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danielau's review
5.0
En otroligt fin bok och en intressant historia. Jag gillar när jag lär mig nya saker och får nya intressen genom skönlitterära böcker.
adam613's review against another edition
5.0
"A glass of warm milk and over it a freshly formed skin. Milk soup. Fruit jelly in milk. Those were my worst trials at school. In our country, school drinking milk was obligatory. I hated milk and all that was associated with it. I struggled with it as if with an invisible devil to possess me, no matter how hard I resisted."
In Soviet Milk, Noral Ikstena mixes the despondency of life under Soviet rule with the resilience of the human spirit to dramatic and poetic effect. Using milk as a recurring theme representing the ever-present Soviet influence and interlacing alternating narratives of mother and daughter, she crafts efficient and poetic prose about the pressures of being a woman during the occupation of the formerly sovereign state of Latvia. Sifting the personal with the political in a concise and creative efficient manner, I couldn't help but be mesmerized and enraptured in the narrators' reality.
Telling the story of three generations of women, this first read for Women in Translation and my first exposure to Latvian literature, I could only do worse than Soviet Milk. Translated by Margita Gailitis and published by Peirene, I am thankful and privileged to be able to read such a stunningly nuanced piece of foreign literature in my mother tongue. For fans of translated literary historical intergenerational fiction, you can't go wrong with Soviet Milk.
In Soviet Milk, Noral Ikstena mixes the despondency of life under Soviet rule with the resilience of the human spirit to dramatic and poetic effect. Using milk as a recurring theme representing the ever-present Soviet influence and interlacing alternating narratives of mother and daughter, she crafts efficient and poetic prose about the pressures of being a woman during the occupation of the formerly sovereign state of Latvia. Sifting the personal with the political in a concise and creative efficient manner, I couldn't help but be mesmerized and enraptured in the narrators' reality.
Telling the story of three generations of women, this first read for Women in Translation and my first exposure to Latvian literature, I could only do worse than Soviet Milk. Translated by Margita Gailitis and published by Peirene, I am thankful and privileged to be able to read such a stunningly nuanced piece of foreign literature in my mother tongue. For fans of translated literary historical intergenerational fiction, you can't go wrong with Soviet Milk.
kittymamers's review against another edition
3.0
täiesti võimalik, et ma polnud enne kunagi ühtegi läti raamatut (läbi) lugenud.
eriti niiviisi ingliskeelses tõlkes lugedes tundus see läti rahva kannatuste lugu ühtaegu väga lähedal ja väga kaugel - vaade tuttavale draamale veidi teise nurga alt ja läbi kolmanda keele prisma.
sinna juurde üldinimlikud lood emadusest ja vaimsest tervisest jätsid mu veidi ükskõiksemaks, aga kokku ikkagi... hästi õmmeldud.
eriti niiviisi ingliskeelses tõlkes lugedes tundus see läti rahva kannatuste lugu ühtaegu väga lähedal ja väga kaugel - vaade tuttavale draamale veidi teise nurga alt ja läbi kolmanda keele prisma.
sinna juurde üldinimlikud lood emadusest ja vaimsest tervisest jätsid mu veidi ükskõiksemaks, aga kokku ikkagi... hästi õmmeldud.
adru's review against another edition
5.0
Loed ja kurvastad, kuidas mõnikord on kellelgi nii raske elus olla, aga teha midagi ka ei saa.
itzreibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena, translated by Margita Gailitis. Peirene Press, 2018 (Kindle Edition).
Soviet Milk is a story of generations of women in Latvia in 1969-1989 (during the Soviet occupancy). Told from two points of view, the Mother and the Daughter. The Mother was a talented and gifted doctor pursuing career in gynecology. But she didn’t feel any maternal bonding with her daughter, even refused to breastfeed her. She went to Leningrad to supplement her education but then involved in a criminal activity that caused her to lost her medical license. She went home and decided to move to a countryside to work in an ambulatory center.
The Daughter, though never get the love she’s supposed to get from her mother, followed her to the countryside. As a child born in Soviet Latvia, she never understood her mother talks about freedom or oppression. But she patiently took care of her mother with her ups and downs and her suicidal tendency, until she met a teacher that finally opened her eyes about the country’s situation; therefore, learn bit by bit about her mother’s condition.
Soviet Milk talks about problematic mother-daughter relationship, women’s issues such as fertility, abortion, transgender, even domestic violence and mental illness, and of course, how the Soviet Union occupancy affected their ways of life. I was immersed in the mind of the oppressed Mother, yet this darkness is balanced by the Daughter, a righteous and obedient girl who loves her mother unconditionally. With the social and political condition of Soviet Latvia as the background story, Soviet Milk gave me a bit of the picture of women’s lives and struggles during the war, something that not yet a common topic in literature.
Buku ini sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia dengan judul Air Susu Ibu oleh Windy Ariestanti, diterbitkan oleh Penerbit Spring. Salah satu buku terbaik yang pernah kubaca tahun ini.
Soviet Milk is a story of generations of women in Latvia in 1969-1989 (during the Soviet occupancy). Told from two points of view, the Mother and the Daughter. The Mother was a talented and gifted doctor pursuing career in gynecology. But she didn’t feel any maternal bonding with her daughter, even refused to breastfeed her. She went to Leningrad to supplement her education but then involved in a criminal activity that caused her to lost her medical license. She went home and decided to move to a countryside to work in an ambulatory center.
The Daughter, though never get the love she’s supposed to get from her mother, followed her to the countryside. As a child born in Soviet Latvia, she never understood her mother talks about freedom or oppression. But she patiently took care of her mother with her ups and downs and her suicidal tendency, until she met a teacher that finally opened her eyes about the country’s situation; therefore, learn bit by bit about her mother’s condition.
Soviet Milk talks about problematic mother-daughter relationship, women’s issues such as fertility, abortion, transgender, even domestic violence and mental illness, and of course, how the Soviet Union occupancy affected their ways of life. I was immersed in the mind of the oppressed Mother, yet this darkness is balanced by the Daughter, a righteous and obedient girl who loves her mother unconditionally. With the social and political condition of Soviet Latvia as the background story, Soviet Milk gave me a bit of the picture of women’s lives and struggles during the war, something that not yet a common topic in literature.
Buku ini sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia dengan judul Air Susu Ibu oleh Windy Ariestanti, diterbitkan oleh Penerbit Spring. Salah satu buku terbaik yang pernah kubaca tahun ini.
rororollinginthedeep's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wretchedtheo's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A piercingly tender examination of womanhood under a totalitarian regime.
amysou0204's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved that this book was written in the points of view of both the mother and her daughter, alternating between both at each "chapter". This revealed a very emotional side of communist Latvia where even though people could have "normal" lives and be a successful doctor, they could still feel imprisoned and trapped. The relationship between the mother and her daughter is also very interesting as you can see the dynamics of what such a relationship might look like when a mother does not have "maternal instincts" from the start. The story was very sad though but it was a very nice read as I felt like I really got to know the characters deeply and always craved to know more about them and their lives and couldn't put the boom down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Abortion
namakurhea's review against another edition
4.0
If you’re looking to read Latvian literature, this is the one!! ✨, When I first saw the cover I thought: oh boy this seems like a heavy, dark, and brooding read 😅 BUT to my surprise, it actually is full of hope. There is a LOT of talk about freedom, of making one’s own way even when the situation is less than ideal.
The story itself is told through a first person point of view of the two main characters: the daughter and the mother. Both were born at a time where Latvia was going through a birth of its own: first as a country under Soviet rule, second as a reborn sovereign country. In such volatile conditions, how does one hold on to hope? This is just one of the questions the story attempt to address.
Other themes that stood out are mental illness and parent-child relationships. I read this book right after I finished my books on inner child and attachments and daaaamnnn…the stuff covered in the book are high risk factors for a child. It is a very intimate book and definitely worth finishing in one sitting.
Oh! Lastly this is also our book of choice for March buddy read session! We will be meeting up in South Jakarta and we’ve got jackets! DM me if you wanna join.
The story itself is told through a first person point of view of the two main characters: the daughter and the mother. Both were born at a time where Latvia was going through a birth of its own: first as a country under Soviet rule, second as a reborn sovereign country. In such volatile conditions, how does one hold on to hope? This is just one of the questions the story attempt to address.
Other themes that stood out are mental illness and parent-child relationships. I read this book right after I finished my books on inner child and attachments and daaaamnnn…the stuff covered in the book are high risk factors for a child. It is a very intimate book and definitely worth finishing in one sitting.
Oh! Lastly this is also our book of choice for March buddy read session! We will be meeting up in South Jakarta and we’ve got jackets! DM me if you wanna join.