Cement a Novel (Paperback)

~ Fv Gladkov (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Written in the 1920s, this novel, a pioneer in portraying the sociological effects of Communism, examines family life after the sexes are suddenly equal in the labor force of the local cement factory.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ungar Pub Co (June 1960)
• ISBN-10: 0804461783
• ISBN-13: 978-0804461788
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #799,869 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, love, and Bolshevism, February 19, 2001

By	abby schrader "abbyschrad" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cement (European Classics) (Paperback)

The 1920s was a great decade for Soviet literature: the works published during this era are thematically- and ideologically-diverse. Yes, there are better-written novels that came out during this period. Nevertheless, Gladkov's Cement is under-rated. I find it fun to read and re-read (which is critical, since I end up teaching it a lot) and it's definitively one of the best vehicles for getting at the tensions that plagued the Bolsheviks in the early years. Pairing this with Abram Room's film, Bed and Sofa, is a great way to address questions of gender in the early Soviet Union.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cement: A Reminder of a Lost World, June 8, 2009

By	Alt Mayo "Alt" (Lancaster, Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cement (European Classics) (Paperback)

"Cement" is a reminder of time when radical socialism seemed possible. We now know that Stalinism was to come down upon the Russian Revolution. But the Bolsheviks did not know what was coming until the true nature of the future bureaucratic state rolled over them in the late 1920's. "Cement" is not a great work of literature, but it is a valuable artifact from the the years before the Five Year Plans and the GULAG crushed naive idealism in Russia.

7 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please shoot this old war horse, March 19, 2003

By	M. A Newman (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cement (European Classics) (Paperback)

It is my sincere hope that people interested in Russian literature are no longer forced to read this awful book. When I was in school, during the Cold War period, I could see some usefulness. Socialist Realism was the approved creative style in Russia and one could not come away from reading 20th century literature and think that everything was as well-writen as Bulgakov's Master and Margarita and Zamyatin's We. Yes, in order to understand the Soviet mind one had to read awful books like "Virgin Soil Upturned (proving that any hack can win a Nobel Prize) by Sholokhov, How Steel Was Tempered and yes, Cement.

When we were reading this book, and I have read it twice, there was an attempt to show in the example of the book's communist party heroine, that working women cannot have it all. Well quite frankly, the reason this heroine is unable to find love and happiness is because she is supporting the creation of a joyless utopia where no one will ever be allowed to be really happy.