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jdintr's review against another edition
5.0
Steinbeck's trip to the Soviet Union looks almost miraculous in retrospect, occurring as it did in a window between the end of World War 2 and the onset of full-blown Cold War.
If Steinbeck had tried this book two or three years later, he would have been putting his entire career in jeopardy with every word. Instead, he returned home from Russia and began working on East of Eden.
What is most notable about this book is Steinbeck's clear fascination with working Russians, Ukrainians and Georgians. He celebrates common life. I loved this anecdote from the Ukraine:
Note the rhythm of that last paragraph. It is vintage Steinbeck. I could insert it into any point of The Grapes of Wrath and no one would notice.
Because I read this book ahead of a two-week trip to Georgia, I was particularly interested in Steinbeck's own visit to that country. Reviewing it in the days after I got back, a few observations seem particularly striking.
Steinbeck's description of the tamada or host of the party rings true 70 years later (p 181). "At the end of our toast the wine fairly leaped from the decanters, and everyone at the table stood up, and everyone insisted on touching his glass to the glass of everyone else at the table," Steinbeck writes on p 182, going on to describe the unique songs and dances of his hosts.
He also describes the physical fatigue of party after party after party (supra after supra after supra). He and Capra were stuffed with food when they left--and with impressions:
As much fun as this book was to read ahead of my visit. Returning to the sections on Georgia after my return has been even more delightful. Steinbeck's observations hold up even today, and his lyrical writing is at his transcendent best.
This is the nonfiction writing of an author who still has his fastball--Steinbeck was at the peak of his prose powers here--and one that you should enjoy, too.
If Steinbeck had tried this book two or three years later, he would have been putting his entire career in jeopardy with every word. Instead, he returned home from Russia and began working on East of Eden.
What is most notable about this book is Steinbeck's clear fascination with working Russians, Ukrainians and Georgians. He celebrates common life. I loved this anecdote from the Ukraine:
There was one woman, with an engaging face and a great laugh, whom Capa picked out for a portrait. She was the village wit. She said, "I am not only a great worker, I am twice widowed, and many men are afraid of me now." And she shook a cucumber in the lens of Capa's camera.
And Capa said, "Perhaps you'd like to marry me now?"
She rolled back her head and howled with laughter. "Now look!" she said. "If God had consulted the cucumber before he made man, there would be less unhappy women in the world." The whole field roared with laughter at Capa.
They were lively, friendly people, and they made us taste the cucumbers and the tomatoes for quality. the cucumber is a very important vegetable. It is salted, and the resulting pickles are used all winter. And green tomatoes are salted too, and these are the salads for the people when the cold and the snow come. These, together with cabbages and turnips, are the winter vegetables. And although the women laughed and talked, and called to us, they did not stop working, for this is a good harvest, seventy per cent better than last year, the first really good harvest since 1941, and they have great hopes from it.
Note the rhythm of that last paragraph. It is vintage Steinbeck. I could insert it into any point of The Grapes of Wrath and no one would notice.
Because I read this book ahead of a two-week trip to Georgia, I was particularly interested in Steinbeck's own visit to that country. Reviewing it in the days after I got back, a few observations seem particularly striking.
Steinbeck's description of the tamada or host of the party rings true 70 years later (p 181). "At the end of our toast the wine fairly leaped from the decanters, and everyone at the table stood up, and everyone insisted on touching his glass to the glass of everyone else at the table," Steinbeck writes on p 182, going on to describe the unique songs and dances of his hosts.
He also describes the physical fatigue of party after party after party (supra after supra after supra). He and Capra were stuffed with food when they left--and with impressions:
Just as the body can become flooded, and inattentive to rich food and wines, so that the perception of spices and vintages disappears, so can a mind become drowned with impressions, overwhelmed with scenes, imperceptive of colors and movements. And we were suffering both from overeating, overdrinking, and overseeing" (183).
As much fun as this book was to read ahead of my visit. Returning to the sections on Georgia after my return has been even more delightful. Steinbeck's observations hold up even today, and his lyrical writing is at his transcendent best.
This is the nonfiction writing of an author who still has his fastball--Steinbeck was at the peak of his prose powers here--and one that you should enjoy, too.
karajrapp's review against another edition
3.0
Not Steinbeck at his best, but still worth reading. It gave me a curiosity about this part of the world, and I appreciate his focus on individual people and experiences to help humanize a place so foreign to many. It especially made me want to visit the country of Georgia.
nixueq's review against another edition
4.0
Not particularly insightful as an observation, but a great travelogue and example of the way a story should be treated
josephbdoner's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely beautiful journal written mostly by Steinbeck with crucial additions by Robert Capa in the form of some writing and a good amount of photographs. Steinbeck and Capa are honest both in their love of the Soviet people and their criticisms of the Soviet and American governments. This book provides a wonderful snapshot of life in the USSR in 1948, I cannot recommend it enough.
schenkelberg's review against another edition
3.0
I did not know about this story until I was scrolling though his works on Audible - A Russian Journal is a fine read, and considers a remarkably relevant question that still persists for us today. Who are the Russians, are they people, or are they what the news and media have made them out to be?
While that question could apply with more relevance to other groups in the world, Steinbeck's outline of the problems we have as humans of understanding that people we don't know well are, in fact, still humans is an important work. He explores the question here by actually making a trip to the Soviet Union with his tremendous photographer friend, and the book is meant to be a record, keeping as true as he can, of the experience.
Its far from an example of Steinbeck's greatest works, and I feel I enjoyed it much more as an audiobook than had I sat down to read through it, but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless, and did much to shine a light into parts of the world I had never before considered myself, beyond scanning the news headlines.
While that question could apply with more relevance to other groups in the world, Steinbeck's outline of the problems we have as humans of understanding that people we don't know well are, in fact, still humans is an important work. He explores the question here by actually making a trip to the Soviet Union with his tremendous photographer friend, and the book is meant to be a record, keeping as true as he can, of the experience.
Its far from an example of Steinbeck's greatest works, and I feel I enjoyed it much more as an audiobook than had I sat down to read through it, but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless, and did much to shine a light into parts of the world I had never before considered myself, beyond scanning the news headlines.
tinysp00nz's review against another edition
4.0
3.75_
maravilloso, la ada obsesa con la historia de rusia de primeeo se bachillerato lo ha disfrutado un montón. me ha parecido un retrato de la población muy amable y respetuoso muy bien complentado por las fotos de capa
maravilloso, la ada obsesa con la historia de rusia de primeeo se bachillerato lo ha disfrutado un montón. me ha parecido un retrato de la población muy amable y respetuoso muy bien complentado por las fotos de capa
shannon_jayne1's review
informative
reflective
3.75
Enjoyed reading an author that I enjoy explore a country during an era I’m fascinated by.
sarapalooza's review against another edition
4.0
Such a fascinating look back in time. This harkens back to Ilf and Petrov’s American Road Trip, which was published about ten years earlier. In this novel, Steinbeck and the great Robert Capa head to the Soviet Union to report on their impressions.