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joaniemaloney's review against another edition
5.0
What a fascinating memoir.
As Anya Von Bremzen and her mother attempt to cook dishes to represent each decade of the past century of Soviet history, they rekindle more than mere feasts but mountains of memories. Both touching and painful, the reader is taken on a journey through the generations of stories in this family, from the last Czar to present-day Putin, connected through food. It's a thread powerful enough to raise or topple leaders, change the course of history with how hunger is managed in the nation.
It's really more than just a memoir or a cookbook. Every recipe, every food, every drink, described in here is intertwined with a part of history, a part of culture, and a part of Anya's family history. There's a great sense of familiarity somehow: Naum's boisterous personality and his luck, Sergei's struggle to stay committed, Larisa's toska, to name a few - and I found myself caring very much about her family. These individuals are voices that ring loud and clear, full of personality and life through the generations. Just as incredible was to see historical almost larger-than-life characters through the food lens: what they ate, what they banned or allowed citizens to eat, what was available, how tastes changed over the years and through the different regimes, how interior and exterior influences molded the diet, etc.
It's such a delicate balance to have all these ingredients without making a mess of it all - either stray too far into family history without providing historical context for those unfamiliar or cover only the history like a dry textbook - and this book has achieved it. It isn't all heartbreak and terror, all fear and propaganda, as told in these stories - as difficult as life could be, there was joy, love and humour to be found. And oh, what humour indeed.
To try a newly learned comparison (and despite not having tried these dishes yet but they sound marvelous), this book was as sensational as Larisa's awe-inspiring kulebiaka combined with Sergei's uber-borshch.
A masterpiece.
As Anya Von Bremzen and her mother attempt to cook dishes to represent each decade of the past century of Soviet history, they rekindle more than mere feasts but mountains of memories. Both touching and painful, the reader is taken on a journey through the generations of stories in this family, from the last Czar to present-day Putin, connected through food. It's a thread powerful enough to raise or topple leaders, change the course of history with how hunger is managed in the nation.
It's really more than just a memoir or a cookbook. Every recipe, every food, every drink, described in here is intertwined with a part of history, a part of culture, and a part of Anya's family history. There's a great sense of familiarity somehow: Naum's boisterous personality and his luck, Sergei's struggle to stay committed, Larisa's toska, to name a few - and I found myself caring very much about her family. These individuals are voices that ring loud and clear, full of personality and life through the generations. Just as incredible was to see historical almost larger-than-life characters through the food lens: what they ate, what they banned or allowed citizens to eat, what was available, how tastes changed over the years and through the different regimes, how interior and exterior influences molded the diet, etc.
It's such a delicate balance to have all these ingredients without making a mess of it all - either stray too far into family history without providing historical context for those unfamiliar or cover only the history like a dry textbook - and this book has achieved it. It isn't all heartbreak and terror, all fear and propaganda, as told in these stories - as difficult as life could be, there was joy, love and humour to be found. And oh, what humour indeed.
To try a newly learned comparison (and despite not having tried these dishes yet but they sound marvelous), this book was as sensational as Larisa's awe-inspiring kulebiaka combined with Sergei's uber-borshch.
A masterpiece.
goldenpath69's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
wendoxford's review against another edition
3.0
A foodie memoir it ain't...It is, rather, a mix of a very personal view into several decades of family living under communism, Soviet then Russian life and the place of food as a citizen then emigre. Whilst it was endlessly fascinating, rich in curios of interest, I found the idiosyncratic writing style difficult. I wanted to hear both more about the eyewitness life in Moscow as well as the food culture but not in the format it was presented.
What I loved was the references to the communist bible "The Book of Tasty & Healthy Food" which changed its content dependent on leader, so Jewish recipes were published, only to be removed in the next edition. Likewise the ethnic food at the farther reaches of the state's "empire"
What I loved was the references to the communist bible "The Book of Tasty & Healthy Food" which changed its content dependent on leader, so Jewish recipes were published, only to be removed in the next edition. Likewise the ethnic food at the farther reaches of the state's "empire"
kristennd's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really perfect balance of food writing and 20th century history. Stunningly depressing in places, no matter how aware you think you were of the suffering in the Soviet Union at pretty much any point. But the author is feisty, even as a child, so it never gets too bleak.
And I actually intend to try some of the recipes, which usually doesn't happen.
And I actually intend to try some of the recipes, which usually doesn't happen.
genia_sh95's review against another edition
4.0
הספר מספר על תולדות ברית המועצות, מתחילתה ועד סופה,ובנוסף על התקופה שאחרי. כל זאת עם סיפורים של משפחתה של אניה (המחברת) לאורך התקופות הנ"ל.
הספר מרתק אך עמוס בפרטים כך שיצאתי בתחושה שלא את כל תוכנו הצלחתי להכיל.
לא הרגשתי שהספר נגע במאכלים רבים וזה היה יותר משהו בנוסף לעיקר הספר. עם זאת, גם חלק זה היה מעניין. בסוף הספר מצורפים מתכונים של המאכלים המרכזיים שהוזכרו
למדתי המון על ההיסטוריה של האדמה עליה נולדתי ומשפחתי חיה.
הספר מרתק אך עמוס בפרטים כך שיצאתי בתחושה שלא את כל תוכנו הצלחתי להכיל.
לא הרגשתי שהספר נגע במאכלים רבים וזה היה יותר משהו בנוסף לעיקר הספר. עם זאת, גם חלק זה היה מעניין. בסוף הספר מצורפים מתכונים של המאכלים המרכזיים שהוזכרו
למדתי המון על ההיסטוריה של האדמה עליה נולדתי ומשפחתי חיה.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
I remember reading somewhere that many people use communist symbols because they look cool and how that's pretty insensitive to people who were crushed by it.
I think this book has the same soul of that, but actually by a citizen. The USSR sounds cool from afar, but it isn't. Is any political ideology good, though?
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under Communism, it's the other way around and all that.
This book was boring at first, not even good on an emotional level. However, I was hooked by the halfway point. It is quite emotional and personal, but also a history through an individual's eye.
I remember reading somewhere that many people use communist symbols because they look cool and how that's pretty insensitive to people who were crushed by it.
I think this book has the same soul of that, but actually by a citizen. The USSR sounds cool from afar, but it isn't. Is any political ideology good, though?
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under Communism, it's the other way around and all that.
This book was boring at first, not even good on an emotional level. However, I was hooked by the halfway point. It is quite emotional and personal, but also a history through an individual's eye.
elsanore's review against another edition
2.0
I know very little about Russian history, and that made this book incredibly hard to read. I could not connect with the densely written prose. I will remember the descriptions of whloe fish beaten until the skin comes off in one piece, the Soviet mayonnaise and its ubiquitous jars, and copious use of eggs in Rissian cuisine.
lpfnuer's review against another edition
5.0
Such a fantastic and nostalgic feeling reading about Soviet Life through food. I would recommend thus to everyone, ESPECIALLY if you grew up in Russia and moved away.
in2reading's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a combination memoir, political treatise and food meditation. I enjoyed the part about her childhood in the USSR and the culture shock when she and her mother emigrated to the US. But I found much of the rest a little confusing and not as compelling.
piratkatt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5