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Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47119 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
4/5 wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
I love JS but never read this. What’d you think?
I think it totally depends on how interested you are in a description of the Russian people in 1947. In the last two years I've read a decent amount of Russian fiction and historical accounts of Russia from revolution to present, so I was curious of the picture Steinbeck would paint of it. The book itself is short, just over 200 pages, but probably could have easily been reduced by half without losing much. I think that's mostly because there was only so much they were able to do and they spent most of their time alternating between total boredom waiting to go somewhere and being overwhelmed with exhaustion by doing so much in such a short span of time. The Russia that he describes feels very different than the histories I've read--yes, extremely bureaucratic but ultimately with happy, hard-working, well-fed people. He states throughout the book his intention for the trip and the book to be apolitical. It doesn't focus on any political personalities at all, except insofar as what people say about them. I enjoyed his observations on the Stalin's status among the people and it made me curious to learn more about what everyday citizens felt as de-Stalinization took place less than a decade after Steinbeck's trip.
tl;dr, if you are interested in every day Russian life in 1947 (or at least the every day lives of Russians that the Kremlin allowed Steinbeck to visit), then it's worth a quick read. If not, it certainly isn't essential Steinbeck, although it will be an interesting point of comparison when I finally read Travels with Charley.
I'm being intentionally vague in case you want to read it, but I'd be happy to sketch out the major takeaways if you want.
Nah. I appreciate this writeup -- I actually did immediately think of Travels with Charley, and I wondered if this would be like a Russian version of that. But I'm not super interested in 1947 Russia (or rather, I don't have the bandwidth to pursue an interest in that right now).
Nah. I appreciate this writeup -- I actually did immediately think of Travels with Charley, and I wondered if this would be like a Russian version of that. But I'm not super interested in 1947 Russia (or rather, I don't have the bandwidth to pursue an interest in that right now).
Appreciate your taking the time to respond.
Haha, I definitely don't blame you for that.
_________________ "I want to see the whole picture--as nearly as I can. I don't want to put on the blinders of 'good and bad,' and limit my vision."-- In Dubious Battle
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19721 Location: Cumberland, RI
Mickey wrote:
I routinely cite that collection as a publishing/marketing mystery--all of the stories are eminently forgettable except for the last one, which is the only one that breaks from the like, mid-century model of brooding domestic strife by being about Vikings. That last story totally fucking rules, but the book itself sucks.
I had a similar feeling after finally finishing this--like I said above, I don't recall what caused me to put it on my reading list like 10 years ago, but I was underwhelmed in general. I did like the second-to-last story, too, about the carnival. The Viking story was great. But forgettable overall.
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 6:02 am Posts: 9712 Location: Tristes Tropiques
_________________
VinylGuy wrote:
its really tiresome to see these ¨good guys¨ talking about any political stuff in tv while also being kinda funny and hip and cool....its just...please enough of this shit.
High-octane paranoia deranges a writer and fuels a dangerous plan to return home at the tail end of El Salvador’s long civil war.
Is the plan a dream or a nightmare?
Is he courageous, foolhardy, or just plain dumb?
Is the bubbling brew of horrors and threats actual or imagined?
After he seeks relief for liver pain through hypnosis (while drinking more than ever, despite the treatments), his few impulse-control mechanisms rapidly dissolve, and reality only rarely intrudes on his cogitations. Harebrained murder plots, half-mad arguments, hysterical rants: the narrative escalates at a maniacal pace, infused with Horacio Castellanos Moya’s uniquely outlandish and acerbic sense of humor.
I’ve had this one since it came out but haven’t read it yet. I loved Senselessness.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 1:53 pm Posts: 10274 Location: in the air tonight
invention wrote:
ghost wrote:
I just bought this but the thiccness intimidates me.
2021 is going to be the Year of Reading Long Books for me. I'm finally going to read all the long books I've been intimidated by, or re-read the books I've never picked up again because it would take too long to get through. I'm finally going to read Infinite Jest and Robert Caro. I'm finally going to re-read Underworld and What It Takes. I'll actually read Stamped by Ibram Kendi and Jill Lepore's These Truths. Maybe I'll look at some Doris Kearns Godwin or Jean Edward Smith. Maybe I'll look at Don Quixote, or Moby Dick, or Dostoevsky. I'm going to read The Aeneid and that big book of boxing essays that I bought at the Borders closing sale. It's going to be a good year
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19721 Location: Cumberland, RI
invention wrote:
Simple Torture wrote:
Keeping it going:
Quote:
High-octane paranoia deranges a writer and fuels a dangerous plan to return home at the tail end of El Salvador’s long civil war.
Is the plan a dream or a nightmare?
Is he courageous, foolhardy, or just plain dumb?
Is the bubbling brew of horrors and threats actual or imagined?
After he seeks relief for liver pain through hypnosis (while drinking more than ever, despite the treatments), his few impulse-control mechanisms rapidly dissolve, and reality only rarely intrudes on his cogitations. Harebrained murder plots, half-mad arguments, hysterical rants: the narrative escalates at a maniacal pace, infused with Horacio Castellanos Moya’s uniquely outlandish and acerbic sense of humor.
I’ve had this one since it came out but haven’t read it yet. I loved Senselessness.
I really liked this one, a bit more than Revulsion.
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 6:02 am Posts: 9712 Location: Tristes Tropiques
invention wrote:
Simple Torture wrote:
Keeping it going:
Quote:
High-octane paranoia deranges a writer and fuels a dangerous plan to return home at the tail end of El Salvador’s long civil war.
Is the plan a dream or a nightmare?
Is he courageous, foolhardy, or just plain dumb?
Is the bubbling brew of horrors and threats actual or imagined?
After he seeks relief for liver pain through hypnosis (while drinking more than ever, despite the treatments), his few impulse-control mechanisms rapidly dissolve, and reality only rarely intrudes on his cogitations. Harebrained murder plots, half-mad arguments, hysterical rants: the narrative escalates at a maniacal pace, infused with Horacio Castellanos Moya’s uniquely outlandish and acerbic sense of humor.
I’ve had this one since it came out but haven’t read it yet. I loved Senselessness.
Paul!
_________________
VinylGuy wrote:
its really tiresome to see these ¨good guys¨ talking about any political stuff in tv while also being kinda funny and hip and cool....its just...please enough of this shit.
High-octane paranoia deranges a writer and fuels a dangerous plan to return home at the tail end of El Salvador’s long civil war.
Is the plan a dream or a nightmare?
Is he courageous, foolhardy, or just plain dumb?
Is the bubbling brew of horrors and threats actual or imagined?
After he seeks relief for liver pain through hypnosis (while drinking more than ever, despite the treatments), his few impulse-control mechanisms rapidly dissolve, and reality only rarely intrudes on his cogitations. Harebrained murder plots, half-mad arguments, hysterical rants: the narrative escalates at a maniacal pace, infused with Horacio Castellanos Moya’s uniquely outlandish and acerbic sense of humor.
I’ve had this one since it came out but haven’t read it yet. I loved Senselessness.
I just bought this but the thiccness intimidates me.
2021 is going to be the Year of Reading Long Books for me. I'm finally going to read all the long books I've been intimidated by, or re-read the books I've never picked up again because it would take too long to get through. I'm finally going to read Infinite Jest and Robert Caro. I'm finally going to re-read Underworld and What It Takes. I'll actually read Stamped by Ibram Kendi and Jill Lepore's These Truths. Maybe I'll look at some Doris Kearns Godwin or Jean Edward Smith. Maybe I'll look at Don Quixote, or Moby Dick, or Dostoevsky. I'm going to read The Aeneid and that big book of boxing essays that I bought at the Borders closing sale. It's going to be a good year
That’s cool. I like this idea. I always tell myself I’m going to rotate between long and short, fiction and non-fiction, but it never seems to work.
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