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rooafza's review against another edition
5.0
The rise and fall of cybernetics and the Soviet utopian dream. Fascinating anecdotes about life in post-Stalin USSR and the tantalizing possibilities had the scientist-reformers prevailed over the Party.
kathrinpassig's review against another edition
5.0
(2023 ergänzt) Wieso habe ich zu diesem fantastischen Buch hier drin eigentlich nie was geschrieben? Es ist erstens vom Konzept her sehr gut. Im Buch erklärt eine Figur vorsichtshalber, wie es gemeint ist: Es sind die Geschichten verschiedener Personen, die in anderen Romanen über die Liebe o.ä. miteinander verbunden wären, aber hier ist es die Wirtschaft, die sie verbindet.
"In fact he was having a new idea. He was thinking to himself that an economy told a kind of story, though not the sort you would find in a novel. In this story, many of the major characters would never even meet, yet they would act on each other's lives just as surely as if they jostled for space inside a single house, through the long chains by which value moved about. Tiny decisions in one place could have cascading, giant effects elsewhere; conversely, what most absorbed the conscious attention of the characters - what broke their hearts, what they thought ordered or justified their lives - might have no effect whatsoever, dying away as if it had never happened at all. Yet impersonal forces could have drastically personal consequences, in this story, altering the whole basis on which people hoped and loved and worked. It would be a strange story to hear. At first it would seem to be a buzzing confusion, extending arbitrarily in directions that seemed to have nothing to do with each other. But little by little, if you were patient, its peculiar laws would become plain. In the end it would all make sense. Yes, thought Emil, it would all make sense in the end."
Und es enthält zweitens eine sowohl erklärtechnisch großartige als auch gänsehauterzeugende Szene, in der es darum geht, wie Krebs entsteht (im Körper eines sowjetischen Politikers). This only has to happen once. Schon wieder elf Jahre her, ich muss es unbedingt noch mal lesen.
Die deutsche Übersetzung ist, glaube ich, nicht so gut, ich erinnere mich dunkel an Beschwerden von Leuten, die sie zu lesen versucht haben.
"In fact he was having a new idea. He was thinking to himself that an economy told a kind of story, though not the sort you would find in a novel. In this story, many of the major characters would never even meet, yet they would act on each other's lives just as surely as if they jostled for space inside a single house, through the long chains by which value moved about. Tiny decisions in one place could have cascading, giant effects elsewhere; conversely, what most absorbed the conscious attention of the characters - what broke their hearts, what they thought ordered or justified their lives - might have no effect whatsoever, dying away as if it had never happened at all. Yet impersonal forces could have drastically personal consequences, in this story, altering the whole basis on which people hoped and loved and worked. It would be a strange story to hear. At first it would seem to be a buzzing confusion, extending arbitrarily in directions that seemed to have nothing to do with each other. But little by little, if you were patient, its peculiar laws would become plain. In the end it would all make sense. Yes, thought Emil, it would all make sense in the end."
Und es enthält zweitens eine sowohl erklärtechnisch großartige als auch gänsehauterzeugende Szene, in der es darum geht, wie Krebs entsteht (im Körper eines sowjetischen Politikers). This only has to happen once. Schon wieder elf Jahre her, ich muss es unbedingt noch mal lesen.
Die deutsche Übersetzung ist, glaube ich, nicht so gut, ich erinnere mich dunkel an Beschwerden von Leuten, die sie zu lesen versucht haben.
bechols's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written. Evokes a huge, subtle shift over time from optimism to resignation.
leevoncarbon's review against another edition
4.0
I can still recall a time in the early 1960s when I became aware of the world beyond the little town where I lived. I became fascinated with geography and with learning the names of capitals and residents of far away countries. The growing perception of a Soviet threat was part of my earliest understanding of things. The Cuban missile crisis when I was eleven years old is a vivid memory. So when I read positive reviews of this book about Russian in the late 1950s through 1970, I immediately obtained a copy. Enjoyed every bit of it. His approach to the subject works well - not a novel, not a history, not an historical novel - more like a collection of short stories based on historical records. By personalizing the events in this way, you get a better feel for the initial optimism and swagger in the Khrushchev era along with the constant dissonance between the promise of Communist Party and the realities of daily life.
cmvogt5's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fascinating speculative look at life in the USSR and how smart people though that they could make Communism work. An excellent read, if a little long and dense.
maxstone98's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book oddly compelling. I say oddly because:
-I found the book really compelling on presenting life the soviet union, mostly in the scientific community, in the 1950s. I thought it was really spot on and very convincing that that was exactly how it was. And yet the author is British, not a specialist in the topic, doesn't even speak or read Russian, etc. So I have no particular reason to think it is unusually good about capturing the feel of that moment and place in time. But it sure seems like it does.
-the book jacket has a couple reviewers saying things like "genre of its own" and I feel like that is true even though I can't articulate why it isn't in the genre of historical fiction
That said, I'm giving it 4 stars because it took me 6 weeks to read. Although I was enjoying it, I also never really felt like picking it up and finishing it. A 5 star book I would have felt compelled to keep reading.
The general topic is the portion of the soviet experiment which was trying to optimize the economy to show that properly planned production was superior to the chaos of capitalism. It does a really nice job of conveying the genuine optimism and excitement about the project at first, and then the gradual disillusionment, partly as it isn't working as well but mostly as it is corrupted by political figures. Or at least it powerfully presents that picture, I guess I don't know how accurate the picture is.
Russian novel like, it has a large cast of characters, but a nice index helps one keep them all straight.
-I found the book really compelling on presenting life the soviet union, mostly in the scientific community, in the 1950s. I thought it was really spot on and very convincing that that was exactly how it was. And yet the author is British, not a specialist in the topic, doesn't even speak or read Russian, etc. So I have no particular reason to think it is unusually good about capturing the feel of that moment and place in time. But it sure seems like it does.
-the book jacket has a couple reviewers saying things like "genre of its own" and I feel like that is true even though I can't articulate why it isn't in the genre of historical fiction
That said, I'm giving it 4 stars because it took me 6 weeks to read. Although I was enjoying it, I also never really felt like picking it up and finishing it. A 5 star book I would have felt compelled to keep reading.
The general topic is the portion of the soviet experiment which was trying to optimize the economy to show that properly planned production was superior to the chaos of capitalism. It does a really nice job of conveying the genuine optimism and excitement about the project at first, and then the gradual disillusionment, partly as it isn't working as well but mostly as it is corrupted by political figures. Or at least it powerfully presents that picture, I guess I don't know how accurate the picture is.
Russian novel like, it has a large cast of characters, but a nice index helps one keep them all straight.
nick_latanick's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book better, and I think I might after a second read. The story is constructed in a series of vignettes, spanning the social strata of the USSR, as well as decades. I had trouble following the characters as they reemerged in later chapters, always at first unsure if this is someone new, or if we had met them before. Some of the most interesting characters and plots are left behind unfinished -barely even started- as the narrative arc ploughs ever onward to the next year, and the next plan cycle. Perhaps the book's structure is itself a metaphor for the indifferent churn of a planned economy, but it didn't enhance my enjoyment of reading the book.
That said, the vignettes themselves are each engaging and well written on their own, and now knowing more about how the book is constructed, and what the relationships are between the vignettes, which plots are throughlines and which are deadends, I think a second reading would be less confusing and easier to enjoy.
That said, the vignettes themselves are each engaging and well written on their own, and now knowing more about how the book is constructed, and what the relationships are between the vignettes, which plots are throughlines and which are deadends, I think a second reading would be less confusing and easier to enjoy.
margaret21's review against another edition
5.0
Is this a novel? I've never read a novel though with 60 pages of footnotes. Is this a history book? History books don't usually mix a cast of entirely fictional characters with known figures from history. Spufford himself describes it as a 'half-way house on the borders of fiction'.
It's clever. Each section of the book is prefaced by the relevant section of mid-20th century Russian economic and political history. Each is then succeeeded by a few chapters of, well, vignettes really, in which we meet factory workers, lovers, members of the scientific elite, managers.... With one exception, we never revisit these characters, nor are their stories complete tales. What we are given is a slice from their lives, one which, when read with the others, and with the accompanying history provides a rich and illuminating picture of Russia's planned economy and its effect on day-to-day life.
You'll learn about economics, and politics, but most of all, you'll learn about people, and how by being unpredictable, tired and human they, together with ideologies that were sometimes shortsighted or perverse prevented the realisation of the Great Soviet Dream.
It's clever. Each section of the book is prefaced by the relevant section of mid-20th century Russian economic and political history. Each is then succeeeded by a few chapters of, well, vignettes really, in which we meet factory workers, lovers, members of the scientific elite, managers.... With one exception, we never revisit these characters, nor are their stories complete tales. What we are given is a slice from their lives, one which, when read with the others, and with the accompanying history provides a rich and illuminating picture of Russia's planned economy and its effect on day-to-day life.
You'll learn about economics, and politics, but most of all, you'll learn about people, and how by being unpredictable, tired and human they, together with ideologies that were sometimes shortsighted or perverse prevented the realisation of the Great Soviet Dream.
joaotjesus's review against another edition
4.0
Descrição geral:
“Red Plenty”, abundância vermelha, pode (ou não) ser a história de alguns anos entre as décadas de 50 e 60 do século passado, na União Soviética. O autor, que é o primeiro a admitir que não percebe patavina de russo, através das fontes em inglês (traduzidas ou não) que conseguiu arranjar e de algumas viagens já recentes à ex-União Soviética, construiu uma ideia do que seria viver nesse país numa altura em que o sonho de que uma sociedade comunista era inevitavelmente superior a qualquer outra (em especial, uma capitalista). A partir dessa ideia, Spufford romantiza várias vignettes com personagens fictícios (mas alguns fortemente baseados em pessoas reais). Ao longo de cada vignette são inseridas referências, que depois são explicadas em pormenor em notas de rodapé. O enfâse geral é no plano económico e social, e há um tom de otimismo inicial que acaba por descair em pessimismo e desilusão.
Pontos fortes:
O livro está muito bem escrito e cria histórias vívidas, que transportam o leitor para o mundo que está a ser relatado. É um formato muito original, mas que, na minha opinião, funciona muito bem.
Pontos fracos:
É muito fácil nos esquecermos que estas histórias estão “muito mal contadas”, no sentido em que, uma vez que o autor só teve acesso a um número muito pequeno de fontes, é natural que tenha formado uma ideia muito diferente do que seria a realidade, apesar de consistente com a mesma.
“Red Plenty”, abundância vermelha, pode (ou não) ser a história de alguns anos entre as décadas de 50 e 60 do século passado, na União Soviética. O autor, que é o primeiro a admitir que não percebe patavina de russo, através das fontes em inglês (traduzidas ou não) que conseguiu arranjar e de algumas viagens já recentes à ex-União Soviética, construiu uma ideia do que seria viver nesse país numa altura em que o sonho de que uma sociedade comunista era inevitavelmente superior a qualquer outra (em especial, uma capitalista). A partir dessa ideia, Spufford romantiza várias vignettes com personagens fictícios (mas alguns fortemente baseados em pessoas reais). Ao longo de cada vignette são inseridas referências, que depois são explicadas em pormenor em notas de rodapé. O enfâse geral é no plano económico e social, e há um tom de otimismo inicial que acaba por descair em pessimismo e desilusão.
Pontos fortes:
O livro está muito bem escrito e cria histórias vívidas, que transportam o leitor para o mundo que está a ser relatado. É um formato muito original, mas que, na minha opinião, funciona muito bem.
Pontos fracos:
É muito fácil nos esquecermos que estas histórias estão “muito mal contadas”, no sentido em que, uma vez que o autor só teve acesso a um número muito pequeno de fontes, é natural que tenha formado uma ideia muito diferente do que seria a realidade, apesar de consistente com a mesma.