Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Secondhand-Zeit: Leben auf den Trümmern des Sozialismus by Svetlana Alexiévich, Swetlana Alexijewitsch

11 reviews

skitch41's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

The fall of the Soviet Union is a watershed moment in the history of the 20th century and is often viewed by the West as a triumphant moment.  But what about the people of the Soviet Union who lived through it?  Svetlana Alexievich attempts to gives voice to the ordinary Russians and people living under the Soviets in this book and, many times, offers compelling oral testimony about what the end of communism looked like on the inside, but too often is unbearably slow and lacking in any meaningful context to help a Western reader orient themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Antisemitism