Customer Reviews

Quite the Other Way

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I found this book to be excellent! It was the first, but certainly not the last, book that I read by Kaylie Jones. I like not only the image of life in 1980s Russia, but also the description of the lifestyles of 20-somethings. Ms. Jones' characterizations cut across racial, national, and socioeconomic lines. I've read this book literally hundreds of times, and I'm sure that I'll read it hundreds more.

Easily Kaylie Jones' best work. I wonder how much of this book is memoir and how much is fiction.

Anyone who has done a study abroad will relate to Quite The Other Way. This is the first writing I have found that delves into the reverse culture shock one feels upon returning to the United States. She captures the agony of leaving friends, but to have left friends in USSR was worse, because there was always the uncertainty of whether or not she would ever see them again.

It was even better because we knew how the Soviet Union would eventually turn out. What a privelege for Jones to have been able to study and live in the USSR. Makes me wish I had gone before it changed so much.

I wondered why she put up with Rita as long as she did. Was it politeness? Or did she not want to give up even one Russian friend?

The book ended just where it should have, with her return home. I wondered what happened to her relationship and I was glad she wouldn't be alone. Left me with questions, which I think is a very satisfying ending.

Great book. I am enjoying watching Kaylie Jones develop as an author. She is a great story teller, and I believe her greatest work is yet to come.

This book is by Kaylie Jones, the daughter of the great WWII and beyond novelist James Jones. It centers on a student trip to Russia. Long out of print but masterfully written, it gives a great look at and insight regarding pre-Glasnost Russia and its cultures and mores. Kaylie also wrote "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries"(film version w/Kris Kristofferson) and her latest "Lies My Mother Never Told Me." She's a terrifically under-appreciated writer and she's also a writer's writer. Also has written several other books and is an MFA writing teacher.