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carkid2's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Life changing, educational, and entertaining. I absolutely recommend this book for anyone interested in politics, history, religious studies, sociology, or Russia. So eloquently written and personable yet informative. The book claims to be about a single building in Russia during Soviet Russias rise and fall. It’s so so much more than that. His theories are remarkable tiring together the things you’re about to read or just read, forcing you to see the bigger picture. He allows you to tie the Russian revolution to everything from revolutionary France, nazi germany, and apocalyptic Christianity. He brings religion, economic theory, and politics together to show you their lack of differences. The book also helps to explain why these major shifts in culture happen in the first place and why they last or end early. Absolutely amazing. One of the best books ever have ever read!!
kingarooski's review
5.0
"Revolutions do not devour their children: revolutions like all millenarian experiments, are devoured by the children of the revolutionaries. The Bolsheviks, who did not fear the past and employed God-fearing peasant nannies to bring up their children, were particularly proficient in creating their own gravediggers."
A dense, but very readable book on the rise and fall of Communism in Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed an insight into the country which dominated my own for so many years. There are times when this book reads like a novel with a cast of thousands and the only negative about this book for me was the inclusion of so very many long quotes and the detailed re-telling of books written by and for the Bolsheviks.
A dense, but very readable book on the rise and fall of Communism in Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed an insight into the country which dominated my own for so many years. There are times when this book reads like a novel with a cast of thousands and the only negative about this book for me was the inclusion of so very many long quotes and the detailed re-telling of books written by and for the Bolsheviks.
yurguis's review
5.0
Amazing. Incredible in its breadth, depth, and breathtaking relevance. Analytically brilliant & historically compassionate. A luminous source of knowledge.
dbstandsfor's review
3.0
Infuriating to read-- so repetitive, needlessly echoing phrases and explanations constantly. Could definitely have done without the long explanations of novels and plays, episodes from the bible, etc. But still fascinating and really difficult to put down.
marisbest2's review against another edition
5.0
This book was fascinating and deep. I know next to nothing about communism and bolshevism or Soviet history, but this was a fascinating deep analysis and very detailed. Its biggest flaw is its thesis that Bolshevism was a millinarian cult and it ends with the question of why Bolshevism was a failed millinarian cult. The obvious answer should be that it wasn't just a millinarian cult...
Nonetheless, the book and the detail and the writing were all excellent. The analysis was excellent as well, if not quite accurate in the historical sense then still meaningful in the literary sense
Nonetheless, the book and the detail and the writing were all excellent. The analysis was excellent as well, if not quite accurate in the historical sense then still meaningful in the literary sense
edulaia's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Even though the book is very long especially as an audiobook (43h!) it was interesting to listen to, and very nicely read. I would not say that I got every detail (and there are so many of them) but I now have a better knowledge about the Russian Revolution and the people who build it. History is made by people, and this book highlights that.
grete_rachel_howland's review
4.0
A beautiful balance between informative and moving, critical and sympathetic, primary sources and smart, humane analysis. This book is a commitment, but it goes faster (and more smoothly) than you'd think. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of the main players, but Slezkine re-introduces people frequently. I was especially intrigued by his dissection of the Revolution & Soviet Union vis a vis millenial religions (a comparison that worked well for me as a person raised in conservative/evangelical Christianity), and I thought the inclusion of so many photos from the period made what could have easily been a dry, dense narrative into a history of real, tragic lives.
booksaremyjam's review
It is totally disingenuous to ping this book as "read," but I think I deserve credit for the limping I was able to do.
The House of Government was name-dropped in an article I was reading. After skimming a book jacket that promised "A vivid account of the personal and public lives of Bolshevik true believers... [the] conversion to Communism and... children's loss of faith and the fall of the Soviet Union," I was on board, and reserved it from our newly re-opened library. I don't know much about Russian history; now's a good as time as any to learn.
My first shock was being handed a book so thick you could easily concuss someone with it. I hadn't looked at the page count, and so wasn't expecting such a magnum opus, despite a comparison to Tolstoy that that same book jacket had made.
Then I opened it.
The first part was all about geography and societal set-up. It reminded me of Victor Hugo; you want to get to the meat of the story, but he just wants to tell you about flying buttresses for 20 pages. However, I appreciated that Yuri Slezkine wanted to paint a rich picture of the living conditions pre-revolution, so my eyes marched forward.
The second part was entirely about religion. I had absolutely 0 interest in this, and blatantly skipped that part.
The third part started to get into what I would call "the good stuff:" the tsar is overthrown, etc. But Slezkine is writing the driest recounting of history here, and feels the need to provide names and backgrounds for the hundreds of players in the social and political spheres. He also assumes a certain level of background knowledge on the part of his readers, which is laughable when you remember he spent 50 pages on fucking Christianity. I couldn't do it. Life is too damn short. I returned the book to the library.
I am positive that this book is a banger for some people. I know, for instance, that the 1K+ paged book The Brontes isn't devoured by others like it was by me. But, unfortunately, I'm just not enough of a Russian history nerd to have the pre-requisites to follow this story, nor do I have the patience to slog through the type of minutia in which Slezkine seems to excel. This book is written for some one(s) out there... but it ain't me, babe.
The House of Government was name-dropped in an article I was reading. After skimming a book jacket that promised "A vivid account of the personal and public lives of Bolshevik true believers... [the] conversion to Communism and... children's loss of faith and the fall of the Soviet Union," I was on board, and reserved it from our newly re-opened library. I don't know much about Russian history; now's a good as time as any to learn.
My first shock was being handed a book so thick you could easily concuss someone with it. I hadn't looked at the page count, and so wasn't expecting such a magnum opus, despite a comparison to Tolstoy that that same book jacket had made.
Then I opened it.
The first part was all about geography and societal set-up. It reminded me of Victor Hugo; you want to get to the meat of the story, but he just wants to tell you about flying buttresses for 20 pages. However, I appreciated that Yuri Slezkine wanted to paint a rich picture of the living conditions pre-revolution, so my eyes marched forward.
The second part was entirely about religion. I had absolutely 0 interest in this, and blatantly skipped that part.
The third part started to get into what I would call "the good stuff:" the tsar is overthrown, etc. But Slezkine is writing the driest recounting of history here, and feels the need to provide names and backgrounds for the hundreds of players in the social and political spheres. He also assumes a certain level of background knowledge on the part of his readers, which is laughable when you remember he spent 50 pages on fucking Christianity. I couldn't do it. Life is too damn short. I returned the book to the library.
I am positive that this book is a banger for some people. I know, for instance, that the 1K+ paged book The Brontes isn't devoured by others like it was by me. But, unfortunately, I'm just not enough of a Russian history nerd to have the pre-requisites to follow this story, nor do I have the patience to slog through the type of minutia in which Slezkine seems to excel. This book is written for some one(s) out there... but it ain't me, babe.