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Stalin's Barber: A Novel
Avraham Bahar leaves debt-ridden and depressed Albania to seek a better life in, ironically, Stalinist Russia. A professional barber, he curries favor with the Communist regime, ultimately being invited to become Stalin s personal barber at the Kremlin, where he is entitled to live in a government house with other Soviet dignitaries. In the intrigue that follows Avraham, now known as Razan, he is not only barber to Stalin but also to the many Stalin look-alikes that the paranoid dictator circulates to thwart possible assassination attempts including one from Razan himself.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published September 20, 2012
8 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Paul M. Levitt
32 books11 followersPaul M. Levitt is professor emeritus of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he taught modern drama, theater, history, and the gangster novel. He has written more than 20 books (six of them novels), radio plays for the BBC, books about medicine, stories for children, and numerous popular and scholarly articles. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 21, 2013
Let's get that number thing out of the way right at the start: I would rate it at about 3.75, rounded up to a 4. If you bear with me for a minute, you'll see why.
First and foremost, my thanks to the folks behind the Early Reviewers' program at LibraryThing and to the publisher for offering this book for review. I was completely wrapped up in this story of this Jewish barber who flees Albania for the USSR, hoping for "a better world." Through family connections to the government, the barber eventually gets a post as barber to Stalin, where he gains a close-up look at the inner workings of this horrific regime. Eventually, many of his family members also come to serve the Kremlin in different capacities, and through their eyes the author exposes the day-to-day terrors faced by normal people and even those who seem to be ardent supporters of the state, all due to the changing whims of the leader and the thugs supporting him. Thematically, among other things, the book focuses largely on the idea of allegiance and loyalty -- both to the state and to family, and the choice between the two that one is often forced to make.
This is a novel that held my attention up to the last few chapters. It's very obvious that Mr. Levitt has done an extraordinary amount of research, and there is hardly a facet of this regime that is left untouched here. The gulag system is well covered, with terrifying descriptions of how things were in a representative prison; he covers the program to starve the Kulaks; there are great sequences where Stalin's minions could be called up at any time of day or night to serve his personal caprices; he also captures the paranoid atmosphere surrounding one's neighbors or co-workers who might turn out to be informers and how one innocent statement might mean another person's disappearance -- all of these facets of this terrible time period are very well described here. Where it gets kind of crazy for me is the way in which the author manipulates his main characters into certain situations that sometimes don't ring true, especially toward the end, which seemed to come very quickly and felt a bit hollow after such a rich buildup in historical fact made fiction.
Would I recommend it? Certainly -- it's well worth putting up with the end chapters for the amazing amount of detail and claustrophobic atmosphere the author manages to impart through his writing. On the whole, I very much liked it and had the ending been a bit stronger, it would have been a most excellent novel.
First and foremost, my thanks to the folks behind the Early Reviewers' program at LibraryThing and to the publisher for offering this book for review. I was completely wrapped up in this story of this Jewish barber who flees Albania for the USSR, hoping for "a better world." Through family connections to the government, the barber eventually gets a post as barber to Stalin, where he gains a close-up look at the inner workings of this horrific regime. Eventually, many of his family members also come to serve the Kremlin in different capacities, and through their eyes the author exposes the day-to-day terrors faced by normal people and even those who seem to be ardent supporters of the state, all due to the changing whims of the leader and the thugs supporting him. Thematically, among other things, the book focuses largely on the idea of allegiance and loyalty -- both to the state and to family, and the choice between the two that one is often forced to make.
This is a novel that held my attention up to the last few chapters. It's very obvious that Mr. Levitt has done an extraordinary amount of research, and there is hardly a facet of this regime that is left untouched here. The gulag system is well covered, with terrifying descriptions of how things were in a representative prison; he covers the program to starve the Kulaks; there are great sequences where Stalin's minions could be called up at any time of day or night to serve his personal caprices; he also captures the paranoid atmosphere surrounding one's neighbors or co-workers who might turn out to be informers and how one innocent statement might mean another person's disappearance -- all of these facets of this terrible time period are very well described here. Where it gets kind of crazy for me is the way in which the author manipulates his main characters into certain situations that sometimes don't ring true, especially toward the end, which seemed to come very quickly and felt a bit hollow after such a rich buildup in historical fact made fiction.
Would I recommend it? Certainly -- it's well worth putting up with the end chapters for the amazing amount of detail and claustrophobic atmosphere the author manages to impart through his writing. On the whole, I very much liked it and had the ending been a bit stronger, it would have been a most excellent novel.
May 3, 2013
The author's knowledge of period history is sweeping. Razan's character is well developed. On reflection, most of the characters have defined personalities which makes the book believable. It is worth reading for the history alone, never mind the characters. The violence, hate, retribution and suspicion are all palpable and inescapable from chapter to chapter, if not from page to page. I wanted to pass it along to my Jewish neighbor, whom I happen to like very much, but I am afraid I'll offend her when she delves into Levitt's all to vivid imagination. I'm afraid she'll ask why in the world did you give this to me? His imagination runs over the reader like an Indy car jumping the wall at Daytona.
I have a real problem with the book. It was not an easy read. It took too much concentration and that, I have decided, was not my fault. At times the author becomes absolutely manic. I felt as if I were holding a machine gun instead of a book. Dat-dat-dat-dat-dat the story and scenes flew fast and furious with no sign of slowing. I am left with the feeling I should recommend lithium or valproic acid to calm Mr. Levitt's mind. At times it was simply too, too much.
This said, I am happy I did not put it down. Even after spending $27.00 on a book I don't fall for in the first few chapters, I still have the capacity to chuck something I don't like in a book case and walk away.
I have a real problem with the book. It was not an easy read. It took too much concentration and that, I have decided, was not my fault. At times the author becomes absolutely manic. I felt as if I were holding a machine gun instead of a book. Dat-dat-dat-dat-dat the story and scenes flew fast and furious with no sign of slowing. I am left with the feeling I should recommend lithium or valproic acid to calm Mr. Levitt's mind. At times it was simply too, too much.
This said, I am happy I did not put it down. Even after spending $27.00 on a book I don't fall for in the first few chapters, I still have the capacity to chuck something I don't like in a book case and walk away.
December 2, 2012
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's smart, blackly humorous and completely riveting.
Full review over at Reading in Progress
Full review over at Reading in Progress
January 20, 2013
I love historical fiction, especially when set in Russia. This was a great read.
May 23, 2018
Levitt begins with a poem by Ioanna Warwick, in homage to the great Russian poet Osip Mandelstam who wrote in the revolutionary times in hope of social justice but fell victim to Stalin's terror. The title of the poem, 'Mustache' is the key to Levitt's satire of the Stalinist state in which even a painting of Stalin's famous mustache can get you into trouble with the secret police. Imagine the terror of being asked to be the tyrant's barber, to trim his mustache and shave his pock-marked face with a cut-throat razor.
However, for Razan Shtobe, an Albanian Jew whose family had undergone several name changes as they fled one pogrom, only to move again to escape Mussolini's takeover in 1931 and arrive in the Soviet borderlands, they encounter a train load of soldiers bound to exterminate the Kulak farmers who were resisting Stalin's collectivization of their farms. There I meet the formidable widow Anna and her daughter Natasha whose typing of interrogation transcripts and fraudulent double entry book-keeping saves the town when the Soviet Inspector arrives to purge the holders of communist party cards. I remember with pleasure Gogol's Government Inspector and at this stage of the novel, the writer has set the emotional balance more on the humorous side of satire, especially with his description of the interrogations of the peasants who have bought their party cards from the local party secretary.
Things become more complicated, and less believable as Razan marries Anna and Dimitri, a secret policeman becomes his son in law while her other son Gregori is a Russian orthodox priest who may or may not be a double agent. When in 1933 Dimitri puts Razan's name forward to be the new barber for Stalin, the party secretary ceases his objections to the marriage of his son Alexie to Natasha and Razan's new family travels to Moscow with all the privileges of a servant of the inner party. Here Anna and Razan adopt Yelena whose painting of the mustache causes their first trouble.
Anna is ambitious to become rich and Razan delights in his beautifully tailored overcoat as Levitt adds another Gogol reference. They live in the vast government apartment block along with some of the most important party members, have access to the exclusive stores there and travel in limousines. The mustache begins the undoing of their brief life in the communist paradise and from here on the novel becomes an indictment of the cruelties and injustices of that terrorist regime as the public trials and purges begin. However, for me, Levitt loses sight of his fiction and tries to extend his story to cover too many of the sins of the regime without the depth of character that convinces me to care about his creations. Satire ends and an only a much less satisfactory historical escape story is left.
However, for Razan Shtobe, an Albanian Jew whose family had undergone several name changes as they fled one pogrom, only to move again to escape Mussolini's takeover in 1931 and arrive in the Soviet borderlands, they encounter a train load of soldiers bound to exterminate the Kulak farmers who were resisting Stalin's collectivization of their farms. There I meet the formidable widow Anna and her daughter Natasha whose typing of interrogation transcripts and fraudulent double entry book-keeping saves the town when the Soviet Inspector arrives to purge the holders of communist party cards. I remember with pleasure Gogol's Government Inspector and at this stage of the novel, the writer has set the emotional balance more on the humorous side of satire, especially with his description of the interrogations of the peasants who have bought their party cards from the local party secretary.
Things become more complicated, and less believable as Razan marries Anna and Dimitri, a secret policeman becomes his son in law while her other son Gregori is a Russian orthodox priest who may or may not be a double agent. When in 1933 Dimitri puts Razan's name forward to be the new barber for Stalin, the party secretary ceases his objections to the marriage of his son Alexie to Natasha and Razan's new family travels to Moscow with all the privileges of a servant of the inner party. Here Anna and Razan adopt Yelena whose painting of the mustache causes their first trouble.
Anna is ambitious to become rich and Razan delights in his beautifully tailored overcoat as Levitt adds another Gogol reference. They live in the vast government apartment block along with some of the most important party members, have access to the exclusive stores there and travel in limousines. The mustache begins the undoing of their brief life in the communist paradise and from here on the novel becomes an indictment of the cruelties and injustices of that terrorist regime as the public trials and purges begin. However, for me, Levitt loses sight of his fiction and tries to extend his story to cover too many of the sins of the regime without the depth of character that convinces me to care about his creations. Satire ends and an only a much less satisfactory historical escape story is left.
October 17, 2019
I read a 5-stars review on Amazon stating that "The characters he creates interact in realistic ways.." I most strongly disagree. Many times I found the exact opposite, characters acting illogically and in opposition with the historic circumstances.
SPOILERS.
Early on, the former and future barbers meet in a locale that they know has likely been bugged by the secret police and yet, these two men who have never met before and who are well aware that a simple word can mean a trip to Siberia, proceed to talk freely about Stalin.
Or this series of preposterous events.
-The barber's oldest daughter gets a job at the party archives were top-secret documents are kept, even though she isn't a party member.
- She manages, unseen, to microfilms some of these documents.
- She takes the rolls outside by hiding them in her little sister's stuffed toy, putting the kid she loves in mortal danger.
Why is she doing it ? In a massive case of twisted logic, she thinks that her act of treason can in fact protect her family. And "If nothing else, the sale of the literary manuscripts to a western dealer would bring a handsome sum." as if it was an easy thing to do.
-When two NKVD agents come to the family apartment and find the hidden rolls, they're somehow able, without any visual aids, to read the content of the microfilms.
- The secret police agents are so engrossed by what they're reading that the two sisters can simply walk out of the apartment without notice.
-The NKVD agents then leave the apartment with the rolls but without arresting the barber and his wife.
-Realizing that their arrests will come soon, the couple come up with a plan to leave quickly, and talk and reminisce until the expected NKVD agents do show up.
There's more, including clumsy expository dialogues from historic characters like Stalin, Ezhov and Beria.
SPOILERS.
Early on, the former and future barbers meet in a locale that they know has likely been bugged by the secret police and yet, these two men who have never met before and who are well aware that a simple word can mean a trip to Siberia, proceed to talk freely about Stalin.
Or this series of preposterous events.
-The barber's oldest daughter gets a job at the party archives were top-secret documents are kept, even though she isn't a party member.
- She manages, unseen, to microfilms some of these documents.
- She takes the rolls outside by hiding them in her little sister's stuffed toy, putting the kid she loves in mortal danger.
Why is she doing it ? In a massive case of twisted logic, she thinks that her act of treason can in fact protect her family. And "If nothing else, the sale of the literary manuscripts to a western dealer would bring a handsome sum." as if it was an easy thing to do.
-When two NKVD agents come to the family apartment and find the hidden rolls, they're somehow able, without any visual aids, to read the content of the microfilms.
- The secret police agents are so engrossed by what they're reading that the two sisters can simply walk out of the apartment without notice.
-The NKVD agents then leave the apartment with the rolls but without arresting the barber and his wife.
-Realizing that their arrests will come soon, the couple come up with a plan to leave quickly, and talk and reminisce until the expected NKVD agents do show up.
There's more, including clumsy expository dialogues from historic characters like Stalin, Ezhov and Beria.
June 21, 2017
An enthralling novel, that owes a great deal to the kind of ironic stories in Yiddish literature, as well as drawing on many themes from classical Russian literature. In keeping with the subject matter - the experiences of Stalin's barber and his family, the novel is ultimately depressing. Even those who survive a brush with paranoid tyranny are permanently damaged. Great characterisation, excellent scene setting and well written. I recommend it.
September 3, 2022
Taka tam literacka fikcja z punktu widzebia autora z zachodu. Hmm...
March 25, 2023
Hard to get through
July 18, 2015
My freshmen year of college, after my first semester, I took a "Winter Term" one-month, concentrated course titled "The Russian Revolution through Literature" with 4 bright, upper-class history majors (I was not a history major). It was one of the best courses I ever took. We read Pasternak, Sholokov, and others and talked & wrote about them. Ever since, I've been a sucker for historical fiction related to the Russian Revolution. Stalin's Barber, like Simon Montefiore's Sashenka, which I introduced the same way, is set a little later, during Stalin's reign of terror, and it doesn't rise nearly to the level of those masters, but it still has the power to fascinate and has the same big cast of characters whose paths diverge and then, in this vast country, somehow converge again near the end. Here we follow a family--an amazingly resourceful mother, who marries a Jewish barber after the death of her first drunkard husband, and her daughter and 3 sons (a doctor, a priest, and an NKVD agent)--as they all make the nearly impossible moral choices necessary to survive the duplicity and brutality of Stalin's reign. This telling lacks the subtlety of Dr. Zhivago or even Sashenka, and the storytelling is not as effective, either, but it still manages to convey some moral complexity as it immerses us in a few of the lives of that brutal time and place.
April 4, 2016
3.5 - 4.0 stars
A good historical fiction that explores the lives of one Russian family trying to survive the madness of Joseph Stalin's 1930's Russia. The main character is the barber, Razeer Shtube, an Albanian Jew who has emigrated to Russia. A decent man, he wants only to practice his trade in peace and care for the family he has married into. Unfortunately he finds himself born at the wrong time and living in the wrong place. A good story, but dense with numerous intrigues and characters. It was challenging for me to read it to the finish.
A good historical fiction that explores the lives of one Russian family trying to survive the madness of Joseph Stalin's 1930's Russia. The main character is the barber, Razeer Shtube, an Albanian Jew who has emigrated to Russia. A decent man, he wants only to practice his trade in peace and care for the family he has married into. Unfortunately he finds himself born at the wrong time and living in the wrong place. A good story, but dense with numerous intrigues and characters. It was challenging for me to read it to the finish.
June 4, 2013
Uneven but am glad I read it. It's an unusual case of a novel where the plot becomes more interesting as it progresses. Recommended for those who want to know more about life in Stalinist Soviet Union. I think it is a convincing portrait of private life in that time.
December 28, 2013
A great novel. Fully realized characters, both real and imagined. A wild, careening plot that illuminates the horrors of Stalinism as well as any history book--better, in fact.
January 28, 2015
Interesting history about Stalin. Got a bit draggy.
March 2, 2015
Memorable and moving story set in a density of circumstantial and historical detail.
May 31, 2015
The book takes so many incredible twists and turns. It is definitely not straightforward, just like the regime the book revolves around.
February 10, 2018
An interesting look at Stalinist Russia that is in keeping with several other books I have read this year. It provides an interesting story although it does drag a bit at times.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews