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A review by tiffany_aching99
Riot Days by Maria Alyokhina
5.0
I only have 25 pages left and I am on 175. I want this all to end for Masha, but not for me. Reading this comes at a funny but influential time. Three weeks before I start university. Two weeks ago Masha was banned from flying out of Russia to attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You know what she did? She drove 600 miles to Lithuania via Belarus so she could catch a flight that way. Lithuania is in the European Union, and Belarus doesn't have too tight security. She was determined not to let her fans down. Determined not to let Putin win. The Russian Revolution is happening, right now. She cannot be contained, will always be free. But now she is afraid about what will happen next when she goes home. After learning all this, I am filled with enamour for Masha. And I know I am ridiculously lucky to have spoken to her after the gig in Leeds, even in a brief few moments.
As I read Riot Days, I fear for Masha's safety. I only wish she would stay in the UK. But something about her never left the Russian prisons. She is strong but vulnerable, filled with compassion for others and the spirit of a protester. No matter what happens, she keeps on fighting for human rights and her humanity only grows deeper. She speaks for those who do not have a voice, who have had it taken away or stay silent, living a life in fear. She knows Russia needs her. She made her choice a long time ago. So she will be back. Her bravery is to be reckoned with. In Berezniki she was 1 in 1000, not including all those women who came to the prison before her and were released or fallen, living lives of deprivation and suffering. Always prisoners. Masha is a synonym of activist in my book. To Back Down an Inch is to Give Up a Mile.
If I could buy 100 copies of a book to distribute to friends, family, libraries... Leave around train stations... On buses... Hide them in the city to be found by strangers... This is book would be it. In future I could be in that position. If the copy of Riot Days in your hand was found by you in the second-class compartment when boarding the train from Manchester to Liverpool, and you are reading this review now... That was probably me. And I boarded at Leeds. I could even be sat opposite you right now. Hi 👋
Don't be tempted to return this book, the gift must move.
Some complain about the format of Riot Days and how it is fragmented. I wonder how you would feel, having only your mother's watch to separate one hour from another. This book is a work of art. It is poetic, funny and heart-wrenching. I will never be able to look at pasta the same way again. This book is like a play or screenplay, so if you aren't fortunate enough to have seen it, as reenacted by balaclava clad Pussy Riot in Russian, live, with music for dramatic effect and film as a visual backdrop, it may not come to life for you. Just as a magnificent work of Shakespeare wouldn't. This book is essentially the English subtitles to a story that everyone needs to know, because "what happened in Russia - to me - could happen to anyone anywhere". Reading this book, I smile, remembering one of the most inspiring nights of my life. Anyone can be Pussy Riot.
No more pages. The book is finished now, but the story keeps going on.
Pussy Riot are still touring the UK as we speak. If you only catch one show this, or any year, may it be a Pussy Riot gig.
If you only read one book this, or any year, may it be Riot Days.
We are Pussy Riot.
As I read Riot Days, I fear for Masha's safety. I only wish she would stay in the UK. But something about her never left the Russian prisons. She is strong but vulnerable, filled with compassion for others and the spirit of a protester. No matter what happens, she keeps on fighting for human rights and her humanity only grows deeper. She speaks for those who do not have a voice, who have had it taken away or stay silent, living a life in fear. She knows Russia needs her. She made her choice a long time ago. So she will be back. Her bravery is to be reckoned with. In Berezniki she was 1 in 1000, not including all those women who came to the prison before her and were released or fallen, living lives of deprivation and suffering. Always prisoners. Masha is a synonym of activist in my book. To Back Down an Inch is to Give Up a Mile.
If I could buy 100 copies of a book to distribute to friends, family, libraries... Leave around train stations... On buses... Hide them in the city to be found by strangers... This is book would be it. In future I could be in that position. If the copy of Riot Days in your hand was found by you in the second-class compartment when boarding the train from Manchester to Liverpool, and you are reading this review now... That was probably me. And I boarded at Leeds. I could even be sat opposite you right now. Hi 👋
Don't be tempted to return this book, the gift must move.
Some complain about the format of Riot Days and how it is fragmented. I wonder how you would feel, having only your mother's watch to separate one hour from another. This book is a work of art. It is poetic, funny and heart-wrenching. I will never be able to look at pasta the same way again. This book is like a play or screenplay, so if you aren't fortunate enough to have seen it, as reenacted by balaclava clad Pussy Riot in Russian, live, with music for dramatic effect and film as a visual backdrop, it may not come to life for you. Just as a magnificent work of Shakespeare wouldn't. This book is essentially the English subtitles to a story that everyone needs to know, because "what happened in Russia - to me - could happen to anyone anywhere". Reading this book, I smile, remembering one of the most inspiring nights of my life. Anyone can be Pussy Riot.
No more pages. The book is finished now, but the story keeps going on.
Pussy Riot are still touring the UK as we speak. If you only catch one show this, or any year, may it be a Pussy Riot gig.
If you only read one book this, or any year, may it be Riot Days.
We are Pussy Riot.