The Russian Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Russians (Language - Russian) [Paperback]

Zita D. Dabars (Author), Lilia Vokhmina (Author), Zita Dabars (Author), L. L. Vokhmina (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0844242969 | ISBN-13: 978-0844242965 | Publication Date: March 1995

Fully updated to reflect the rapidly changing cultural climate in today's Russia, The Russian Way is indispensable for understanding the Russian way of life and for communicating with the Russian people. It is not only fascinating but also invaluable to businesspeople, travelers, and students.

Organized alphabetically, the book answers questions such as:

• How do Russians celebrate holidays?
• How do Russians think, do business, and act in their daily lives?
• What do Russians enjoy eating?

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Here's an up to the minute, insider's look at how Russians live and work and how they feel about everything from family to religion to entertainment. Explore The Russian Way of doing things, and you'll uncover a fascinating world imbued with kindness, generosity, superstition, and surprises.

Russian character comes to life as you follow favorite pastimes such as communal baths, the circus, mushroom gathering, and watching television--especially soap operas. View life from the perspective of average Russians ("poor man's caviar" and flea markets) and "new" (rich) Russians (international dining and upscale shops). Historic background, evolving changes, and Russian words and phrases are woven into every chapter.

Find out how Russians feel about advertising (suspicious), clothing (conservative), "gifts" and bribes (necessary), dating (not until college), and appropriate behavior (bring flowers to dinner, always check your coat at the theater, and don't compliment a new baby to avoid the "evil eye"). The Russian Way is brimming with practical and lively facts on:

• Home life, meals, and housing
• Healthcare, education, politics, religion, and professions
• Hotels, dining, shopping, and entertainment
• Language, gestures, literature, and the Russian soul
• The creative community, including controversial artist Tsereteli

This handy guide will help you understand and appreciate Russian way from Arkhangelsk to Vladivostok.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Zita Dabars, Ph.D., is an experienced academic, teacher, and author. She is president of The American Council of Teachers of Russian and has visited Russia more on more than thirty occasions.

Lilia Vokhmina has authored over sixty books and has taught for many years at the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language, Moscow.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 99 pages
• Publisher: Passport Books (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844242969
• ISBN-13: 978-0844242965
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,044,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise introductory guidebook to Russian culture, June 5, 2002

By 

Ray Farmer (Concord, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Russian Way, Second Edition: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Russians (Paperback)

Dabars and Vokhmina have created a thorough, yet concise guidebook, which is geared towards those who plan to travel to the former Soviet Union in the very near future. The stated purpose of this book was to make the Russian culture explainable and believable to the non-Russian reader, and I believe that this goal was accomplished.

I have the 1995 edition of this book and it does contain a disproportionate amount of typographic errors which I found to be a little irritating at times. The authors credited a lot of people in the preface for "proofreading" this book - What were they thinking?

After reading this book, you will be able to answer the following questions:
- Should you give an even number or an odd number of flowers to your Russian friend?
- How do you write a Russian postal address?
- What do a Russian newlywed couple traditionally do after the wedding ceremony?
- What is the "evil eye"?
- How many letters are in the Cyrillic alphabet and how are they different from the Roman alphabet?

Dabars and Vokhmina effectively cover these topics and more in "The Russian Way". The book is very lightweight, only 99 pages long, and thus can serve as excellent reading material while traveling. I think that "The Russian Way" would be an excellent start for any beginning Russophile.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise and informative book, September 21, 2000

By 

Baltic Books "Vic" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Russian Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Russians (Language - Russian) (Paperback)

Writing from her experience, Zita Dabar answers the top queries on cultural mores, social issues communication, and idiosyncracies of Russian society. Additionally she offers great tips for the situations one will confront in their cross-cultural encounters. You could think of this as a "71 of the Best Things to Know About Russian Culture and Life" book. You know-- the kind of thing airline magazines print in those crisp but colorful illustrated travel commentaries ("The Ideal 10 Ways to Spend Three Days..." or "15 Fascinating Facts About...").

Dabar lists each of 71 items indexed numerically, followed by several paragraphs to pages of great material. Don't let the "Top-Ten-ish" approach dissuade you. She obviously has given each one serious thought, telling us they all have been reviewed by Russians and other informed cultural veterans just to be sure she didn't leave out or misstate anything.

While her goal of bringing all of us to "Level III" of cultural awareness might be a bit of a stretch, we can say at least we've made a good start. All in all, it is a really good short volume.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK!, September 9, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Russian Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Russians (Language - Russian) (Paperback)

This an excellent book! It is most useful in educating a person who wishes to learn more about Russian customs and culture. I am currently taking a course in Russian for the second year in a row at my school, and became interested in the book when we used several copies in a lesson. It is very accurate as far as I can tell from my knowledge of Russian culture. This book would be very useful for tourists and travelers to Russia to have. It is overall a very good book and I give it the five-star rating that it deserves.