Customer Reviews

Cultureshock! Russia: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Cultureshock Russia: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Imagine for a moment that you pick up a Culture Shock book for the US. Upon reading you realize that the book largely focuses on Washington D.C. Every example is about either D.C. or some small towns Indiana or Idaho. Other places in the US that would attract equal or greater attention, such as LA or New York, are only briefly mentioned and seem only to serve to show how much greater D.C. really is. The interpretation of history is glossy at best and the words "before the Bush administration" come up as often as city names. The culture and habits represented are interesting and helpful, but the rest of the book is actively biased and frustrating.
That is roughly what you get with the Culture Shock: Russia book. The sections on culture, social norms, views of people groups, habits, etc. were useful and interesting. The rest of the book, however, was infuriating.
My husband and I are moving to St. Petersburg so that he may pursue a Doctorate in Russian History. Coming from that perspective, I would warn anyone who wants a general knowledge of Russia to not get this book.
The first section, history, is glossy and has a strong and obvious bias (it is the Russian bias so in that way it is useful but not for much else). All examples she gave through out the text referenced the 80's and 90's, which have long since passed and if culture in Russia changes as fast as she claims are woefully outdated. The words "before the perestroika" or "life after the perestroika" (a campaign by Mikhail Gorbachev to reform economics and politics) would lead one to believe that she survived a Nazi concentration camp.
In the Settling In section there was a sub heading called Education. The first 2 pages covered K - 12 and how to enroll, what is expected, etc. The next 11 pages were about Moscow State University and how wonderful it and its students are. The author is a professor at MSU and a head of department with an obvious and wearying agenda to push. This probably has very little to do with those reading the book, but she obviously does not care.
Most angering to me however was her true Muscovite attitude of ignoring or downplaying St Petersburg as much as humanly possible. In the culture and travel section there were 5 pages on Moscow and things to see there, even including a mall. There was literally one half of a page on St Petersburg. The Hermitage was briefly named and not described or detailed, though had it been located in Moscow I am sure it would have gotten at least 3 pages. Other museums were praised in Moscow on still another page though it was never mentioned that the Hermitage is one of the biggest and most well rounded art collections in the world and that they have so much art they cannot show it all at once. St Peter and Paul was ignored, the Spilled Blood was ignored, various castles and estates were ignored, and other attraction cities like Novgorod (a beautiful city made in the old Russian fashion) were literally never mentioned once. She did however spend an inordinate amount of time telling readers about the tiny cities and towns, and advising you not visit them unless you speak Russian well.
This is a useful book only where culture is concerned. All of these things make me wonder who her audience is and why she did not just write a guidebook for Moscow. If you know anything about Russia you will be annoyed. If you are traveling to Moscow then the travel info will be useful. If you are going anywhere else at all in Russia I strongly suggest you find another book.

A wonderful insight into Russian culture both historical and current day. All very informative indeed. The best part of all being that it is written by a Russian (not a westerner) and therefore is free of preconceived notions which can colour the Anglo/American perspective of this interesting and very 'unwestern' culture.

While I dont think it is possible to write a book about every aspect of a country's culture, I think this one does give a lot of info in a format that is easy to understand. This book includes some general information about culture and customs but also gives specific examples in a humorous and illustrative way. It is a quick read and does a great job of explaining why things are a certain way while giving good background information.

This book is funny in the meantime perfect before a trip to Russia. After reading it you will appreciate the Russian LACK OF SMILE!

It's one of a number of books which should be read to better understand the culture. Another that I highly recommend, but which is not available on amazon is Jack Vosmerkin - The American. [...]

Putting aside the many typos and grammatical errors in it, this book is a smug and condescending appraisal of the Russian culture. Add to this that many of its "facts" are dead wrong and you end up with a book that is indeed a Culture Shock! I was very disappointed because there is a great need for this type of a guide!!!

For some reason I never received this book. So reason about not haveing the book is stock