereabouts of her son and trying to find out why he was arrested. Eventually he was sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp. Sofia Petrovna never believes that her son is guilty, she also never believes that anybody else who has been arrested is innocent.This is a story of a mother's naivety.

Review: This was a good book. It was a quick read and easy to understand. It is a testimonial to just how messed up the Soviet Union was at the time of these purges. It can be compared to the McCarthy scares of the 1950's but on a much much greater level. Nobody knows exactly how many people dies during the purges. Most believe that more than 6 million were killed. This book is a reminder of the cruelty of those times and the lives that it destroyed.

From the Book: "(p. 72 Spoken by Kolya's friend Alik to Sofia Petrovna) "We've been put on the blacklist, as I understand it. Scoundrels! Where the hell did so many swine come from all of the sudden?" said Alik."

Envy

Title: Envy

Author: Yuri Olesha

Pages: 128

Genre: Socialist Fiction

Letter Grade: B

Synopsis: The main character, Nikolai Kavalerov, is taken in by Andrei Babichev - who is a very important person in the food industry of their city. Kavalerov is an aimless drifter and is often drunk. Babichev tries to help Kavalerov make a better life for himself but Kavalerov is so self-centered and deluded about his own worth that he even begins to hate Babichev. Kavalerov dreams of being important and envies Babichev to no end. Kavalerov gets himself kicked out of Babichev's apartment and he teams up with Andrei Babichev's brother, Ivan. Together they plot to kill Andrei but this comes to nothing. Eventually Ivan and Kavalerov end up living a life of indifference.

My Review: I had to read this book for a class but I was lucky because this book was very interesting. It was actually banned from being published in the Soviet Union for many years because the main character (Kavalerov) was not a good example of the 'new Communist man'. Another problem that they had with the book was that the reader would sympathize with Kavalerov. You do begin to like Kavalerov but you also begin to feel sorry for him and it's very easy to see how worthless he has become. The book reads very quickly and is almost humorous at times.

Favorite Passage: Forthcoming...

Cement

Title: Cement

Author: Fyodor Gladkov

Pages: 311

Genre: Socialist Propaganda

Letter Grade: B

Synopsis: This was one of the very first books to be published in the Soviet Union after the revolution. It is the story about a small industrial city and how they struggle to get the cement factory running again. The main character in the story is Gleb, who recently returned from fighting in the army. He returns to find his wife totally changed. Gleb takes the reins upon himself to work very hard to get the factory going. He and his wife are both members of the Communist party. Gleb and his wife Dasha are now equals in their social lives and in their working lives. The book chronicles their stuggles to adapt to this new situation.

My Review: I obviously had to read this book for school. It turned out to be better than I expected. The book was written (indirectly) as propoganda for the Communist party. It shows how honourable work and labor is to the country. I grew to really like Gleb and a few of the other characters but I also learned to be very grateful that I do not live in a Communist society.

Favorite Passage: (p. 232, talking about Communists who are not 'true' Communists because they think that they are better than others) "It was difficult for him to speak, as he had an unusually large tongue; there was too little room for it in his mouth, and in conversation it peeped out like a slug. Suskin could not get his words out; they stuck in his mouth and splashed about in the saliva with his tongue, suffering from their inability to escape."