Customer Reviews

Vodka, Tears, and Lenin's Angel: My Adventures in the Wild and Woolly Former Soviet Union

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

... I have to agree that this book doesn't say much about Russia. It's kinda fun, in its own way, but the coverage of some of the major world events of the 1990s is so superficial as to leave the reader wondering if the author really understands the importance of what was happening in Russia. Stories about taxi drivers and neighbors don't really tell you much about anything, and even something that could have been fun and interesting like the interview with Lee Harvey Oswald's wife doesn't deliver the way it should. ...

What's good about this book? It's a fast read, it isn't difficult to understand, even without a basic understanding of Russia. But, that's about it. There are so many better books about this period out these days, so I can't recommend this one.

First, let me say this is a good book about Russia, one that I'd recommend to anyone travelling there. Gould writes with wit and humour and she certainly had her share of interesting experiences in the FSU. Nevertheless, while reading it, I found myself smiling cynically on occasion. Gould constantly talks about how nice people were to her (how one gave her a ride, how another cooked for her, how another offered her use of an apartment,etcetera, etcetera). Now, I have no doubt that some of this was due to traditional hospitality and curiosity about the foreigner that many Russians have. But in the case of the men, a lot of the "niceness" must have had to do with the fact that the author --as her photograph on the front cover of the book makes clear-- is an extremely beautiful young woman. Let's face it, mafiyah,"biznesmen" and what Gould calls "young Ivy League gangsters" are not in the habit of telling journalists their secrets because they believe in freedom of the press. However, they might try to impress someone they saw as beautiful, exotic, and rich (at least in Russian eyes). Now, none of this detracts from the book except that I think that the anecdotes within might give some people a false sense of security. People like Gould (who could pass for Sandra Bullock's kid sister) may not be aware of it or like it, but they are going to have an easier time of it in a place like Russia than someone who looks like one of Roseanne Arnold's family. If you keep that in mind, it's worth the twenty three dollars to read.

This book was about the author's journey, or perhaps, adventure in Russia. Instead of simply reporting what was on the surface, she digged deep & managed to give us, readers an insight of what Russia was all about. She talked about everyday Russians that had fallen victims to the term 'democracy', that Westerners have already taken for granted. The post communist Russia was filled with abandoned street kids, young and rich mafias that worked hand-in-hand with local officials and who wouldn't know if they are going to live the next day, Russians that were stranded in far away outposts as inflation had simply eroded their life-time savings, prisoners that were still being held despite enterpreneurship that put them in jail at the first place is deemed a legal activity now, spies. Due to so much uncertainties, some Russians preferred to revert to the old Communist system when they wouldn't have to worry about finding a roof over their heads, and food on their plates. As the old story goes, someone has to be blamed & promises would be made (even though at times, promises would be far-fetched but still, the public bought them), & thus, the local politicians swept themselves to power (namely, someone like Zhirinovsky, Yeltsin). It was quite interesting to know that whilst Gorbachev was revered in Western countries, he was highly despised in Russia for breaking the Great Russia into pieces. The author also sneaked into hot spots such as Georgia; Checnya, investigating about the disappearance of Fred Cuny of the Open Society Institute (OSI) supposely fronted by George Soros but it was rumoured to be a cover for US involvement in Russia applying the divide and rule strategy to keep Russia's power at bay. To conclude, Russia was a huge melting pot with a tendency of extremity. In a way, the author was drawn to the country in its pursuit of good but evil obviously came as part of the package. Overall, the book was full of intrigues & I couldn't help myself but read it voraciously till the very end. B&W pictures and a map of Russia & its neighbouring countries were bonuses. Highly recommended.

Gould has written a passable account of life as a Western journalist in the Former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, this take on Russia sort of narrows the potential reading audience. Nevertheless, some might find it a useful guide to what is possible when you persevere.

This book is shallow, self-serving and badly written. The writing style is reminiscent of high school journalism and the author offers very little in the way of analysis. Her descriptions of post-Communist Russia are often accurate, but melodramatic and lacking in depth or introspection. Her description of Zhirinovsky is painfully long:... Finally, though Gould claims to be fluent in Russian (contrary to the testimony of her Moscow Times colleagues), her book contains numerous transliteration errors, a sloppy oversight for which St. Martin's Press must share the blame. I do not recommend this book.

Author spoke bad to no Russian and hung around gleaning her 'wisdom' about the country from the likes of english-speaking cab drivers. the worst and most tiresome crutch of a linguistic naif in a foreign country is to look for local color from a cab driver. Plenty of fluent Russianists wrote during this era; seek them out instead.

This is the true story of this journalist's experience in the former Soviet Union between 1992 and 1995. At that time she was just 24 years old and a recent graduate of Columbia school of Journalism. A Canadian citizen, she didn't know how to speak Russian and had no job waiting for her.

She did get work though, writing for some English editions of Russian papers and freelancing for The Village Voice. the San Francisco Chronicle and the Toronto Star, and even did a prestigious Playboy interview with Vladimer Zhironovsky who was campaigning against Boris Yeltzen at the time.

We see Russia through the eyes of this young woman, feel its corruption, contradictions and dangers. We travel with her in private cars and taxicabs to gangster nightclubs and private parties. We move with her into a succession of apartments, taste the vodka, meet the men who want to date her, and share the adventure of a young woman in the wild and wooly wilderness of the new Russia. We sail down the Volga, visit Siberia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Chechnya. We feel the danger and the eat the foods, and meet a wide variety of people.

Ms. Gould is at her best when describing her own experiences. However, when she goes into Russian history and tries to analyze some of the politics, she seems out of her league. I found it hard to follow these parts and could not absorb it all. However, my intention was not to learn everything about Russia in one sitting. Instead, I enjoyed the experience of joining her on her own personal adventures, which, admittedly were from a young pretty Western woman's point of view. Her observations were good but were not quite dynamic enough and even though I enjoyed the book I don't know how much I really learned about Russia.

I'd recommend this book for someone like me, with little or no knowledge of this vast and complicated land. It's like dipping your toes into an ocean and just beginning to feel the water.

This is not a profound book. Though at times comical and endearing it reads a bit like an extended tabloid column. There is a tendency at trivializing the events in the former soyuz (the union) with the aim of offering us a pastiche of civil society there, but there is little effort to go beyond the events. The post-modern title is very telling in that sense.

This book was fantastic--I couldn't put it down. It's funny, moving, intriguing, and well written. I learned so much through the writer's insight into Russian culture, people and politics. Gould's personal viewpoint made me feel as though I were experiencing her travels with her. Her stories cover so many aspects of Russia that you're sure to learn something you didn't know before. I recommend this book very highly.

This was a great book! Each chapter seems to tell its own separate story and yet the author weaves it all together with a captivating narrative. I love books where you can be entertained while learning about new cultures as well as the history and politics of a place. I really enjoyed this book because while I laughed at some stories, cringed at others and overall was totally entralled and caught up in the the author's experiences, I also learned so much about the Soviet Union, its breakdown and how it affected the country and the people. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.