2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Than Bulgaria, January 24, 2011
This review is from: Dreams and Shadows (Paperback)
Here is a great opening paragraph: "At the end of the eighties, a world that was supposed to last forever came crashing down, leaving people stunned by its sudden and complete disintegration. Its rotten foundation had finally faltered." That world was the author's childhood Bulgaria under the Communist regime. While some of us may remember the historic occasion (Nov 10, 1989) from a distant perspective, this incredible autobiography lets us live the oppression that preceded it. And who better to be our guide?--"Perhaps it is because I left, everything stopped and remained frozen in time. During the few years after leaving the country, when I was neither here nor there, I often dwelled on my past."
But this is more than a trip back to the old neighborhood. It is incredibly sad and at the same time beautiful. Here Radka Yakimov describes the Russians entering Bulgaria toward the end of World War II: "Laughter and male voices penetrated our barn-house walls. A series of loud bangs shook the door. Father jumped on his feet; Mother grabbed the windowsill as though to go over to it. Somebody was shouting persistently in Russian: 'Open the door!' Father threw himself against the wall and started shouting like a mad man; 'Woman, give me the gun! Where is my gun? Give it to me, woman.' Suddenly all went quiet outside. A short conversation in subdued voices followed, and shortly the only sound heard outside was a shuffling feet... In the morning, all was quiet in the yard. The neighbors were moving about their business, as usual, though women kept throwing surreptitious glances toward the shack where the retarded girl lived. She had been heard screaming throughout the night. Finally, someone went to check on her. The door was ajar; the place was empty. She was nowhere to be seen."
The title, however appropriate, is weak and the cover, grainy black and white. As a girl Radka kept a diary and some entries are included. As a source this must have been invaluable, but the actual entries are a mixed blessing. They give us a feeling for the time and some reveal the importance of little things that would ordinarily be forgotten, but they lack the focus and polish of her adult style and the intensity, poignancy and drama Radka Yakimov delivers in the rest of her narrative. These are minor quibbles in light of an incredible story. If this author had not written this book the human cost of the Communist system might never be known to us today. How much all of us have at stake, how easily it can be lost. Any readers would welcome this depth of detail about members of their families who have since died. Think of the richness the author's daughter must feel to have this history. Short of our receiving a gift like that, "Dreams and Shadows" almost feels like a substitute for our own missing genealogy. When the black and white gallery of her family pictures appear, we look through them to put faces with the now familiar names as if they were our own distant relatives.
Toward the end of the book the author describes leaving her homeland for the West: "They were getting smaller and smaller, receding into the city's background like a pantomime frozen in time; heads turned in the direction of the vanishing train that was taking me away, from them, from everything I had ever know." Can you imagine what that must have felt like?
At one point, in the seventies, I was turned away from the Bulgarian border (by then open to Americans) by a guard pointing a machine gun at me, my wife and our baby because my passport had been issued when I was in the army. That kind of political paranoia didn't make sense at the time. After reading this book, I understand.
-John Lehman, Rosebud Book Reviews.com
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Vivid Portrait of Bulgaria and Life Behind the Iron Curtain, November 4, 2010
This review is from: Dreams and Shadows (Paperback)
Although this is primarily a memoir about growing up in Bulgaria under Communist rule, Yakimov is old enough to remember what Bulgaria was like before it. As a child, she witnessed the monarchy and the bombing of Sofia during World War II. She saw the rapid changes the country experienced first through war, then a short period of starting to return to normal life, then the takeover of the Communist regime which totally changed her family's life. She therefore has a solid basis for comparison and is more aware of all the myriad ways that Communism affected everyday life, unlike younger writers who were born during the Communist era and knew no other way of living.
The book gives us a vivid picture of both Bulgaria - its natural setting, village life and city life, the music, foods, traditional holiday celebrations, etc. - and life under the Communist regime.
Radka's father came from a wealthy family and was highly educated (a lawyer.) This put him at the bottom of the Communist food chain to begin with, and to make matters worse, he refused to join the Communist Party. As a result, he was disbarred from practicing law, and Radka's parents spent the rest of their lives struggling to survive in bitter poverty. Her mother eventually sacrificed her entire inheritance to bribe officials so that Radka could get a tourist visa to leave the country, with the intent that Radka would then defect and never return. She was willing to lose her only child so that Radka could be free. When Radka left for the trip, she and her parents expected never to see one another again. Even writing letters was dangerous, as any correspondence from a Western country was viewed with suspicion and informers were everywhere.
We've heard vague reports of empty shelves in stores and a lack of basic food supplies, but the oppression went far beyond what we could imagine. This book lets you see what it was really like. Before Communism, the family lived in a two-bedroom apartment. After the takeover, the three of them had to move all of their belongings into a single bedroom which would now be their home. Another family was moved into Radka's former bedroom, and yet another into the dining room. In a neighbor's apartment, an elderly woman living alone was assigned a former closet as her home. And everyone was constantly being moved from one residence to another at the whim of Party officials.
Ms. Yakimov also tells us about her family history - her parents' and grandparents' stories, and her extended family. Some family members risked their lives in secret resistance efforts. A cousin's entire family was interred in a notorious labor camp, where some of them were executed. The ones that did survive returned as completely different people, strangers who the family could no longer understand and eventually lost touch with. Her husband's family crossed the border secretly and illegally over the mountains when he was 13. They lived in a refugee camp in Yugoslavia for a year, and were then sent over that border as well, during which crossing 14 of the Bulgarians were killed by guards.
Eventually, Radka and her husband settled in Canada, where her mother was allowed to visit them and their daughter just once. After the fall of Communism, the family was able to go back to Bulgaria for a visit. It was the first time Radka had seen her father in over 20 years. The rules and lifestyle were still very harsh. Radka could not get her visa extended even though her mother was dying (she died 8 days after they left Bulgaria.) Radka never saw her father again, either, as he died soon afterward.
Now the family is able to visit Bulgaria every year and even built a second home there in the village where Radka's mother grew up. There are still problems with things such as shortages and corrupt officials. The Bulgarian people were greatly changed by life under Communism. Once known for their honesty, hard work, and hospitality; they now tend to be hostile, secretive, and suspicious (even of returning Bulgarian natives such as Radka Yakimov) and thievery is rampant. Dreams and Shadows really makes you understand why and empathize with them.
There are some nice black-and-white photos of Radka and her family and friends, which are discussed and explained in the text.
Yakimov writes openly about many things, such as her out-of-wedlock birth, her parents' (especially her father's) emotional deterioration due to the powerlessness of their situation under Communist rule, and her own bouts of depression during that time. But she is reserved about her personal life, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. She mentions one lengthy relationship very briefly in passing, using terms that hint at an intriguing story, but she doesn't tell us anything more. Of course that is her right, but it would make the book even more interesting. I had noticed the complete absence of any romance during her coming-of-age years and it seemed strange, but eventually came to realize that she just doesn't discuss those things.
Radka Yakimov's writing in English is competent and very fluent. She is highly educated, a Professor of Engineering at a Canadian university. Errors in grammar or vocabulary are very rare, but charming when they do occur: "beseeching" for "beseiging", "ineligible" for "illegible", "waddling" for "wading."
I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested either in Bulgaria or in life behind the former Iron Curtain.
(231 pages)
Quotes from Dreams and Shadows:
"Go and never come back. Don't worry about us. We'll be all right. Save yourself. Remember there is no life for you here. An opportunity like that only comes once."
- Radka Yakimov's parents, on the eve of her departure from Bulgaria
"Begging for sympathy in any circumstances strips victimized people of their dignity, but, when the laws made to protect them are deficient and the policies unenlightened, the pressure to gain the understanding of skeptical, often disinterested officials becomes so overwhelming that it can bring the anguish of an already-mistreated soul to the point of saturation."
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