Intimacy and Terror: Soviet Diaries of the 1930s [Paperback]

Veronique Garros (Editor), Natalia Korenevskaya (Editor), Thomas Lahusen (Editor), Carol A. Flath (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997

The result of a unique international collaborative investigation by Russian, French, and Swiss scholars into hundreds of private, unpublished diaries found in remote libraries, archives, and family holdings, Intimacy and Terror paints a broad picture of Russian life in the 1930s, the harshest years of Stalin's reign. From ordinary citizens far removed from political turmoil to those actively engaged in political life, Intimacy and Terror brings us the true-life counterparts we remember from classic Russian fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This interesting anthology of 10 Soviet diaries from the 1930s mixes voices of protest and despair with those of people who seemingly accommodated themselves to Stalinist oppression. Lyubov Shaporina, founder of the Puppet Theater, expresses moral outrage at the wave of arrests and mass deportations sweeping Leningrad, mingled with grief at the death of her little daughter three years earlier. Andrei Arzhilovsky, a farmer killed by a firing squad in 1937, offers a scathing critique of the Soviet regime's monstrous crimes in diary excerpts dated 1936-1937. Moscow poet Lev Gornung records literary chitchat with Anna Akhmatova. With self-conscious lyricism, Vladimir Stavsky, editor of the journal Novy mir and general secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers, evokes his inner turmoil but neglects to mention his denunciation of Osip Mandelshtam, which led to the poet's arrest and to his death in a labor camp. Among the other diarists are a struggling mother of four and a Moscow actor who murdered his lover. Garros is former Moscow correspondent for Le Monde; Lahusen, a Slavic professor at Duke; Korenevskaya, a scholar with Progress Publishers in Moscow. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

To make more known of the everyday lives of most Soviet citizens during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s, a group of international scholars collaborated in locating and selecting nine private diaries to publish in this anthology. An introductory chapter chronicles events of 1937 from the government newspaper Izvestiya. The diarists speak for themselves: a traveler to the Soviet Far East, a Moscow poet, a farmer resistant to the regime, a mother and community activist, a party journalist and editor, a mining engineer, a party functionary, a sympathizer of the traditional intelligentsia, and an actor. The accounts span a broad range of experience, class, geography, and point of view?and achieve the editors' aims. This carefully chosen and edited anthology belongs in collections of Soviet history and literature.?Rena Fowler, Humboldt State Univ., Arcata, Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565843983
• ISBN-13: 978-1565843981
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The unthinkable, the unspeakable -- and the mundane, November 19, 1997

By 

Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Intimacy and Terror: Soviet Diaries of the 1930's (Hardcover)

Fascinating, absorbing, upsetting and boring -- these diaries are all of the above.Soviet Russia's not replete with oral histories of the 30's (they didn't have a WPA; they had Stalin), nor with many trustworthy contemporary accounts. They're in here, though. It's heartbreaking to read of everyday annoyances and delights, and to know the fate that was soon to befall many of these diarists. "A Chronicle of the Year 1937" is almost more than I could bear. A sad and good book, well worth reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Plain English translation, April 13, 2011

By 

Sturm und Drang - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intimacy and Terror: Soviet Diaries of the 1930s (Paperback)

The translation is very accurate yet it preserves the original meaning. No fancy words or cliché newspeak, and even a child can understand the meaning of every sentence. I will recommend this book as reading materials for teaching or research on Russian history.