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Russians: The People Behind the Power
From former NPR Moscow correspondent Gregory Feifer comes an incisive portrait that draws on vivid personal stories to portray the forces that have shaped the Russian character for centuries-and continue to do so today.
Russians explores the seeming paradoxes of life in Russia by unraveling the nature of its what is it in their history, their desires, and their conception of themselves that makes them baffling to the West? Using the insights of his decade as a journalist in Russia, Feifer corrects pervasive misconceptions by showing that much of what appears inexplicable about the country is logical when seen from the inside. He gets to the heart of why the world's leading energy producer continues to exasperate many in the international community. And he makes clear why President Vladimir Putin remains popular even as the gap widens between the super-rich and the great majority of poor.
Traversing the world's largest country from the violent North Caucasus to Arctic Siberia, Feifer conducted hundreds of intimate conversations about everything from sex and vodka to Russia's complex relationship with the world. From fabulously wealthy oligarchs to the destitute elderly babushki who beg in Moscow's streets, he tells the story of a society bursting with vitality under a leadership rooted in tradition and often on the edge of collapse despite its authoritarian power.
Feifer also draws on formative experiences in Russia's past and illustrative workings of its culture to shed much-needed light on the purposely hidden functioning of its society before, during, and after communism. Woven throughout is an intimate, first-person account of his family history, from his Russian mother's coming of age among Moscow's bohemian artistic elite to his American father's harrowing vodka-fueled run-ins with the KGB.
What emerges is a rare portrait of a unique land of extremes whose forbidding geography, merciless climate, and crushing corruption has nevertheless produced some of the world's greatest art and some of its most remarkable scientific advances. Russians is an expertly observed, gripping profile of a people who will continue challenging the West for the foreseeable future.
Russians explores the seeming paradoxes of life in Russia by unraveling the nature of its what is it in their history, their desires, and their conception of themselves that makes them baffling to the West? Using the insights of his decade as a journalist in Russia, Feifer corrects pervasive misconceptions by showing that much of what appears inexplicable about the country is logical when seen from the inside. He gets to the heart of why the world's leading energy producer continues to exasperate many in the international community. And he makes clear why President Vladimir Putin remains popular even as the gap widens between the super-rich and the great majority of poor.
Traversing the world's largest country from the violent North Caucasus to Arctic Siberia, Feifer conducted hundreds of intimate conversations about everything from sex and vodka to Russia's complex relationship with the world. From fabulously wealthy oligarchs to the destitute elderly babushki who beg in Moscow's streets, he tells the story of a society bursting with vitality under a leadership rooted in tradition and often on the edge of collapse despite its authoritarian power.
Feifer also draws on formative experiences in Russia's past and illustrative workings of its culture to shed much-needed light on the purposely hidden functioning of its society before, during, and after communism. Woven throughout is an intimate, first-person account of his family history, from his Russian mother's coming of age among Moscow's bohemian artistic elite to his American father's harrowing vodka-fueled run-ins with the KGB.
What emerges is a rare portrait of a unique land of extremes whose forbidding geography, merciless climate, and crushing corruption has nevertheless produced some of the world's greatest art and some of its most remarkable scientific advances. Russians is an expertly observed, gripping profile of a people who will continue challenging the West for the foreseeable future.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 13, 2025
Ok, this book is really starting to show its age, but it was still a rather interesting insight into the "Russian personality" or at least how it could be understood at the time of publishing (2013). I think that much like any book of this type it has to be taken with a grain of salt (the harsh winter aspect wasn't quite it if you ask me but what do I know?).
Feifer's theories are interspersed with his own experiences in Russia and that of some of his family members, it made for an interestingly structured book.
Feifer's theories are interspersed with his own experiences in Russia and that of some of his family members, it made for an interestingly structured book.
March 6, 2015
“Russia has no need of sermons (she has heard too many), nor of prayers (she has mumbled them too often), but of the awakening in the people a feeling of human dignity, lost for so many ages in mud and filth.” -- Vissarion Belinsky in a letter to Nikolai Gogol, 1847
Gregory Feifer, former Moscow correspondent for NPR, is half Russian, so it makes his attempt to summarize a vast country of people more palatable. Feifer breezes through the hallmarks of the Russian personality -- grandiosity and indolence, corruption and loyalty, alcoholism and paternalism -- with a dash of recent history (e.g., Putin's rise to power, the Sochi Olympics, Pussy Riot, conflict with Georgia) that brings the current chaos with Ukraine into sharp focus. The book is somehow not as readable as I anticipated it would be, and he lost me in places, which was baffling to me, but it's an interesting, if necessarily perfunctory, glance at this complicated, tumultuous, long-suffering people.
Gregory Feifer, former Moscow correspondent for NPR, is half Russian, so it makes his attempt to summarize a vast country of people more palatable. Feifer breezes through the hallmarks of the Russian personality -- grandiosity and indolence, corruption and loyalty, alcoholism and paternalism -- with a dash of recent history (e.g., Putin's rise to power, the Sochi Olympics, Pussy Riot, conflict with Georgia) that brings the current chaos with Ukraine into sharp focus. The book is somehow not as readable as I anticipated it would be, and he lost me in places, which was baffling to me, but it's an interesting, if necessarily perfunctory, glance at this complicated, tumultuous, long-suffering people.
June 26, 2022
"Senas sąmojis sako, kad niekas negali numatyti ateities, o Rusija yra vienintelė šalis, turinti nenuspėjamą praeitį. Užuot bandę įveikti istorijos blogybes, jos vadovai, kaip ir daugelis jų pirmtakų, siekdami įteisinti savo valdymą bando nukalti naują ideologiją, šizofreniškai kompiliuodami iš viso konteksto išplėštus carinės ir sovietų istorijos simbolius. Jie giria žinomiausią sovietų kritiką Aleksandrą Solženyciną ir kartu šlovina didžius jo koneveikto režimo laimėjimus. Tačiau beveik visiškai nekalbama, kokios kainos pareikalavo milžiniški projektai - tokie, kaip visai naujų miestų statyba ir invazija į Afganistaną, - pradėti nepaisant didžiulių aukų, it pakvaišus ieškant Visuotinio Sprendimo: grandioziniai mesianistiniai sumanymai, kurių daugelis baigėsi nesėkme, nuostoliais ir mirtimi."
Vis galvoju, kad galbūt prieš metus atverstas pirmas šios knygos puslapis būtų lėmęs kitokį visos joje pateiktos informacijos vertinimą. Nepaisant to, kad nieko naujo, ko nežinotum, šiuose puslapiuose lyg ir nėra, daugelyje vietų tiesiog užtvirtinamas žinojimas, galbūt tik tiksliau suformuluojama tai, ką intuityviai jautei ar matei. Dabartiniame gi kontekste, net ir vedamai noro suvokti ar bent šiek tiek suprasti (ne pateisinti, o suprasti) KODĖL?kiekvienas šios knygos puslapis man buvo kaip dar ir dar vienas įrodymas, kad atsakymo nebus ir ten niekas nesikeis, nes jie taip gyvena, nes jiems taip patogu, nes jiems reikia caro, reikia kam nors paklusti, reikia, kad kažkas už juos nuspręstų, už juos pagalvotų, o dar geriau, kad ir viską padarytų. Žmones iš vergystės ir baudžiavos galima paleisti įvairiais įsakais ir reformomis, bet vergo ar baudžiauninko sielos iš žmonių taip greitai nepašalinsi. Nėra jokios paslaptingos ruso sielos (dūšios). Yra tik nuolankumas, bejėgiškumas, konformizmas, kuriais naudojasi ši mafijinė valstybė.
"Smarkiausias neapykantos amerikiečiams protrūkis, kurio liūdininku tapau Maskvoje, kilo prieš dvyliką metų dėl NATO surengtų bombardavimų Serbijoje. Keršto troškimas, kurį jie sukėlė, susimaišė su žavėjimosi, pavydo ir konkuravimo jausmais, iš dalies kilusiais iš senesnės, kolektyvinės žemesnės padėties jausenos ir gėdos dėl Rusijos atsilikimo ir vietos pasaulyje. Paprasčiau tariant, XX a. paskutiniame dešimtmetyje pirmą kartą pamatę, koks iš tiesų yra apilinkinis pasaulis, rusai suprato, kad jiems reikia milžiniškų reformų norint rimtai varžytis su kitomis šalimis, ir suskato ieškoti lengvo pasiteisinimo, kodėl jų nebuvo imtasi. Vienu šuoliu nuo "mes esame kitokie" buvo pereita prie .... ir geresni!".
Vis galvoju, kad galbūt prieš metus atverstas pirmas šios knygos puslapis būtų lėmęs kitokį visos joje pateiktos informacijos vertinimą. Nepaisant to, kad nieko naujo, ko nežinotum, šiuose puslapiuose lyg ir nėra, daugelyje vietų tiesiog užtvirtinamas žinojimas, galbūt tik tiksliau suformuluojama tai, ką intuityviai jautei ar matei. Dabartiniame gi kontekste, net ir vedamai noro suvokti ar bent šiek tiek suprasti (ne pateisinti, o suprasti) KODĖL?kiekvienas šios knygos puslapis man buvo kaip dar ir dar vienas įrodymas, kad atsakymo nebus ir ten niekas nesikeis, nes jie taip gyvena, nes jiems taip patogu, nes jiems reikia caro, reikia kam nors paklusti, reikia, kad kažkas už juos nuspręstų, už juos pagalvotų, o dar geriau, kad ir viską padarytų. Žmones iš vergystės ir baudžiavos galima paleisti įvairiais įsakais ir reformomis, bet vergo ar baudžiauninko sielos iš žmonių taip greitai nepašalinsi. Nėra jokios paslaptingos ruso sielos (dūšios). Yra tik nuolankumas, bejėgiškumas, konformizmas, kuriais naudojasi ši mafijinė valstybė.
"Smarkiausias neapykantos amerikiečiams protrūkis, kurio liūdininku tapau Maskvoje, kilo prieš dvyliką metų dėl NATO surengtų bombardavimų Serbijoje. Keršto troškimas, kurį jie sukėlė, susimaišė su žavėjimosi, pavydo ir konkuravimo jausmais, iš dalies kilusiais iš senesnės, kolektyvinės žemesnės padėties jausenos ir gėdos dėl Rusijos atsilikimo ir vietos pasaulyje. Paprasčiau tariant, XX a. paskutiniame dešimtmetyje pirmą kartą pamatę, koks iš tiesų yra apilinkinis pasaulis, rusai suprato, kad jiems reikia milžiniškų reformų norint rimtai varžytis su kitomis šalimis, ir suskato ieškoti lengvo pasiteisinimo, kodėl jų nebuvo imtasi. Vienu šuoliu nuo "mes esame kitokie" buvo pereita prie .... ir geresni!".
March 8, 2014
This is a very timely book about the realities of life in Putin's Russia. I started reading it before Putin's invasion of the Crimea, and it provided a good background for how Russian society works and why it would create the kind of modern authoritarianism that the Kremlin practices.
Later chapters get a little repetitive -- too few ideas to sustain them -- but overall I recommend this book for anyone interested in contemporary Russia.
Later chapters get a little repetitive -- too few ideas to sustain them -- but overall I recommend this book for anyone interested in contemporary Russia.
December 18, 2015
True that Feifer has some Soviet background, namely his mother is Jewish and comes from the former USSR, obviously with ancestors from what once was the Kingdom of Poland (most Russophone, I almost made a Freudian slip or writing a "b" instead of "n" in the word Russophone, Jews are of Polish origin), with all the accompanying historical luggage that comes with this ancestry, and true, that he is with the NPR Moscow outpost, a propagandist service designed with spreading disinformation and hatred among hapless and woefully, cruelly misinformed American audiences. I am pretty open minded when it comes to hate literature, I don't object to hate speech, but I could not finish the book. It is almost impossible to read. Nauseating in its pointless hatred. Libelous. Lying. Petty. Most Nazis wouldn't be ashamed of writing stuff like this. A great modern Swiss author Guy Mettan mentioned that Russophobia is not like French Anglophobia or Gallic dislike of Germany and things German, Russophobia is like antisemitism, it is pathological, fundamentally irrational and does not depend on what the victim does or doesn't do. This is the kind of book that proves Mettan's point to its perfection, and I must add that it goes without a saying that this specimen of hate literature would have never been published by any mainstream press in the US had its victims (see the title) been a "different group". Feifer is not someone who doesn't like just Russia or Russians (the group he is writing about), he is a raving stark mad Russophobe, a pathological hate monger who in many ways makes even folks like Ed Lucas and Madam Appelbaum look like reasonable, balanced moderates.
October 8, 2014
The strength of this book is the number of encounters with the people of Russia that the author relates throughout the book. He uses these to underline the basic thesis of the book that Russians are fundamentally different from those of us immersed in Western culture in how they interact with the world and each other. These encounters are fascinating whether or not the author convinces you of the existence of these fundamental differences. In tracing the lives of his mother and other Russian relatives, the author gives further realism to his narrative. Some might view the author as merely reinforcing ethnic stereotypes, however I couldn't help being engaged in his narrative.
July 13, 2022
This book was awesome. Russian speaking American journalist. Huge amounts of stories and experiences to systematically ponder the question - but why are they like this / what is this land mass as it is?
He looked at power and family and addiction and fishing and Chinese border towns and mass poisoning and rise of Putin and those that came before.
Kinda should read a bunch of side stuff. But. Was eye opening and confirming. Do recommend.
He looked at power and family and addiction and fishing and Chinese border towns and mass poisoning and rise of Putin and those that came before.
Kinda should read a bunch of side stuff. But. Was eye opening and confirming. Do recommend.
June 14, 2014
Some years ago I read "The Russians" by Hedrick Smith. This book was a look at life in the Soviet Union. Some years later I read "The New Russians" about the period during and after the fall of the Soviet Union. Thus I was very interested to read this book about the present in Russia. This book is extremely interesting and timely. I liked it a lot EXCEPT for one part about orphanages and abandoned children. This part was very upsetting and I wish I could forget it since there's nothing I can do about it.
March 28, 2014
With the crisis going on in the Ukraine, this is a good time to read Gregory Feifer's book about the Russians and the social forces that shape their attitudes to politics and power. The book by journalist who has worked in Russia and whose family has Russian roots gives many details about the authors friends and family, some more relevant than others, but I found it filled with fascinating details that help me to understand what is going on in Europe.
November 12, 2014
I found this book tiresome after a while. I guess what bothered me was that the chapters unfolded the same way from one to the next.
And as someone else mentioned, it conveniently compartmentalises the US and Russia into good-guy/bad-guy roles.
The saving grace for me was the anecdotes the author shared about his family's experiences growing up in Russia.
And as someone else mentioned, it conveniently compartmentalises the US and Russia into good-guy/bad-guy roles.
The saving grace for me was the anecdotes the author shared about his family's experiences growing up in Russia.
April 23, 2014
Please, tell me again about how the cold winters have shaped the Russian national character. [eye roll]
March 29, 2014
One book where it was excusable for the author to talk extensively about his (USSR resident) mother (although he did say she was a "dark beauty" like four times...)
December 30, 2015
Too opinionated to my taste. One star for the Index.
August 12, 2021
A good book written by someone who has lived in both Russia and the West, is half Russian, and a native bilingual speaker of Russian and English. All of this, in addition to Feifer being a former NPR bureau chief in Moscow, gives him a respectable position from which to make his observations.
Feifer weaves his father's, mother's, grandmother's, and his own personal experiences into the contemporaneous political atmosphere of the USSR and later Russia. Through these he relates valuable cultural criticisms, sometimes of the West, both mostly of Russia and the USSR. Feifer was able to describe the deepness of corruption within the government and certain facets of society (such as the totally normal use of bribes in daily activities) while humanizing the people who are forced to live inside such a system along with those who feel more comfortable with it. I particularly enjoyed the details concerning the differences in the ways Westerners or Russians trust or distrust certain types of institutions, and how that trust or distrust is a given for those living in one sphere or the other. The relation of characters from famous Russian novels to the values of every day Russians was an excellent addition to the book.
Overall, the book was really well researched and structured. However, I don't think the author needed to describe the hair colour and style of what must have been most of the people he mentioned.
Occasionally I found his use of dashes excessive, since I've never seen anyone use them so often. He seemed to be constantly using interruptive phrases that led to me having to reread sentences in order to understand the actual point. Perhaps I was often reading when tired, or perhaps the author lacked a little clarity here and there. Or, I think, he needed a better editor. I found more than a few spelling errors.
Feifer weaves his father's, mother's, grandmother's, and his own personal experiences into the contemporaneous political atmosphere of the USSR and later Russia. Through these he relates valuable cultural criticisms, sometimes of the West, both mostly of Russia and the USSR. Feifer was able to describe the deepness of corruption within the government and certain facets of society (such as the totally normal use of bribes in daily activities) while humanizing the people who are forced to live inside such a system along with those who feel more comfortable with it. I particularly enjoyed the details concerning the differences in the ways Westerners or Russians trust or distrust certain types of institutions, and how that trust or distrust is a given for those living in one sphere or the other. The relation of characters from famous Russian novels to the values of every day Russians was an excellent addition to the book.
Overall, the book was really well researched and structured. However, I don't think the author needed to describe the hair colour and style of what must have been most of the people he mentioned.
Occasionally I found his use of dashes excessive, since I've never seen anyone use them so often. He seemed to be constantly using interruptive phrases that led to me having to reread sentences in order to understand the actual point. Perhaps I was often reading when tired, or perhaps the author lacked a little clarity here and there. Or, I think, he needed a better editor. I found more than a few spelling errors.
May 19, 2019
ABSOLUTY AMAZING . Trying to make sense of mother russia is a complex task but gregory does it so through the storiesof people who have lived through it all .
10/10
MUST READ
Book notes-----------
In 1996 berezovsky led a group of country's biggest tycoons in backing Yeltsin . soon after he bragged that he and 6 other financiers who he said controlled half the economy got the president reelected .
It was those seven men the russian media dubbed - "OLIGARCHS"- "Now we have the right to occupy government post and enjoy the fruits of our victory " Berezovsky said.
KGB officer Igor sechin is CEO of state owned rosneft , countrys leading oil company .
Besides the Caucasus ,perhaps no where has that been more visible than the crime ridden port of VLADIVOSTOK on the pacific cost where massive smuggling industries enrich officials who help criminal groups in illegal caught fish , timber , cars and everything else of value .
After Putin reelection in 2012 GOLOS- countries only independent election monitoring agency was charged and fined 10000 dollars .
After corruption scandals during many years Putin has appeared on national TV dressing down one minister or another or all of them . He himself has nothing to do with the failures , this places him well with the traditional image of russias rulers :"GOOD TSARS , BAD BOYARS" . That is , the leaders beneficent intentions are undone by self interested maneuvering of his crafty advisors .
Trepashkin jailed just as he was about to present the court his case of the moscow apartment bombings and he had the evidence of FSB involvement , held in jail for 5 years .
10/10
MUST READ
Book notes-----------
In 1996 berezovsky led a group of country's biggest tycoons in backing Yeltsin . soon after he bragged that he and 6 other financiers who he said controlled half the economy got the president reelected .
It was those seven men the russian media dubbed - "OLIGARCHS"- "Now we have the right to occupy government post and enjoy the fruits of our victory " Berezovsky said.
KGB officer Igor sechin is CEO of state owned rosneft , countrys leading oil company .
Besides the Caucasus ,perhaps no where has that been more visible than the crime ridden port of VLADIVOSTOK on the pacific cost where massive smuggling industries enrich officials who help criminal groups in illegal caught fish , timber , cars and everything else of value .
After Putin reelection in 2012 GOLOS- countries only independent election monitoring agency was charged and fined 10000 dollars .
After corruption scandals during many years Putin has appeared on national TV dressing down one minister or another or all of them . He himself has nothing to do with the failures , this places him well with the traditional image of russias rulers :"GOOD TSARS , BAD BOYARS" . That is , the leaders beneficent intentions are undone by self interested maneuvering of his crafty advisors .
Trepashkin jailed just as he was about to present the court his case of the moscow apartment bombings and he had the evidence of FSB involvement , held in jail for 5 years .
March 3, 2024
Given all that's going on in Eastern Europe, this was a rather timely find on my part. The author, Gregory Feifer, is half-Russian, and he approaches his mother's homeland with a mixture of his father's Western democratic values he was raised with and an instinctive comprehension if not full understanding of his mother's people. Even the author acknowledges he feels as if he has come home during his many trips to Russia.
What's of interest here is how he mixes Russian history, current event events, and his own friends and family to create a big picture and fine details so that the average reader can absorb what a Russian instinctively understands. I say "absorb," but the Russian people are such a complex topic that I suspect even this book only scratches the surface. Feifer also accurately assessed Putin and while he did not explicitly predict the current conflict, he did anticipate that Putin would continue to raise the stakes.
Feifer's book explores Russian culture from its aesthetics to its corruption to its politics, positing an origin and its impact. He praises what he finds good and criticizes what he finds bad, with special venom for Putin. He also acknowledges that culture does not change in a day and it will likely take generations for Russia to "join" Western culture, if it ever does. As a result, it is quite illuminating instead of patronizing.
What's of interest here is how he mixes Russian history, current event events, and his own friends and family to create a big picture and fine details so that the average reader can absorb what a Russian instinctively understands. I say "absorb," but the Russian people are such a complex topic that I suspect even this book only scratches the surface. Feifer also accurately assessed Putin and while he did not explicitly predict the current conflict, he did anticipate that Putin would continue to raise the stakes.
Feifer's book explores Russian culture from its aesthetics to its corruption to its politics, positing an origin and its impact. He praises what he finds good and criticizes what he finds bad, with special venom for Putin. He also acknowledges that culture does not change in a day and it will likely take generations for Russia to "join" Western culture, if it ever does. As a result, it is quite illuminating instead of patronizing.
April 15, 2024
It took me two years to finish this book, and my opinion towards it had changed several times during this period. I found it extremely boring when I just picked it up. I thought it was just one of the many books written by foreigners about my country. However, something kept me interested in learning more and more, and I picked it up again and again from the library. And finally, it struck me how much the author knows about us, Russians, and how deep his overview is. So, now, I think of this book as of one of the best books written about Russia. It touches upon why the country is where it is right now politically, economically, socially. Unfortunately, you won’t find anything promising about the future of the country and its people in this books. This fact is upsetting, but very understandable. I admire those who believe that the dramatic change is possible. If so, it should be brought by Russian people who stand behind the regime. And who are they, and what they think? Well, the book tells part of the story, while the other part unfolds after Feb. 24, 2022.
October 27, 2017
An engaging and insightful analysis of Russia and it's stagnation since the collapse of the USSR and the rise of Putin. Fiefer demonstrates the historical origins of Russia's current political climate while analyzing various aspects of Russian society and daily life. It is striking to see the corruption and cronyism that dominates the country and continues the corrupt legacy of the Soviet Union. The country remains unable to address the horrors and crimes of its past and instead props itself up through military bluster and propaganda. Putin and his circle of elites drain the country while enriching their own lives and those of their families.
Feifer leaves little room for optimism noting how the country has based its worldview upon opposing the West at every turn from issues in the Middle East to North Korea. The book was published prior to the events in Crimea and as a result it does not address recent Russian aggression.
Feifer leaves little room for optimism noting how the country has based its worldview upon opposing the West at every turn from issues in the Middle East to North Korea. The book was published prior to the events in Crimea and as a result it does not address recent Russian aggression.
August 14, 2018
A DETAILED, in depth, difficult to read, visit to the strange world of depressed, alcoholic, corrupt, racist, nationalistic Russia, run by the Putin mafia. The author’s mother is a Russian national who married an American. Being fluent in Russian, his stints in Russia as an NPR reporter give credence to his observations. The Russians’ national psyche is similar to a patient raised in a psyche unit from age 3 to 40 and then released; a diagnosis given by a Russian. Very interesting, especially given Donald Trump’s attempt at similar attempts at bluster, narcism, brow-beating, and mindless exhortations on Twitter. An eye-opener. The oligarchs will destroy the present cult of personality. The West needs to pray what replaces it is more rational.
January 18, 2022
An American journalist’s observations on Russian life and character sounded very intriguing. I was hoping to find a different perspective from the traditional American angle where the Russian is always the bad guy. While there were some interesting commentaries and curious anecdotes, overall, the book was very biased, repetitive and poorly organized. I wish there were more observations, discussions and analyses of folklore, art, literature, society, everyday life - more traits that define Russian character, attitudes and beliefs and shape history. Instead, there was too much one-sided perfunctory political commentary and biased historical account that fit the standard stereotype of Russians as perceived by Americans.
April 21, 2022
Knygoje pasakoja apie Rusiją ir jos žmones - tiek paprastus, tiek ir oligarchus. Knygos autorius - amerikietis žurnalistas, kurio motina rusė (išvykusi Šaltojo karo metais), o tėvas amerikietis. Todėl knygoje parodomi skirtumai tarp rusų ir vakarų kultūros, o priežasčių ieškoma net carinėje Rusijoje, bei tarybinėje ir dabartinėje. Jis bando išsiaiškinti, kodėl rusai yra tokie, kokie yra ir kodėl jie negali ar nenori pasikeisti ir gyventi demokratinėje valstybėje. Nagrinėjamos problemos: skurdas, žmonių tinginystė, cinizmas, korupcija, imperialistiniai motyvai, nacionalizmas, paranoja, alkoholizmas, grubumas, didybės manija, draugiškumas, atvirumas, sentimentalumas, naivumas, propaganda, neūkiškumas...
January 17, 2020
Outdated now, politically, but otherwise reads fine in 2020. In some ways, a delightful surprise: Feifer takes what could be a reductive exercise on national identity and does a really able job at combining history, news and anecdote so that you get a decent portrait of modern public and private life in Russia. In other ways, though, a letdown: for all of its apparent insight, it still reads like a book from the west, one that is sympathetic of but still mystified by its own subject. There’s also a lot of dead narrative ends, and too much Feifer family history, which make some of the longer, tortuous essay chapters a slog. A bit drawn out for my attention span, but a solid primer.
December 24, 2017
I enjoyed Feifer's analysis of the modern Russian worldview - he makes use of historical sources to place present events in context. (I've read the memoirs of the Marquis de Custine and can see how it continues to provide relevant context today!) I found the experiences of Feifer's own family and his personal connections to the events of 20th and 21st century interesting as well. The book was particularly insightful when the author left Moscow and St. Petersburg to examine the social and economic conditions of remote Russian communities and former gulag settlements. A fascinating read.
August 4, 2017
Excellent book for anyone interested in the Russian character and short cultural history of this strange country. The book seeks to explain why Russians are doing certain things totally different from Westerners (US/Europeans). Why their view of the world is different and why they prefer autocratic rulers rather than good old democracy. The book is well written and easy to grasp especially for those who have real life experience of interacting or doing business with Russians.
March 20, 2017
Gregory Feifer us a former NPR Moscow correspondent, a journalist and scholar, very knowledgable of Russian history, literature and culture. Son of George Feifer, well-known writer (fiction and non fiction) during the cold war and his Russian wife.
What emerges is a depiction of pervasive corruption operating in a vacuum, with no redeeming ideology such as existed in Soviet times. While Feifer recognizes continuity in concepts and practices from the earliest Russian history right through the Soviet period and into the present, making the Russians “different from us” in ways we have yet to understand, he loves and respects the people and does not demonize them. But the loss of any transcendent guiding principles following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet union is a tragedy.
What emerges is a depiction of pervasive corruption operating in a vacuum, with no redeeming ideology such as existed in Soviet times. While Feifer recognizes continuity in concepts and practices from the earliest Russian history right through the Soviet period and into the present, making the Russians “different from us” in ways we have yet to understand, he loves and respects the people and does not demonize them. But the loss of any transcendent guiding principles following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet union is a tragedy.
June 24, 2017
This is a good book for anyone who likes to read about Russian history and/or contemporary Russia. It is written by a Moscow-based journalist who's mother was Soviet born and raised. Gregory Feifer gives great details on all sorts of Russian life. From extreme wealth to extreme poverty, very high alcoholism and very high domestic violence, corruption and more corruption.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
April 26, 2020
An excellent portrait of the Russian psyche and how the country has evolved under Putin to be the world's 'greatest' Mafia state with Putin as the don and perhaps ten oligarchs under him essentially controlling the entire country which is currently being crippled by the dramatic drop in oil prices which account for perhaps as much as 30% of Russia's GDP.
September 8, 2017
Took me a while to get through it while I read some fiction to break it up. Very detailed informative look at Russian history, culture and politics and how it sets them apart from the rest of the world. A timely read.
April 19, 2018
I loved parts of this book more than others, but overall it was really well-written and meticulously researched. I especially enjoyed the personal parts, which really added to the book. Would recommend to any Russophile. My favourite parts were definitely the little jokes interspersed throughout.
October 13, 2019
A solid mix of psychogeography and contemporary Russian politics. My favourite part was learning that second hand cars had a higher value than new ones in Russia due to the fact that the problems inherent in new cars will have been fixed.
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