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Письма русского путешественника
Эту книгу, одноименную с известным сочинением Карамзина, Владимир Буковский написал в 1979-80 годах. Однако по стилю это получилось нечто совершенно противоположное сентиментально-буколическим письмам классика екатерининской эпохи. Если Карамзин силился отыскать черты, сближающие Россию с Европой, то вся книга Буковского пронизана ощущением и осмыслением контраста между ними. В этой книги наиболее интересен взгляд на мир именно с точки зрения свободного русского путешественника, искренне дружеский, хотя зачастую и критичный.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
25 people want to read
About the author
Vladimir Bukovsky
40 books28 followersVladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky was a Soviet and Russian human rights activist and writer. From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, he was a prominent figure in the Soviet dissident movement, well known at home and abroad.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 19, 2020
“И смех, и грех. Получил я как-то анкету из «International Who’s Who» и долго ломал себе голову: что писать и в какую графу. Если строго следовать поставленным вопросам, то мог я написать только свое имя и дату рождения. В остальных же графах следовало поставить прочерк. Ведь они не спрашивают, за что сидел, сколько и когда освобождался, а мне и писать больше нечего. Не в графу же «хобби» все это вставить. Да у них там и места мало оставлено. А куда? В «образование»? «Членство в клубах и обществах»? Помучился я, помучился и вписал все аресты в графу «Данные о занимаемых должностях», а все освобождения — в «Почести, премии, награды». Чушь какая-то! Теперь хоть легче стало, говорю, что студент в Кембридже.”
As you can imagine, after “И возвращается ветер…”, I was very excited to read also this memoir-reflection-observation about Владимир Буковский’s first years in the West (after he was expelled from the USSR in 1976) and everything he could tell about life in European countries comparing to the USSR.
However, this book was seriously disappointing. It is still quite clever and illuminating when he talks about the attitude of Western people to the USSR (and everything related to the Soviet realities in general) but it is absolutely ridiculous in almost everything of what he thinks about the West. Sadly, Владимир Буковский, being one of the most “Western” people in the USSR, demonstrates a classical narrow-sighted and full of idiotic stereotypes Soviet mindset after seeing the actual West. Many of his observations are just some strange and quite marginal experiences (but he makes wide generalizations about society overall on this basis), and some are correct observations about very progressive or natural things but Владимир Буковский refuses to see their structural integrity with human rights, free market, respect to people’s individual choices and private life, and other necessary aspects of civilized society and judges about them from the position of a Soviet idiot, often making comparisons in style of “our Soviet life was not cool, but this life is even worse.”
Reading all this was quite embarrassing. I would understand completely if the book also contained some commentary about “look what an idiot I was in 1980! but this is a good example of how Soviet people saw and interpreted reality, how wrongly their minds worked in essence!” — but there is no such a commentary. Moreover, as I understand, this book was republished in Russia very recently, in the 2000s, when Владимир Буковский was still alive, and he again apparently did not have any regrets or comments about all this bullshit.
Well, I spotted some interesting thoughts, but most of the book is a sad embarrassment, in my opinion, and better should not had been published at all.
As you can imagine, after “И возвращается ветер…”, I was very excited to read also this memoir-reflection-observation about Владимир Буковский’s first years in the West (after he was expelled from the USSR in 1976) and everything he could tell about life in European countries comparing to the USSR.
However, this book was seriously disappointing. It is still quite clever and illuminating when he talks about the attitude of Western people to the USSR (and everything related to the Soviet realities in general) but it is absolutely ridiculous in almost everything of what he thinks about the West. Sadly, Владимир Буковский, being one of the most “Western” people in the USSR, demonstrates a classical narrow-sighted and full of idiotic stereotypes Soviet mindset after seeing the actual West. Many of his observations are just some strange and quite marginal experiences (but he makes wide generalizations about society overall on this basis), and some are correct observations about very progressive or natural things but Владимир Буковский refuses to see their structural integrity with human rights, free market, respect to people’s individual choices and private life, and other necessary aspects of civilized society and judges about them from the position of a Soviet idiot, often making comparisons in style of “our Soviet life was not cool, but this life is even worse.”
Reading all this was quite embarrassing. I would understand completely if the book also contained some commentary about “look what an idiot I was in 1980! but this is a good example of how Soviet people saw and interpreted reality, how wrongly their minds worked in essence!” — but there is no such a commentary. Moreover, as I understand, this book was republished in Russia very recently, in the 2000s, when Владимир Буковский was still alive, and he again apparently did not have any regrets or comments about all this bullshit.
Well, I spotted some interesting thoughts, but most of the book is a sad embarrassment, in my opinion, and better should not had been published at all.
August 9, 2019
Книга показалась мне менее увлекательной, чем предыдущая. Рефлексия, небольшие заметки о различиях быта в Европе и СССР, размышления и снова размышления.
April 24, 2021
Книга писалась в 1979 году и автор ещё не мог себе представить, что кровавый совковый вавилон рухнет через каких-то 10 лет с небольшим. Пришедшее на смену совдепии чудище чуть менее кроваво, но не менее мерзко. И ждёт его та же судьба. Будущие исследователи истории России 20-21 века с трудом будут находить светлые пятна в море человеконенавистничества, тупости, конформизма и подлости, тем более наличие таких людей, как Владимир Буковский будет являться ярким лучем света, против которого оказалась бессильна тьма государственной жестокости.
January 9, 2020
Из этой книги мы видим, что Владимир Владимирович Путин ничего сам не придумал, а всего лишь продолжает славные советские традиции
March 29, 2024
Прошло 45 лет почти, а написано как будто сегодня. И обнадеживает и одновременно пугает то, что за эти 45 лет произошло.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews