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A review by dumbunny
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya von Bremzen
4.0
I purchased this book on a whim from Powell's Bookstore in Portland. It was a staff recommendation, and something about it was so odd, but at the same time so intriguing, that I felt compelled to read it. In summary, overall it was a great book, that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would recommend.
The book is not a cookbook, though there are recipes at the end. It is a book about food, and how food was used by the Soviet Union to influence people and reshape society after the Bolshevik revolution. The book tells the story of the author, Anya Von Bremzen's family, from her Great-Grandparents generation, up to her life as both a young child in the USSR and ultimately to the US and beyond, exploring food and it's influence. It explores the grand cuisine of the Czarist era, the collective eating establishments established by Lenin, the Stalinist food production and quota systems, all the way up through Gorbachev and the collapse of the USSR, with follow up into the Putin's Russia. It was an interesting exploration into how food was used to shape society, and at the same time, a very heartfelt story about the suffering Anya and her family went through, and the culinary creations created against incredibly hard odds. The story was both tragedy and comedy; or in other words, very Russian.
My only complaints were more stylistic. I felt it took a few chapters for the book to find its proper footing. In particular, the prologue and Chapter one I felt very disorganized, and it was difficult for me to follow what was going on exactly. That, plus the frequent use of untranslated Russian, made it difficult to follow. From Chapter 2 onwards, the book really hit its stride, until the end, which was highly politically. Granted, the policies of past Soviet leaders was discussed throughout the book. In the last few chapters, though, the focus is on Gorbachov and Putin, both figures who are alive today, and because the author was alive for both of these leaders, the discussion became less objective and much more personal.
Still, an outstanding, well written book, that I would recommend.
The book is not a cookbook, though there are recipes at the end. It is a book about food, and how food was used by the Soviet Union to influence people and reshape society after the Bolshevik revolution. The book tells the story of the author, Anya Von Bremzen's family, from her Great-Grandparents generation, up to her life as both a young child in the USSR and ultimately to the US and beyond, exploring food and it's influence. It explores the grand cuisine of the Czarist era, the collective eating establishments established by Lenin, the Stalinist food production and quota systems, all the way up through Gorbachev and the collapse of the USSR, with follow up into the Putin's Russia. It was an interesting exploration into how food was used to shape society, and at the same time, a very heartfelt story about the suffering Anya and her family went through, and the culinary creations created against incredibly hard odds. The story was both tragedy and comedy; or in other words, very Russian.
My only complaints were more stylistic. I felt it took a few chapters for the book to find its proper footing. In particular, the prologue and Chapter one I felt very disorganized, and it was difficult for me to follow what was going on exactly. That, plus the frequent use of untranslated Russian, made it difficult to follow. From Chapter 2 onwards, the book really hit its stride, until the end, which was highly politically. Granted, the policies of past Soviet leaders was discussed throughout the book. In the last few chapters, though, the focus is on Gorbachov and Putin, both figures who are alive today, and because the author was alive for both of these leaders, the discussion became less objective and much more personal.
Still, an outstanding, well written book, that I would recommend.