Soviet Laughter, Soviet Tears: An American Couple's Six-Month Adventure in a Ukranian Village [Hardcover]

Christine Dull (Author), Ralph Dull (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To the authors, Ohio farmers, glasnost and perestroika have immediate meaning, as they establish in this memoir of a six-month exchange they arranged privately in 1989 whereby they lived on a collective farm in the Ukraine, while two Ukrainians worked in the U.S. on the Dulls' and a neighboring family's farms. These self-described citizen-diplomats, who previously had made five trips to the Soviet Union with peace groups, emerge here as personable, full of rectitude leavened with pragmatism, at once canny and kind. The kolkhoz , covering 26 square miles with five villages and employing l254, although something of a showplace, was primitive by U.S. standards; the Dulls, though, were supplied with the best available, including a car, which they put to frequent use by traveling to give talks on U.S. farming methods. Extending and receiving friendship, they succeeded in ingratiating themselves with the kolkozniks;readers, too, will enjoy their company and find their observations sharp-witted. Photos.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- In 1989, the authors, an Ohio couple, arranged an exchange between themselves and two Soviet farmers and lived for six months on a collective farm in the Ukraine. This account of their experience is divided into three parts: Christine's chronological journal, accounts of the Soviet farmers in rural America, and Ralph's descriptions of and conclusions about Soviet agriculture. Christine describes both the daily life on the farm and the misunderstandings that can occur between two groups who have preconceived ideas about one another. The Soviet farmers share with the Dulls their interpretations of the political scene as well as stories of their own lives and expectations. While the book demonstrates the differences between Soviet and American life and offers a unique glimpse of a people and a lifestyle seldom described, its greatest asset is that it reaffirms that we live in a world community sharing similar concerns, problems, and above all a common humanity. Once steered to Soviet Laughter, Soviet Tears , teens will enjoy reading it. But share it first with social studies teachers.

Sue Davis, Cedar Falls High School, IA

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Stillmore Pr; 1St Edition edition (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962803863
• ISBN-13: 978-0962803864
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,429,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Travel > Europe > Belarus & Ukraine

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