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The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy
An important story for our era: How the American Dream went wrong for two immigrants, and the nightmare that resulted.
The facts of the tragedy are established: On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs fashioned from pressure cookers exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others. The elder of the brothers suspected of committing this atrocity, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the ensuing manhunt; Dzhokhar will stand trial in January 2015. What we don’t know is why. How did such a nightmare come to pass?
This is a probing and powerful story of dislocation, and the longing for clarity and identity that can reach the point of combustion. Bestselling Russian-American author Masha Gessen is uniquely endowed with the background, access, and talent to tell it. She explains who the brothers were and how they came to do what they appear to have done. From their displaced beginnings, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era, Gessen follows them as they are displaced again, from strife-ridden Kyrgyzstan to war-torn Dagestan, and then, as émigrés to the United States, into an utterly disorienting new world. Most crucially, she reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that ensued for each of the brothers, fueling their apparent metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with their feet on American soil but their loyalties elsewhere—a split in identity that seems to have incubated a deadly sense of mission. Like Dave Cullen’s Columbine, this will be the enduring account of an indelible tragedy.
The facts of the tragedy are established: On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs fashioned from pressure cookers exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others. The elder of the brothers suspected of committing this atrocity, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the ensuing manhunt; Dzhokhar will stand trial in January 2015. What we don’t know is why. How did such a nightmare come to pass?
This is a probing and powerful story of dislocation, and the longing for clarity and identity that can reach the point of combustion. Bestselling Russian-American author Masha Gessen is uniquely endowed with the background, access, and talent to tell it. She explains who the brothers were and how they came to do what they appear to have done. From their displaced beginnings, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era, Gessen follows them as they are displaced again, from strife-ridden Kyrgyzstan to war-torn Dagestan, and then, as émigrés to the United States, into an utterly disorienting new world. Most crucially, she reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that ensued for each of the brothers, fueling their apparent metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with their feet on American soil but their loyalties elsewhere—a split in identity that seems to have incubated a deadly sense of mission. Like Dave Cullen’s Columbine, this will be the enduring account of an indelible tragedy.
288 pages, Audio CD
First published April 7, 2015
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About the author
Masha Gessen
29 books1,297 followersMasha Gessen (born 1967) is an American-Russian journalist, translator, and nonfiction author. They identify as non-binary and use they/them pronouns.
Born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Russia, in 1981 they moved with their family to the United States to escape anti-Semitism. They returned in 1991 to Moscow, where they worked as a journalist, and covered Russian military activities during the Chechen Wars. In 2013, they were publicly threatened by prominent Russian politicians for their political activism and were forced to leave Russia for the United States.
They write in both Russian and English, and has contributed to The New Republic, New Statesman, Granta and Slate. Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker, covering international politics, Russia, LGBT rights, and gender issues.
Born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Russia, in 1981 they moved with their family to the United States to escape anti-Semitism. They returned in 1991 to Moscow, where they worked as a journalist, and covered Russian military activities during the Chechen Wars. In 2013, they were publicly threatened by prominent Russian politicians for their political activism and were forced to leave Russia for the United States.
They write in both Russian and English, and has contributed to The New Republic, New Statesman, Granta and Slate. Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker, covering international politics, Russia, LGBT rights, and gender issues.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
September 6, 2015
When Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested for the Boston Marathon bombing, my husband and I got into an argument.
"Who cares where he's from?" he said. "Everyone's talking about his family being from Chechnya like that's enough to make him a terrorist in and of itself. He's an immigrant. Okay. How is his being from Chechnya any different from his being from Ireland?"
I don't know if he picked Ireland because it's a country he's heard of, because I'm Irish, or because we're both old enough to remember a time when saying you were from Ireland would lead a listener to thoughts of (and possibly questions about) the IRA. I do know that he's someone who's morally opposed to putting people in ill-fitting boxes, and he'd just come home from a long day with coworkers who had no problem with the idea that Muslim immigrant = terrorist just waitin' to happen.
"I understand what you mean," I said. "And I know everyone's being a big collective idiot about he and his brother being Muslims, and I'm sick of it, too. But there's something wrong with your example. There's something more going on than that. Being from Ireland isn't anything like being from Chechnya."
I had to wait for Masha Gessen to write The Brothers before I could figure out exactly what I meant. I felt vindicated when I got to page 60 and read this:
American society, perhaps more than some others, goes through distinct cycles, separated by shifts in the national psyche. But to a new immigrant, nothing was here before – and there is no inkling that things will be different after. There is only the mood of the present moment, and this mood becomes what America feels like. The Tsarnaevs arrived a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington had united Americans in fear.
This was the idea I'd been feeling around for that tired night in the kitchen when I'd been trying to argue with my husband and wash the dishes at the same time and had ended by doing a lousy job at both. Being an immigrant is tough no matter where you're from or how much you wanted to live in your new country. Being an immigrant from a country most Americans have only heard of in relation to the War on Terror – well, that makes you the redheaded stepchild of the immigrant family, to say the least.
That's the story Gessen tells. Bear in mind that she started work on this book practically the day Dzhokhar was arrested. I started reading it the week his death sentence was announced.
This book is not about his trial, or about how he and his brother went about bombing the marathon. It's about who was arrested for that bombing and why.
It's also the story of the banality of evil. To me, the most shocking part of this book is – well, how boring the brothers were before it happened. They weren't particularly intelligent or devout. Neither of them seem as if they were interested in or engaged with the world or even their own lives. If they had a reason for waking up in the morning, I couldn't tell you what it was. They just don't come across as the kind of people who could care enough about anything to do something violent.
They reminded me of a character from a novel I love, Lolly Willowes:
Laura was not in any way religious. She was not even religious enough to speculate towards irreligion.
I'm not naïve enough to think that anyone who commits a violent crime must be some wild-eyed fanatic and/or evil genius. Frankly, as a smallish middle-aged woman living in an increasingly weird city, I'm starting to wonder if all men are just one bad day and one cheap gun away from going on a killing spree. But I did expect to get some sense of why the brothers did what they did.
Maybe one of the points of this book is that there isn't any such sense to be had. Excuse me for quoting at length, but I think this is important:
Very soon, many of Tamerlan's and Jahar's friends would be telling the FBI and the media that it was impossible that the brothers were the bombers – there had been no sign. Surely, the friends would say, if the two had been plotting something so huge and horrible, they would have seemed distracted. Or emotional. Or pensive. Or somehow, clearly, not themselves. But this assumption was a misconception. The psychiatrist and political scientist Jerrold Post, who has been studying terrorists for decades, writes, "Terrorists are not depressed, severely emotionally disturbed, or crazed fanatics." Political scientist Louise Richardson, an undisputed star in the tiny academic field of terrorism studies, writes of terrorists: "Their primary shared characteristic is their normalcy, insofar as we understand the term. Psychological studies of terrorism are virtually unanimous on this point."
Nor do terrorists tend to behave out of character just before committing an act that, to them, appears perfectly rational and fully justified. One of the September 11 hijackers called his wife in Germany on the morning of the attacks to tell her he loved her; she apparently heard nothing extraordinary in his voice. Having made the decision to commit an act of terrorism, the future bomber – even a suicide bomber – develops, it would appear, a sort of two-track mind. On one track, life goes on exactly as before; on the other, he is preparing for the event that will disrupt his life or even end it. It is precisely the ordinary nature of the man and the extraordinary effect of the act about to be committed that ensure the two tracks never cross.
This passage kept coming to mind as I listened to a news report about the mother of the gunman in the recent shooting at a Tunisian beach. The woman was horrified by what her son had done, and was frantically trying to make sense of it. What had she missed? Her son – an electrical engineering student who had a girlfriend and liked soccer and break-dancing – was outstandingly ordinary.
I might have had trouble believing that before I read this book. I have no trouble believing it now.
Sadly, I think The Brothers should be required reading. The history it covers is interesting; the ideas it offers are vital.
"Who cares where he's from?" he said. "Everyone's talking about his family being from Chechnya like that's enough to make him a terrorist in and of itself. He's an immigrant. Okay. How is his being from Chechnya any different from his being from Ireland?"
I don't know if he picked Ireland because it's a country he's heard of, because I'm Irish, or because we're both old enough to remember a time when saying you were from Ireland would lead a listener to thoughts of (and possibly questions about) the IRA. I do know that he's someone who's morally opposed to putting people in ill-fitting boxes, and he'd just come home from a long day with coworkers who had no problem with the idea that Muslim immigrant = terrorist just waitin' to happen.
"I understand what you mean," I said. "And I know everyone's being a big collective idiot about he and his brother being Muslims, and I'm sick of it, too. But there's something wrong with your example. There's something more going on than that. Being from Ireland isn't anything like being from Chechnya."
I had to wait for Masha Gessen to write The Brothers before I could figure out exactly what I meant. I felt vindicated when I got to page 60 and read this:
American society, perhaps more than some others, goes through distinct cycles, separated by shifts in the national psyche. But to a new immigrant, nothing was here before – and there is no inkling that things will be different after. There is only the mood of the present moment, and this mood becomes what America feels like. The Tsarnaevs arrived a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington had united Americans in fear.
This was the idea I'd been feeling around for that tired night in the kitchen when I'd been trying to argue with my husband and wash the dishes at the same time and had ended by doing a lousy job at both. Being an immigrant is tough no matter where you're from or how much you wanted to live in your new country. Being an immigrant from a country most Americans have only heard of in relation to the War on Terror – well, that makes you the redheaded stepchild of the immigrant family, to say the least.
That's the story Gessen tells. Bear in mind that she started work on this book practically the day Dzhokhar was arrested. I started reading it the week his death sentence was announced.
This book is not about his trial, or about how he and his brother went about bombing the marathon. It's about who was arrested for that bombing and why.
It's also the story of the banality of evil. To me, the most shocking part of this book is – well, how boring the brothers were before it happened. They weren't particularly intelligent or devout. Neither of them seem as if they were interested in or engaged with the world or even their own lives. If they had a reason for waking up in the morning, I couldn't tell you what it was. They just don't come across as the kind of people who could care enough about anything to do something violent.
They reminded me of a character from a novel I love, Lolly Willowes:
Laura was not in any way religious. She was not even religious enough to speculate towards irreligion.
I'm not naïve enough to think that anyone who commits a violent crime must be some wild-eyed fanatic and/or evil genius. Frankly, as a smallish middle-aged woman living in an increasingly weird city, I'm starting to wonder if all men are just one bad day and one cheap gun away from going on a killing spree. But I did expect to get some sense of why the brothers did what they did.
Maybe one of the points of this book is that there isn't any such sense to be had. Excuse me for quoting at length, but I think this is important:
Very soon, many of Tamerlan's and Jahar's friends would be telling the FBI and the media that it was impossible that the brothers were the bombers – there had been no sign. Surely, the friends would say, if the two had been plotting something so huge and horrible, they would have seemed distracted. Or emotional. Or pensive. Or somehow, clearly, not themselves. But this assumption was a misconception. The psychiatrist and political scientist Jerrold Post, who has been studying terrorists for decades, writes, "Terrorists are not depressed, severely emotionally disturbed, or crazed fanatics." Political scientist Louise Richardson, an undisputed star in the tiny academic field of terrorism studies, writes of terrorists: "Their primary shared characteristic is their normalcy, insofar as we understand the term. Psychological studies of terrorism are virtually unanimous on this point."
Nor do terrorists tend to behave out of character just before committing an act that, to them, appears perfectly rational and fully justified. One of the September 11 hijackers called his wife in Germany on the morning of the attacks to tell her he loved her; she apparently heard nothing extraordinary in his voice. Having made the decision to commit an act of terrorism, the future bomber – even a suicide bomber – develops, it would appear, a sort of two-track mind. On one track, life goes on exactly as before; on the other, he is preparing for the event that will disrupt his life or even end it. It is precisely the ordinary nature of the man and the extraordinary effect of the act about to be committed that ensure the two tracks never cross.
This passage kept coming to mind as I listened to a news report about the mother of the gunman in the recent shooting at a Tunisian beach. The woman was horrified by what her son had done, and was frantically trying to make sense of it. What had she missed? Her son – an electrical engineering student who had a girlfriend and liked soccer and break-dancing – was outstandingly ordinary.
I might have had trouble believing that before I read this book. I have no trouble believing it now.
Sadly, I think The Brothers should be required reading. The history it covers is interesting; the ideas it offers are vital.
November 5, 2019
I read this book in an effort to gain some understanding of how two young men could commit the atrocities they did. Either I was unable to find a place of objectivity or there was sadly not much in these two to understand. I was completely on board at the start as Gessen provides some historical background. Yet as she draws closer to the childhood and adolescence of the Tsarnaevs the book loses steam. There are so many other characters introduced that their story almost fades into the background. My other conclusion is that Tamerlan and his younger brother Dzhokhar were two directionless products of their environment. There are simply no answers that can explain their actions, be they easy or difficult to understand.
March 25, 2019
“So what if a kid dies, God will take care of him.” Tamerlan Tsarnaev
“Terrorism has become a festering wound. It is an enemy of humanity.” wrote the late former prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On April 15, 2013, two dysfunctional angry young brothers carried out the Boston marathon bombings. The oldest brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was a non-practicing Muslim who only became an Islamist militant when his dream of becoming an Olympic boxer ended. At the time of the attack he was twenty-six years old, married, a father, unhappy and unemployed. The youngest brother, Dzhokhar, 19 years old, was a puppy dog to the older brother, a kid who had followed his older sibling and crossed the dark side.
This compelling book is the history of the Tsarnaev family, starting with the grandparents and the parents. The family had been of Chechen descent and wars/ persecution had forced them to relocate over and over, first from Chechnya, then to Kyrgyzstan, then to Dagestan, Russia, The parents and Dzhokhar came over to America in 2002 for ninety days on a tourist visa, when he was eight. The older brother, Tamerlan stayed with his uncle and arrived two years later. The family claimed asylum and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Russian Author and Journalist, Masha Gessen has written an excellent book that was personal to her in a lot of ways. She and her family were also exiles just like the Tsarnaev family were, when she just a teenager. Later she was literally forced out of Russia due to her books about Putin. Gessen believes that very little of the brothers terrorism activities were pre-planned. She does not believe that the brothers received training from Al-Queda or Isis but rather pulled off their own ghastly deeds in Boston by themselves with some help. Unlike the media and law enforcement. Gessen does not buy they were radicalized but more that the brothers had no real sense of identity and were desperately looking for something “meaningful” to grasp onto. They were failing terribly in their own personal lives, they were "nobodies" and this was something big and terrible to attach themselves to, it gave their lives meaning.
Tamerlain was killed during a shootout with the police after the bombing. Dzhokhar was captured, had a public trial and sentenced to death. “He put a shame; he put a shame on our family. The Tsarni family! He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity!” said his Uncle Ruslan Tsarni. Four stars for a well-written book.
“Terrorism has become a festering wound. It is an enemy of humanity.” wrote the late former prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On April 15, 2013, two dysfunctional angry young brothers carried out the Boston marathon bombings. The oldest brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was a non-practicing Muslim who only became an Islamist militant when his dream of becoming an Olympic boxer ended. At the time of the attack he was twenty-six years old, married, a father, unhappy and unemployed. The youngest brother, Dzhokhar, 19 years old, was a puppy dog to the older brother, a kid who had followed his older sibling and crossed the dark side.
This compelling book is the history of the Tsarnaev family, starting with the grandparents and the parents. The family had been of Chechen descent and wars/ persecution had forced them to relocate over and over, first from Chechnya, then to Kyrgyzstan, then to Dagestan, Russia, The parents and Dzhokhar came over to America in 2002 for ninety days on a tourist visa, when he was eight. The older brother, Tamerlan stayed with his uncle and arrived two years later. The family claimed asylum and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Russian Author and Journalist, Masha Gessen has written an excellent book that was personal to her in a lot of ways. She and her family were also exiles just like the Tsarnaev family were, when she just a teenager. Later she was literally forced out of Russia due to her books about Putin. Gessen believes that very little of the brothers terrorism activities were pre-planned. She does not believe that the brothers received training from Al-Queda or Isis but rather pulled off their own ghastly deeds in Boston by themselves with some help. Unlike the media and law enforcement. Gessen does not buy they were radicalized but more that the brothers had no real sense of identity and were desperately looking for something “meaningful” to grasp onto. They were failing terribly in their own personal lives, they were "nobodies" and this was something big and terrible to attach themselves to, it gave their lives meaning.
Tamerlain was killed during a shootout with the police after the bombing. Dzhokhar was captured, had a public trial and sentenced to death. “He put a shame; he put a shame on our family. The Tsarni family! He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity!” said his Uncle Ruslan Tsarni. Four stars for a well-written book.
June 6, 2015
Well alrighty then. This looked so promising from the New Books shelf, I actually put down something else I was going to take. While it kept my interest, this book frustrated the ever loving crap out of me.
She starts well, giving some background on Chechnya, it's problems with Russia, etc. There's a lot of background about the Tsarnaev families movements hither and yon, along with a time line and the most God-awful map "illustrating" said travels. Much time then is spent telling us of the Tsarnaevs and their various difficulties adjusting to life in Boston.
But hey, it's Boston, so we get that, right?
Then the bombing happened.
There, that's just about as much time as she spends discussing that. But, to be fair she explains at the beginning this is not a book about the bombing, but instead about the Tsarnaev's and their Chechen connection, and well....pretty much everything that really is in the book. Anyway, I THINK that's what's in the book.
Let's see what we get, in no particular order, because apparently there is no Russian translation for "chronology".
- A quite detailed history of Dzhohkar's (we are told to call him Jahar because he prefers that) college buddies, how they live, that they like X-Box, that they smoke tons of weed ( I know, damn college kids), apparently never go to class and then after probably the most traumatic event in their lifetimes occurs, they display what is either a level of stupidity inconceivable in anyone that isn't an actual cartoon character, or all of the reefer suddenly escaped from their brains and they hatched an incredibly stupid SOUNDING explanation which they gave the FBI apparently with straight faces. In view of all of them later being indicted and convicted, I think the first explanation more likely.
- Russia has been very, very mean to Chechnya.
- Chechnyan men are pretty much expected to beat their women.
- Tamerlan was apparently quite the scholar when he set his mind to it.
And so on.
She ends this confusing mess with several chapters that aimlessly wander. Maybe she got into Jahar's stash, I dunno.....
We weave from various alternative conspiracy theories. So maybe the Idiot Brothers did this alone, or they were aided by (pick one!): The Russian Secret Service, the CIA, FBI, Chechen radicals, free radicals, (just seeing if you're still paying attention) or Muslims.
We're lead through our oppressed pal Jahar's tribulations in jail. Almost nothing about Tamerlan after the bombing, because he dead ya know. Runned over by his own bro, Jahar who was driving the hijacked SUV.
She tries to have her borscht and eat it too by first saying that conspiracy theories are trash in general, then gives us a chapter on how the FBI does exactly what that particular theory suggests.
Oh, and the colors of the backpacks in the surveillance videos aren't precisely as described by Jahar's buddies. Ya know, the blazed X-Boxers? OH! And there's a mysterious red baseball cap involved. Some guy in the video has a red cap. And one of the stoners took a red cap from Jahar's room after the bombing because it looked good on him.
She outright lies by describing the boy's mom as very attractive. Go ahead and do your Google, I'll be right here.
See?
Now here's my biggest beef with this book. I'm going to give her some leeway on the basic regional history. But, sooooooooo much of this book depends on recalled conversations, interviews, transcripts of legal documents and the like. And not a single motherfucking end note, list of references or anything. I am not suggesting she didn't do the research, just wondering out loud where the hell it is? Seriously, you can read a book about some historic sea battle between the U.S. and Japan, you get hundreds of bookmarks and 40 pages of endnotes.
Maybe in Russia, Reference Pages make you! Been waiting to use that this whole time!
She starts well, giving some background on Chechnya, it's problems with Russia, etc. There's a lot of background about the Tsarnaev families movements hither and yon, along with a time line and the most God-awful map "illustrating" said travels. Much time then is spent telling us of the Tsarnaevs and their various difficulties adjusting to life in Boston.
But hey, it's Boston, so we get that, right?
Then the bombing happened.
There, that's just about as much time as she spends discussing that. But, to be fair she explains at the beginning this is not a book about the bombing, but instead about the Tsarnaev's and their Chechen connection, and well....pretty much everything that really is in the book. Anyway, I THINK that's what's in the book.
Let's see what we get, in no particular order, because apparently there is no Russian translation for "chronology".
- A quite detailed history of Dzhohkar's (we are told to call him Jahar because he prefers that) college buddies, how they live, that they like X-Box, that they smoke tons of weed ( I know, damn college kids), apparently never go to class and then after probably the most traumatic event in their lifetimes occurs, they display what is either a level of stupidity inconceivable in anyone that isn't an actual cartoon character, or all of the reefer suddenly escaped from their brains and they hatched an incredibly stupid SOUNDING explanation which they gave the FBI apparently with straight faces. In view of all of them later being indicted and convicted, I think the first explanation more likely.
- Russia has been very, very mean to Chechnya.
- Chechnyan men are pretty much expected to beat their women.
- Tamerlan was apparently quite the scholar when he set his mind to it.
And so on.
She ends this confusing mess with several chapters that aimlessly wander. Maybe she got into Jahar's stash, I dunno.....
We weave from various alternative conspiracy theories. So maybe the Idiot Brothers did this alone, or they were aided by (pick one!): The Russian Secret Service, the CIA, FBI, Chechen radicals, free radicals, (just seeing if you're still paying attention) or Muslims.
We're lead through our oppressed pal Jahar's tribulations in jail. Almost nothing about Tamerlan after the bombing, because he dead ya know. Runned over by his own bro, Jahar who was driving the hijacked SUV.
She tries to have her borscht and eat it too by first saying that conspiracy theories are trash in general, then gives us a chapter on how the FBI does exactly what that particular theory suggests.
Oh, and the colors of the backpacks in the surveillance videos aren't precisely as described by Jahar's buddies. Ya know, the blazed X-Boxers? OH! And there's a mysterious red baseball cap involved. Some guy in the video has a red cap. And one of the stoners took a red cap from Jahar's room after the bombing because it looked good on him.
She outright lies by describing the boy's mom as very attractive. Go ahead and do your Google, I'll be right here.
See?
Now here's my biggest beef with this book. I'm going to give her some leeway on the basic regional history. But, sooooooooo much of this book depends on recalled conversations, interviews, transcripts of legal documents and the like. And not a single motherfucking end note, list of references or anything. I am not suggesting she didn't do the research, just wondering out loud where the hell it is? Seriously, you can read a book about some historic sea battle between the U.S. and Japan, you get hundreds of bookmarks and 40 pages of endnotes.
Maybe in Russia, Reference Pages make you! Been waiting to use that this whole time!
April 19, 2015
I've been attending Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial over the past few months and obtained a media copy of this book. Masha Gessen travelled back to Dagestan and retraced the steps of the Tsarnaev family's life, leading up to the denouement of the bombing. Gessen is deeply steeped in contemporary Russian history, particularly as it pertains to Chechnya, and has written this book with characteristic empathy, nuance and understanding. Not only that it is written with considerable verve and was pretty much a page turner throughout. I was enjoying it enough until the end when it took a decidedly subversive tone by engaging with many of the conspiracies and legitimately irksome questions which remain around the bombing, FBI relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and the deaths and detentions of many other Chechens in America in the aftermath of the attack. The book is written with admirable storytelling skill, highly recommended to anyone, not just those who are interested in this case.
September 14, 2021
The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy, Masha Gessen, this is a well known voyeur look at 2 terrorists that didn't end up in Guantanamo and one of them actually caught alive, then went through, widely publisied U.S judicial system. Being young, an idiot, easily lead, massive chips on their shoulders, all fatal ingredients, in building up in their minds a fantastic solution for Muslim injustice, that they were righteous crusaders and killing innocent morning runners and injuring hundreds more would give them paradise in eternity.
They were not even born or lived through any of that history, their relations, parents managed to get to the U.S to try and start again, for a fresh start, these brothers went back, got involved. What a brutal world we inhabit. Two completely lost youths, I do kind of understand the why, If anything on one hand I got nothing from this, yet on the other hand, I got a whole lot. It delved into some enormous social failures. The violent history between Chechens and Russians. The way investigating officers used dubious methods to link other family members.
Bit of preach so stop now, young at risk men falling into the lone wolf world of terrorism, we need better programs and very clever people to scoop up these easily in doctrinated people, steer them towards being useful members of society, it's not a perfect society but theres always hope it will be better.
borrowed from the library
They were not even born or lived through any of that history, their relations, parents managed to get to the U.S to try and start again, for a fresh start, these brothers went back, got involved. What a brutal world we inhabit. Two completely lost youths, I do kind of understand the why, If anything on one hand I got nothing from this, yet on the other hand, I got a whole lot. It delved into some enormous social failures. The violent history between Chechens and Russians. The way investigating officers used dubious methods to link other family members.
Bit of preach so stop now, young at risk men falling into the lone wolf world of terrorism, we need better programs and very clever people to scoop up these easily in doctrinated people, steer them towards being useful members of society, it's not a perfect society but theres always hope it will be better.
borrowed from the library
May 31, 2024
A lot of great reporting for the 1st 3/4 and then this book sorta jumps the shark into conspiracy land. It felt like maybe the book was a bit rushed and wish there was an updated version because Gessen does so great for so much of the book and then gets into total conjecture land.
August 6, 2017
Masha Gessen did such a good job on her Putin bio, I was excited to find this more recent book on the Tsarnaev brothers. Unlike other terrorists, they seemed to have too much going for them for them to commit murder as they did. Unfortunately this book is nowhere near the standard of the Putin book. The brothers have less going for them than it seemed, but so much is half reported its hard to know them.
The book started off well enough with Gessen, relating the culture and history from which the parents, Anzor and Zubeidat, emerged. Gessen, having visited their several “home towns”, gives enough background so that you understand the horror of the previous generation and the dull and poor environment Anzor and Zubeidat left. Anzor was Chechen (but never lived in Checknya) and Zubeidat was Avar, making them outsiders wherever they went.
Anzor and Zubeidat went to Boston on tourist visas and later applied for asylum. The did not need asylum (witness how often family members return to their home region)- they were not political. They were opportunists who after drifting around the Russian Federation, through family connections, drifted to Cambridge, MA.
While they physically left the old world (whichever country or quasi-country it might be) they did not leave the old thinking behind. Their oldest son would be a boxer, win awards and be rich and famous. Their daughters would marry Chechens no matter how unknown their character or ability to support a family might be. Their youngest son – it seems they just didn’t have time for him.
There is undoubtedly a lot more to know about this chaotic family than told here. Having had a 10+ year relationship with the family, their landlady, Joanna Herlihy, surely had more to say than appears in this book. Only one high school teacher is interviewed, none from Jahar’s college. Tamerlan’s wife (who must have a story) hardly gets a mention while there must be 10 pages on the wife and mother in law of Ibragm Todashev who may or may not be part of the story.
Without saying the brothers are innocent, Gessen lays on the circumstantial evidence to exonerate them. She challenges the video of them dropping the bags with the bombs: it is so bad it took a long time to ID the brothers. Did ignoring phoned in IDs, meant the FBI was in on it? She challenges that the Tsarnaev's made the bomb. She focuses on the rough interrogation of the friends who threw out Jahar’s back pack and Kair Matanov who enjoyed shooting practice with Tamberlan. She cites the number of FBI stings that entrap the vulnerable. There is a hard to follow thread on Tamerlan’s possibly being an FBI informant involving the triple Waltham murder and the killing of Ibragm Todashev. There is a support group to “Free Jahar”. Michael Dukakis calls him. Many Chechens think he is innocent or maybe that what he did was a legitimate response to US foreign policy. Many, like his mother (now living in Russia because she has a shoplifting charge in the US) think he was set up. These and other conspiracy theories comprise about 1/3 of the book.
The book ends with a vignette about a high school acquaintance of Tamerlan who spoke on CNN. It, like most of the book, seemed to be there to make a page count.
While there is a list of family, friends and acquaintances at the beginning, the layout makes it difficult to use. There are no photos. There is no index. There are no footnotes, despite interviews and material from elsewhere.
After Gessen’s excellent and meaty book on Putin, this is a big disappointment.
The book started off well enough with Gessen, relating the culture and history from which the parents, Anzor and Zubeidat, emerged. Gessen, having visited their several “home towns”, gives enough background so that you understand the horror of the previous generation and the dull and poor environment Anzor and Zubeidat left. Anzor was Chechen (but never lived in Checknya) and Zubeidat was Avar, making them outsiders wherever they went.
Anzor and Zubeidat went to Boston on tourist visas and later applied for asylum. The did not need asylum (witness how often family members return to their home region)- they were not political. They were opportunists who after drifting around the Russian Federation, through family connections, drifted to Cambridge, MA.
While they physically left the old world (whichever country or quasi-country it might be) they did not leave the old thinking behind. Their oldest son would be a boxer, win awards and be rich and famous. Their daughters would marry Chechens no matter how unknown their character or ability to support a family might be. Their youngest son – it seems they just didn’t have time for him.
There is undoubtedly a lot more to know about this chaotic family than told here. Having had a 10+ year relationship with the family, their landlady, Joanna Herlihy, surely had more to say than appears in this book. Only one high school teacher is interviewed, none from Jahar’s college. Tamerlan’s wife (who must have a story) hardly gets a mention while there must be 10 pages on the wife and mother in law of Ibragm Todashev who may or may not be part of the story.
Without saying the brothers are innocent, Gessen lays on the circumstantial evidence to exonerate them. She challenges the video of them dropping the bags with the bombs: it is so bad it took a long time to ID the brothers. Did ignoring phoned in IDs, meant the FBI was in on it? She challenges that the Tsarnaev's made the bomb. She focuses on the rough interrogation of the friends who threw out Jahar’s back pack and Kair Matanov who enjoyed shooting practice with Tamberlan. She cites the number of FBI stings that entrap the vulnerable. There is a hard to follow thread on Tamerlan’s possibly being an FBI informant involving the triple Waltham murder and the killing of Ibragm Todashev. There is a support group to “Free Jahar”. Michael Dukakis calls him. Many Chechens think he is innocent or maybe that what he did was a legitimate response to US foreign policy. Many, like his mother (now living in Russia because she has a shoplifting charge in the US) think he was set up. These and other conspiracy theories comprise about 1/3 of the book.
The book ends with a vignette about a high school acquaintance of Tamerlan who spoke on CNN. It, like most of the book, seemed to be there to make a page count.
While there is a list of family, friends and acquaintances at the beginning, the layout makes it difficult to use. There are no photos. There is no index. There are no footnotes, despite interviews and material from elsewhere.
After Gessen’s excellent and meaty book on Putin, this is a big disappointment.
July 3, 2015
This was a strange book. In light of the recent anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing and the close of the trial against one of the brothers, this seemed like a good pick up. I was intrigued by the title and the idea that it was not about the bombing itself, but rather what led up to it and its aftermath. I did not know and was somewhat expecting being left with answers, but the book is a little odd and I'm not entirely sure what a reader is supposed to get out of it.
It's the story of the family Tsarnaev, their origins, their struggles and their hopes and dreams. I thought the author started off relatively well, by discussing Dagestan, the place in history and geography, what sort of background the parents came from. But I have to admit, I was not as interested in the parents.
We see the family move to the US in the hopes of a better life and to achieve what some of their countrypeople have: becoming lawyers, marrying and having children without the threat of war (although the family would arrive not long after 9/11), and moving up. This was not to be so. They did not adjust, did not assimilate, and despite the talents of the family members (their mom is gifted with languages, Tamerlan was a good boxer, etc.) they are unable to achieve what they had hoped.
And then from here the book becomes murky. The author traces the elder brother's return to Dagestan, the sort of drifter Dzhokhar had become (the author states he chose the least academically challenging of the schools that accepted him, although doesn't name the others), without discussing the details. It's not really clear what exactly drew the brothers to create bombs. It's like the younger brother was a stoner in college and then he tells his friend he can build bombs. Uh, what?
The author sort drops these two once the bombing occurs (Tamerlan dies not long after in a confrontation with the police/getting run over by his brother) and focuses on the friends who were arrested and interrogated for being connected or somehow helping Tamerlan and Dzhokhar hide evidence, etc.
I've read reviews critical of the book, saying it's too sympathetic, but I think the problem is elsehwere: there's so much that is missing. I understand the author's focus, but the way the book is constructed I just do not understand what the reader was supposed to extrapolate. I do not consider myself an expert, but there were articles talking about the parents after the bombing, (they disappear pretty much by the last part of the book), about uncle Ruslan (who called his nephews "losers), Tamerlan's wife (who briefly appears in the book), etc.
The author sometimes skips around in time and I kept pausing because I know I've read other pieces and articles about pieces of this story, yet they are not mentioned here. Indeed, according to the bibliography the author relied almost entirely on books, but it's clear she did interviews too. Did she read the various news articles? She discusses some of the media perceptions and coverage, but it even with Gessen's narrow focus I couldn't help but think she was leaving stuff out. And I could not say if that was to make the book more sympathetic on her subjects, but it just seems sloppy.
This was really emphasized to me when the author states that Chechen men beat their wives to show their power. Um. There are no footnotes or endnotes, and while I understand that the author is journalist who did research and has reported on Chechnya, forgive me for wanting some citation for that statement.
There are some good parts at the end that will make us question about what we were told about this story, about whether the use of force was really justified, etc. But some of the omissions are quite odd.
It was an interesting read, but it's obviously not at all authoritative. It was worth the read, but I'll be picking up other books to supplement this one.
It's the story of the family Tsarnaev, their origins, their struggles and their hopes and dreams. I thought the author started off relatively well, by discussing Dagestan, the place in history and geography, what sort of background the parents came from. But I have to admit, I was not as interested in the parents.
We see the family move to the US in the hopes of a better life and to achieve what some of their countrypeople have: becoming lawyers, marrying and having children without the threat of war (although the family would arrive not long after 9/11), and moving up. This was not to be so. They did not adjust, did not assimilate, and despite the talents of the family members (their mom is gifted with languages, Tamerlan was a good boxer, etc.) they are unable to achieve what they had hoped.
And then from here the book becomes murky. The author traces the elder brother's return to Dagestan, the sort of drifter Dzhokhar had become (the author states he chose the least academically challenging of the schools that accepted him, although doesn't name the others), without discussing the details. It's not really clear what exactly drew the brothers to create bombs. It's like the younger brother was a stoner in college and then he tells his friend he can build bombs. Uh, what?
The author sort drops these two once the bombing occurs (Tamerlan dies not long after in a confrontation with the police/getting run over by his brother) and focuses on the friends who were arrested and interrogated for being connected or somehow helping Tamerlan and Dzhokhar hide evidence, etc.
I've read reviews critical of the book, saying it's too sympathetic, but I think the problem is elsehwere: there's so much that is missing. I understand the author's focus, but the way the book is constructed I just do not understand what the reader was supposed to extrapolate. I do not consider myself an expert, but there were articles talking about the parents after the bombing, (they disappear pretty much by the last part of the book), about uncle Ruslan (who called his nephews "losers), Tamerlan's wife (who briefly appears in the book), etc.
The author sometimes skips around in time and I kept pausing because I know I've read other pieces and articles about pieces of this story, yet they are not mentioned here. Indeed, according to the bibliography the author relied almost entirely on books, but it's clear she did interviews too. Did she read the various news articles? She discusses some of the media perceptions and coverage, but it even with Gessen's narrow focus I couldn't help but think she was leaving stuff out. And I could not say if that was to make the book more sympathetic on her subjects, but it just seems sloppy.
This was really emphasized to me when the author states that Chechen men beat their wives to show their power. Um. There are no footnotes or endnotes, and while I understand that the author is journalist who did research and has reported on Chechnya, forgive me for wanting some citation for that statement.
There are some good parts at the end that will make us question about what we were told about this story, about whether the use of force was really justified, etc. But some of the omissions are quite odd.
It was an interesting read, but it's obviously not at all authoritative. It was worth the read, but I'll be picking up other books to supplement this one.
April 14, 2015
I'm sure this will be controversial.
The first sign is the disclaimer at the beginning that says, essentially, I realize that a lot of people were hurt in the Boston Marathon bombing, but this isn't about that.
Not that this book should be obligated to be about how bad the marathon bombing was. As if. In fact, I ended up liking this a lot more than I would have if it had been a straightforward account of the attack itself, which I probably also would have enjoyed.
The author covered the wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and had an apparently-not-particularly-pleasant experience as a Russian immigrant in the Boston area as a teenager, and so that's what a lot of this ends up being about, the wars, terrorism, limited opportunity and what have you that they were fleeing in Russia and Central Asia, and the shitty (to say the least) experience they had here in the US.
The stuff on Russia's various conflicts was fascinating and I imagine would be news to almost anyone here in Murica, including -- it would seem -- people who are paid taxpayer dollars out the ass to be experts on that sort of thing.
There's very little on the bombing itself and the kids who supposedly carried it out, and even less that couldn't just be found in the wiki, I'm sure in part because the author couldn't talk Eric Holder into letting Jahar sit for an interview, especially after what happened with Rolling Stone. The kid's got enough groupies. If and when they fry his ass, it'll rival Zayn Malik leaving One Direction -- and not just because they have a similar look.
The actual story of the bombing, to the extent that it's told here, only makes up maybe a third of the book. The rest is pontificating about the ineptitude, if not full-on corruption of law enforcement, and the myriad abuses of the War on Terror, and conspiracy theories about who really planted those bombs. Apparently, marathon-bombing troof is a thing on the Internets now. (Of course it is.)
I'd say that, at the very least, the author makes a pretty good case that the FBI et al. knew a lot more about the attacks than they were letting on. You can tell she's on to something because otherwise Janet Napolitano wouldn't have bothered issuing a response in the New York Times the other day.
The first sign is the disclaimer at the beginning that says, essentially, I realize that a lot of people were hurt in the Boston Marathon bombing, but this isn't about that.
Not that this book should be obligated to be about how bad the marathon bombing was. As if. In fact, I ended up liking this a lot more than I would have if it had been a straightforward account of the attack itself, which I probably also would have enjoyed.
The author covered the wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and had an apparently-not-particularly-pleasant experience as a Russian immigrant in the Boston area as a teenager, and so that's what a lot of this ends up being about, the wars, terrorism, limited opportunity and what have you that they were fleeing in Russia and Central Asia, and the shitty (to say the least) experience they had here in the US.
The stuff on Russia's various conflicts was fascinating and I imagine would be news to almost anyone here in Murica, including -- it would seem -- people who are paid taxpayer dollars out the ass to be experts on that sort of thing.
There's very little on the bombing itself and the kids who supposedly carried it out, and even less that couldn't just be found in the wiki, I'm sure in part because the author couldn't talk Eric Holder into letting Jahar sit for an interview, especially after what happened with Rolling Stone. The kid's got enough groupies. If and when they fry his ass, it'll rival Zayn Malik leaving One Direction -- and not just because they have a similar look.
The actual story of the bombing, to the extent that it's told here, only makes up maybe a third of the book. The rest is pontificating about the ineptitude, if not full-on corruption of law enforcement, and the myriad abuses of the War on Terror, and conspiracy theories about who really planted those bombs. Apparently, marathon-bombing troof is a thing on the Internets now. (Of course it is.)
I'd say that, at the very least, the author makes a pretty good case that the FBI et al. knew a lot more about the attacks than they were letting on. You can tell she's on to something because otherwise Janet Napolitano wouldn't have bothered issuing a response in the New York Times the other day.
June 29, 2015
The Boston Marathon bombing is yet another news event where I seemed to lose focus before I lost interest. I ached for the victims but I didn't respond to the big wave of "Boston Strong" that followed -- the vengeance, the wounded civic pride -- and which seemed to outpace the magnitude of the event itself. Was it just me or were the details of how and why it happened just overwhelmed by the anger and tears? I was particularly surprised by the negative reaction to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's photo appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone. It was as if people didn't want information and understanding, only agreement and vengeance.
Masha Gessen's "The Brothers" is definitely not a book for those folks -- there's a disclaimer at the front that tries to head those critics off at the pass. This is a truly impressive (and fast!) work of analytical journalism, in which the author, herself a Russian immigrant, sets out for a deeper understanding of the Tsarnaev brothers and their extended family, which includes trips to the places they're from.
Parts of it read almost like a novel about an itinerant family whose members keep thinking they will find something better (peace, success) in the next place. There are no conclusions here, and surely Gessen will file a timely update when the paperback edition comes along, but there is a great deal of synthesis and empathy for all aspects of what led to (and what followed) this tragedy. There are important questions here about how American society and federal agents anticipate and respond to domestic terrorism. I thought "The Brothers" was terrific and quite clear -- an example of how a good nonfiction book can take a saturated news event and hold it a different way, in a different light, and offer a new kind of understanding. I look forward to reading Gessen's books on Pussy Riot and Vladimir Putin.
Masha Gessen's "The Brothers" is definitely not a book for those folks -- there's a disclaimer at the front that tries to head those critics off at the pass. This is a truly impressive (and fast!) work of analytical journalism, in which the author, herself a Russian immigrant, sets out for a deeper understanding of the Tsarnaev brothers and their extended family, which includes trips to the places they're from.
Parts of it read almost like a novel about an itinerant family whose members keep thinking they will find something better (peace, success) in the next place. There are no conclusions here, and surely Gessen will file a timely update when the paperback edition comes along, but there is a great deal of synthesis and empathy for all aspects of what led to (and what followed) this tragedy. There are important questions here about how American society and federal agents anticipate and respond to domestic terrorism. I thought "The Brothers" was terrific and quite clear -- an example of how a good nonfiction book can take a saturated news event and hold it a different way, in a different light, and offer a new kind of understanding. I look forward to reading Gessen's books on Pussy Riot and Vladimir Putin.
May 12, 2015
All I ever say about books anymore is that they are/n't interesting, which is not an interesting way to consider a book. Let's call this one "thought-provoking," then, because it's very well-written and gets into the family history and history of the fraught regions they come from, much deeper than anyone else (writing in English, anyway) has — Masha Gessen is a TREASURE — because she wrote it (mostly?) before the trial had started, it's incomplete, and you feel that incompleteness. It'd be amazing if she would go back when the sentencing is over and incorporate the trial into it.
A number of the reviews here I've read say that she "defends" the brothers, which I think is inaccurate: She allows for possibilities beyond the single, obvious narrative we've been presented with. If the angles she explores allow for more nuance/create more mystery in the story — she does not even touch on motive, not even a little bit, though she does note that the means, pre-trial, are totally opaque — then I think we are better informed for it.
A number of the reviews here I've read say that she "defends" the brothers, which I think is inaccurate: She allows for possibilities beyond the single, obvious narrative we've been presented with. If the angles she explores allow for more nuance/create more mystery in the story — she does not even touch on motive, not even a little bit, though she does note that the means, pre-trial, are totally opaque — then I think we are better informed for it.
August 19, 2021
Gessen is a pro investigator. What’s most disturbing are the conspiracy theories that abound. This is no QAnon, and yet thousands believe the Tsrarnaev brothers were dupes or innocent.
The killing of Ibragim, the seeming reasonless bombing, the skill set or lack of same of the bombers bomb making all are great fodder for conspiracies.
What’s more troubling is that five years ago I would’ve been quite disdainful of the entire mishegos. Now, Gessen points to the lawfare humanitarian groups that point out how complicit the Fbi has been in inciting feckless fools into committing crimes. And then there was the Trump Russian collusion hoax, the Michigan governor plot, and now Jan 6th, and I’m far less disdainful.
The killing of Ibragim, the seeming reasonless bombing, the skill set or lack of same of the bombers bomb making all are great fodder for conspiracies.
What’s more troubling is that five years ago I would’ve been quite disdainful of the entire mishegos. Now, Gessen points to the lawfare humanitarian groups that point out how complicit the Fbi has been in inciting feckless fools into committing crimes. And then there was the Trump Russian collusion hoax, the Michigan governor plot, and now Jan 6th, and I’m far less disdainful.
December 13, 2017
2 stars may be a bit harsh. It was interesting and I paused my other books to finish it. It had real promise, but the writing seemed rushed. There were far too many loose mentions, tangential relationships, etc that were just pointless. It could have gone the way of "In Cold Blood" that created a weird understanding if not an ounce of compassion for the killers --guilty as they obviously are. I don't think any credible source disputes that these guys were the perps but I could have been left feeling sad for them and the hand they were dealt. Instead, I just wondered if the author was wearing a tinfoil hat.
November 14, 2019
Une lecture qui m'a passionné du début à la fin - comprendre le parcours de ces deux frères depuis le Caucase jusqu'à Boston et ce fameux marathon. Et la question : pourquoi ? L'auteure a mené une enquête minutieuse et qui ose un parti pris différent de ceux qu'on rencontre généralement mais qui pousse les lecteurs, moi y compris, à s'interroger.
Passionnant.
Passionnant.
November 21, 2024
This was kind of a weird book. Although it is advertised as the story of the two brothers involved in the Boston Marathon bombing, it hits on a bunch of different topics: life in various Russian Caucasus republics, the FBI's treatment of terror suspects post-9/11, and various conspiracy theories revolving around the government's possible involvement with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. While I did learn more about the tragedy and the possible events that led to it, I was left a little confused over what the reader is supposed to take away from this meandering work of nonfiction.
January 20, 2016
I really liked this book at the beginning, when Gessen is describing the fraught history of the Chechen people during and after the Soviet times. It was also quite interesting to follow the specific history of the Tsarnaev family, how they came to emigrate to the U.S, and how they got settled here, or tried to.
Unfortunately as the book approaches the time of the bombing it becomes less enlightening. Its title is "The Brothers" and I expected to learn something about why they did what they did, but Gessen is more interested in exploring topics such as alleged malfeasance and coverup by the FBI, heavy-handed tactics employed by FBI and DHS, and "innocent" people punished excessively.
Here is the impression I have of the main characters after reading this book (including substantial reading between the lines), and reading other sources.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a thug. His passion was fighting, and he was good at it, but not good enough to be pro. He was easily enraged, he beat his girlfriend (Gessen's comment:"Chechen men beat their women"). He was a pothead and a substantial pot dealer. He very possibly had killed people prior to the bombing, including one of his "best friends"; what we know at a minimum is that when he learned that this person had his throat cut, he showed no reaction.
Dzohkhar Tsarnaev was a empty loser, a pothead whose only interest was video games and movies. He had the opportunity to go to college and was well on his way to wasting it. He also was a pot dealer, not to the extent of Tamerlan, but then again he was 7 years younger. Eventually he would run over his own brother with no more emotion than stubbing out a joint.
Both boys were treated like royalty by their families (being Chechen males after all) and had inflated self-esteems in the early stages of being crushed by reality.
I guess I won't write my own book here but suffice to say that Gessen shows considerable sympathy for more than one character who I found to be very unsympathetic (for example, Dzohkhar's three loser friends who tried to hide his backpack containing damning evidence, or another "martial arts" student and evident thug named Ibragim Todashev, who was killed during an FBI interview). The people that she describes as being unfairly rousted by the FBI, to me seem to have been reasonable suspects (for example another evident thug, reformed but probably only due to being crippled, named Musa Khadzimuratov, who gets an entire chapter to himself, from which we learn nothing about "The Brothers").
The conspiracy theories that she "reviews" (read: promotes) in the final chapter, strike me as thin. She claims that it would be very difficult for the brothers to make bombs using the instructions they were said to have used. Well, I read those instructions ("Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom"), and if they are correct, then any dummy can make a bomb. These are not bombs relying on precise explosives; all they need is something highly flammable that is contained in a pressure-resistant container.
Unfortunately as the book approaches the time of the bombing it becomes less enlightening. Its title is "The Brothers" and I expected to learn something about why they did what they did, but Gessen is more interested in exploring topics such as alleged malfeasance and coverup by the FBI, heavy-handed tactics employed by FBI and DHS, and "innocent" people punished excessively.
Here is the impression I have of the main characters after reading this book (including substantial reading between the lines), and reading other sources.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a thug. His passion was fighting, and he was good at it, but not good enough to be pro. He was easily enraged, he beat his girlfriend (Gessen's comment:"Chechen men beat their women"). He was a pothead and a substantial pot dealer. He very possibly had killed people prior to the bombing, including one of his "best friends"; what we know at a minimum is that when he learned that this person had his throat cut, he showed no reaction.
Dzohkhar Tsarnaev was a empty loser, a pothead whose only interest was video games and movies. He had the opportunity to go to college and was well on his way to wasting it. He also was a pot dealer, not to the extent of Tamerlan, but then again he was 7 years younger. Eventually he would run over his own brother with no more emotion than stubbing out a joint.
Both boys were treated like royalty by their families (being Chechen males after all) and had inflated self-esteems in the early stages of being crushed by reality.
I guess I won't write my own book here but suffice to say that Gessen shows considerable sympathy for more than one character who I found to be very unsympathetic (for example, Dzohkhar's three loser friends who tried to hide his backpack containing damning evidence, or another "martial arts" student and evident thug named Ibragim Todashev, who was killed during an FBI interview). The people that she describes as being unfairly rousted by the FBI, to me seem to have been reasonable suspects (for example another evident thug, reformed but probably only due to being crippled, named Musa Khadzimuratov, who gets an entire chapter to himself, from which we learn nothing about "The Brothers").
The conspiracy theories that she "reviews" (read: promotes) in the final chapter, strike me as thin. She claims that it would be very difficult for the brothers to make bombs using the instructions they were said to have used. Well, I read those instructions ("Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom"), and if they are correct, then any dummy can make a bomb. These are not bombs relying on precise explosives; all they need is something highly flammable that is contained in a pressure-resistant container.
April 24, 2016
This book is about the rootlessness of the Tsarnaev family, constantly immigrating between the 'stans of the former USSR and then to Boston. The first half focuses on their migrations and failed dreams and then the second half switches to the way the FBI effectively destroyed the tentative hold the Tsarnaev's acquaintances had on a settled life in the US. Right at the half way point of the book, the bombs go off at the Boston marathon. This event is, rightly, given little coverage. What Gessen is interested in is the experiences of the outsiders, rather than in recounting what has already been told so often in the newspapers. She isn't sympathetic about the crime - the brothers appear as rather hopeless stoners - she simply is looking at what happened both before and after the event to their families and to those around them. What is missing in this book is the voices of the protagonists. By this I don't mean the brothers - one was dead and the other in solitary confinement at the time of writing - but the accounts of interviewees are mostly recounted in indirect voice. This is probably due to the need to translate, but it did feel a little bloodless. I would have liked to hear a little more of Gessen's voice too. She is so strong and passionate when she does allow herself an authorial line, but generally she's hidden. Even so, the book is compelling and worthwhile. Reading the book taught me a little more about Chechnya and Dagestan and about FBI investigations, and the struggles of the mother, Zabadait, have occupied my mind often. I love this kind of thoughtful, long-form reporting.
June 13, 2023
The historical context of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Russian involvement was good to know, but I felt this book was boring. It was a slog to get through. I found myself racing to finish it. It did get better at times, but there were too many people included in the story. I found the side stories interesting, but those stories didn't say much about the brothers themselves. I did come to the same conclusion that the author did, and that the scary thing is the brothers were not radicalized, per se, but very ordinary and just disappointed with their own lives.
July 31, 2015
This book was disappointing overall. The background on the conflict in Checyna was interesting and informative but the heart of the book should have been the brothers. One would think, given the title, that this book would have attempted to unpack the motivations of the brothers, or at the very least attempt to understand their relationship. Instead the second half of the book seems to focus on a half-baked conspiracy theory that suggests the FBI targets immigrants. Don't waste your time.
May 30, 2015
This book provides interesting background about the family's life in Chechnya and Cambridge and details the events leading up to the Boston Marathon tragedy. Overall, it was an informative read, although I don't think the conspiracy theory elements were necessary. They detracted from my ability to trust the objectivity of the information being presented.
July 5, 2020
This (like Pilgrim's Wilderness) was another book that has long been on my to-read list and when it finally came up I was like, "Masha Gessen wrote a book about the Tsarnaev brothers AND I WASN'T INFORMED?!?!?" And then I tore right through it. It was just as good as I hoped it would be, even if it turned out to not exactly be ABOUT what I thought it would be.
This book truly is about the brothers, not so much the bombing. Gessen handles this family's (and their circle's) complicated immigration story extremely deftly. There are a few times where it could be that Chechen culture was described in too-broad strokes, and a few moments when Gessen should have been a little kinder to their interview subjects (they relate with maybe a tiny bit of glee that a few acquaintances thought the brothers came from Czechia, which, I don't know, seems kind of understandable), but any book written by Masha Gessen also includes Masha Gessen as an occasional supporting character so it's fine. Because the flip side is that Masha Gessen can get a LOT of people to talk to them and as an author, they are so good at putting all the pieces together.
And there are so many pieces here! Gessen even gives considerable attention to the major conspiracy theories attached to this case, which I rolled my eyes at at first but which ended up being actually kind of compelling. And the connections they (and the wider Caucus-US immigrant community) draw between how Russia deals with potential terrorists and how the US deals with them were extremely apt.
This book was published five years ago and I wonder if Gessen would have anything to add to it now. Much is made in the book of the alleged existence of video footage of Jahar placing the backpack at the scene of the bombings, which at the time the book was published had not been released, but has been since. I also wonder what has become of some of the main players, especially some of the satellite members of the Tsarnaev's social circle who, if their own accounts are to be believed, ended up with serious jail time just for being dumb - immigrant - college kids wanting to conceal their pot habits from police.
This book truly is about the brothers, not so much the bombing. Gessen handles this family's (and their circle's) complicated immigration story extremely deftly. There are a few times where it could be that Chechen culture was described in too-broad strokes, and a few moments when Gessen should have been a little kinder to their interview subjects (they relate with maybe a tiny bit of glee that a few acquaintances thought the brothers came from Czechia, which, I don't know, seems kind of understandable), but any book written by Masha Gessen also includes Masha Gessen as an occasional supporting character so it's fine. Because the flip side is that Masha Gessen can get a LOT of people to talk to them and as an author, they are so good at putting all the pieces together.
And there are so many pieces here! Gessen even gives considerable attention to the major conspiracy theories attached to this case, which I rolled my eyes at at first but which ended up being actually kind of compelling. And the connections they (and the wider Caucus-US immigrant community) draw between how Russia deals with potential terrorists and how the US deals with them were extremely apt.
This book was published five years ago and I wonder if Gessen would have anything to add to it now. Much is made in the book of the alleged existence of video footage of Jahar placing the backpack at the scene of the bombings, which at the time the book was published had not been released, but has been since. I also wonder what has become of some of the main players, especially some of the satellite members of the Tsarnaev's social circle who, if their own accounts are to be believed, ended up with serious jail time just for being dumb - immigrant - college kids wanting to conceal their pot habits from police.
March 25, 2024
Masha Gessen does a great job with her depiction of the Tsarnaev family in their native habitat. Zubeidat was from Makhachkala in Dagestan, and she hated life there. . Anzor Tsarnaev was of Chechen origin, but had grown up in Kyrgyzstan. They met in the street in Novosibirsk, USSR when they were in trade school. Zubeidat's family was arranging a marriage for her, but she and Anzor had fallen in love and were known to be unusually affectionate. They looked like brother and sister. They feared their different tribal affiliations, he Chechen, she a related tribe, the Avar, would make their families oppose their marriage. They married anyway and moved in with Anzor's parents in Tokmok,in Kyrgyzstan. Zubeidat learned to speak Chechen. But soon they become restless and moved on to Kalmykia in Chechnya, then back to Tokmol, to Chiry-Yurt in Chechnya, back to Tokmok, then to Makhachkala, and then to Cambridge, MA. Anzor stayed in the US for ten years, then moved back to Dagestan in 2012. Zubeidat followed later that year, though the couple did not remain together.
Both Zubeidat and Anzor had gotten "law degrees" in Central Asia, but as they moved back and forth from one side of the Caspian Sea to the other, they were never able to actually put down roots and experience financial success. Zubeidat later said her main job during those years was to raise a perfect child, her son Tamerlan. Anzor made a living as best he could. He was good with cars and may have participated in smuggling. At some point, the Tsarnaevs had two girls, Bella and Ailina, then another boy, Dzhokhar. The family did not always live together in Central Asia. At times, Tamerlan and the girls were sent to relatives.
In 2002, the Tsnarnaevs were granted asylum in the US and settled in Cambridge. At first, only Dzhokhar accompanied them, but the other children joined them 18 months later. They were aided by some Chechen refugees who had settled nearby, but also by an American woman who rented an apartment to them, the place they called home until 2012 when the family split up. Dzhokhar first attended second grade in local public schools. Zubeidat wore flashy clothes and makeup. Anzor had no beard and an athlete's body. They presented themselves as modern and not particularly observant. They said they had law degrees, and Anzor claimed to have worked in the prosecutor's office. In Cambridge, Anzor began to take some jobs fixing cars under-the-table. He used the parking lot of the new condo across the street for his business, and was so threatening, that some tenants used the other entrance until 2012 when the family moved out. Tamerlan, the perfect child, was encouraged to make his name in athletics--boxing. It is not spelled out, but it appears that he was not a very good student in the US. He did well for a while, but did not have the persistence to make good in athletics, either. He began to look for excuses for his and his family's lack of progress in the US. He began to use and to sell drugs. He married a converted American girl and had a daughter. He probably murdered his good friend and two other men with an accomplice who was also an immigrant from Central Asia. Dzhokhar was the good son. He was perfectly pleasant and smiling, smart, but unmotivated. He had loyal friends in the college community, also marginal students and casual drug users who sat in the dark watching dumb movies and playing video games while smoking pot. His friends, and his lawyers, say consistently that Dzhokhar fell under the spell of Tamerlan, who had been 'radicalized' in Dagestan on a trip back there to renew his visa.
The author spends a lot of time explaining that radicalization is not a valid explanation for the tendency to blow people up or engage in a killing spree, but she then seems to take the position that Tamerlan was taking a principled stand against American foreign policy. Give me a break. I skimmed the last part, but did not believe that the dysfunction in the Tsarnaev family was a result of US foreign policy. So that affected my enjoyment of the book a great deal. I would recommend it, though, for its detailed description of this disordered group. It made me believe, along with several other books I have read lately, that giving asylum to petty criminals from war torn countries is a big mistake.
March 25, 2024: I reread this book and came to very different conclusions. Masha Gessen points out that NOBODY has ever presented evidence tying the brothers to the bombs or the bomb-making. There is no evidence of their fingerprints on the bomb parts or even the backpacks. There is no effort to do an honest investigation, and there is reason to wonder how involved the FBI and Watertown cops were with Tamerlan's drug business, the three friends who were mysteriously killed without a proper murder investigation, the huge and dangerous fighter who was killed in Florida by a group of law enforcement officers including FBI, local and Boston police, and the railroading of three of Jahar's friends from college. Having lived through the last 10 years in America, Gessen's suspicions seem a lot more likely than they did way back when I first read this book in 2015. Radicalization of young men and women is now discredited by experts in terrorism. The extraordinary manhunt and lockdown of Boston was extremely odd. And consider the shenanigans of the NYC JTTF and FBI with collusion with Rudy Giuliani in 2016, James Comey's inexcusable behavior, and the use of Whitey Bolger by Boston law enforcement. The head of counterintelligence for the last 20 years in NYC was recently found to be working with the Russians. Paul Manafort is back on the Trump campaign and they are still after Hunter Biden and his father. I am now a full-fledged conspiracy theorist and I wonder if the Tsarnaev boys were entrapped by the FBI, and were most "terrorists" that we have caught his 9/11. It's a new world. I suspect this book deserved a better review.
Both Zubeidat and Anzor had gotten "law degrees" in Central Asia, but as they moved back and forth from one side of the Caspian Sea to the other, they were never able to actually put down roots and experience financial success. Zubeidat later said her main job during those years was to raise a perfect child, her son Tamerlan. Anzor made a living as best he could. He was good with cars and may have participated in smuggling. At some point, the Tsarnaevs had two girls, Bella and Ailina, then another boy, Dzhokhar. The family did not always live together in Central Asia. At times, Tamerlan and the girls were sent to relatives.
In 2002, the Tsnarnaevs were granted asylum in the US and settled in Cambridge. At first, only Dzhokhar accompanied them, but the other children joined them 18 months later. They were aided by some Chechen refugees who had settled nearby, but also by an American woman who rented an apartment to them, the place they called home until 2012 when the family split up. Dzhokhar first attended second grade in local public schools. Zubeidat wore flashy clothes and makeup. Anzor had no beard and an athlete's body. They presented themselves as modern and not particularly observant. They said they had law degrees, and Anzor claimed to have worked in the prosecutor's office. In Cambridge, Anzor began to take some jobs fixing cars under-the-table. He used the parking lot of the new condo across the street for his business, and was so threatening, that some tenants used the other entrance until 2012 when the family moved out. Tamerlan, the perfect child, was encouraged to make his name in athletics--boxing. It is not spelled out, but it appears that he was not a very good student in the US. He did well for a while, but did not have the persistence to make good in athletics, either. He began to look for excuses for his and his family's lack of progress in the US. He began to use and to sell drugs. He married a converted American girl and had a daughter. He probably murdered his good friend and two other men with an accomplice who was also an immigrant from Central Asia. Dzhokhar was the good son. He was perfectly pleasant and smiling, smart, but unmotivated. He had loyal friends in the college community, also marginal students and casual drug users who sat in the dark watching dumb movies and playing video games while smoking pot. His friends, and his lawyers, say consistently that Dzhokhar fell under the spell of Tamerlan, who had been 'radicalized' in Dagestan on a trip back there to renew his visa.
The author spends a lot of time explaining that radicalization is not a valid explanation for the tendency to blow people up or engage in a killing spree, but she then seems to take the position that Tamerlan was taking a principled stand against American foreign policy. Give me a break. I skimmed the last part, but did not believe that the dysfunction in the Tsarnaev family was a result of US foreign policy. So that affected my enjoyment of the book a great deal. I would recommend it, though, for its detailed description of this disordered group. It made me believe, along with several other books I have read lately, that giving asylum to petty criminals from war torn countries is a big mistake.
March 25, 2024: I reread this book and came to very different conclusions. Masha Gessen points out that NOBODY has ever presented evidence tying the brothers to the bombs or the bomb-making. There is no evidence of their fingerprints on the bomb parts or even the backpacks. There is no effort to do an honest investigation, and there is reason to wonder how involved the FBI and Watertown cops were with Tamerlan's drug business, the three friends who were mysteriously killed without a proper murder investigation, the huge and dangerous fighter who was killed in Florida by a group of law enforcement officers including FBI, local and Boston police, and the railroading of three of Jahar's friends from college. Having lived through the last 10 years in America, Gessen's suspicions seem a lot more likely than they did way back when I first read this book in 2015. Radicalization of young men and women is now discredited by experts in terrorism. The extraordinary manhunt and lockdown of Boston was extremely odd. And consider the shenanigans of the NYC JTTF and FBI with collusion with Rudy Giuliani in 2016, James Comey's inexcusable behavior, and the use of Whitey Bolger by Boston law enforcement. The head of counterintelligence for the last 20 years in NYC was recently found to be working with the Russians. Paul Manafort is back on the Trump campaign and they are still after Hunter Biden and his father. I am now a full-fledged conspiracy theorist and I wonder if the Tsarnaev boys were entrapped by the FBI, and were most "terrorists" that we have caught his 9/11. It's a new world. I suspect this book deserved a better review.
October 14, 2019
3.5 stars
Falters a bit in the last 2 chapters. The history of Russia over the past 80 years and the brothers' family story is absorbing & fascinating. The description of the students fumbling and throwing out evidence unexpectedly made me laugh. There are many dangling threads that can never be resolved, unless someone in power comes clean.
Falters a bit in the last 2 chapters. The history of Russia over the past 80 years and the brothers' family story is absorbing & fascinating. The description of the students fumbling and throwing out evidence unexpectedly made me laugh. There are many dangling threads that can never be resolved, unless someone in power comes clean.
May 19, 2018
My overall impression of this one was that it was just too weak. If this had been just about the Tsarnaev brothers themselves or just about Chechen/Russian history or even just about the Boston bombing trials and conspiracy theories, it might have worked better, but the mash up of all three was very uneven.
March 5, 2023
This was a fascinating tale of a broken immigrant family that eventually resulted in two brothers bombing the Boston Marathon. It was a sad tale but also appreciate the varying conspiracy theories and the stories of family and friends of the bombers.
July 12, 2017
Ok, I absolutely LOVED this audiobook!! I have been obsessed with the Boston bombing since it happened and I learned so many things from this book that I never would've known otherwise!
A lot of people questioned why Jahar (I'm using the spelling of his nickname because I have no idea how to spell his birth name) would follow his older brother Tamerlan so devoutly, even though Jahar didn't really have any passionate, radical ideologies of his own. In Chechen culture, the eldest son RULES the family. Although the Tsarnaevs didn't always live in Chechnya, ethnically their parents were from there and that was how he raised his family. They were displaced as a result of Operation Lentil! I can't remember all of the details, but it's a fascinating, yet horrific aspect of history to read up on!
NOT DONE YET- will add more later
A lot of people questioned why Jahar (I'm using the spelling of his nickname because I have no idea how to spell his birth name) would follow his older brother Tamerlan so devoutly, even though Jahar didn't really have any passionate, radical ideologies of his own. In Chechen culture, the eldest son RULES the family. Although the Tsarnaevs didn't always live in Chechnya, ethnically their parents were from there and that was how he raised his family. They were displaced as a result of Operation Lentil! I can't remember all of the details, but it's a fascinating, yet horrific aspect of history to read up on!
NOT DONE YET- will add more later
September 7, 2021
Meh. Not sure what I was hoping for, but it wasn’t this.
December 29, 2016
I had high hopes for this book after having lived in Massachusetts over the past decade. I was working in the city on Patriots day in 2013, and I have vivid memories of seeing the first accounts of the bomb and people feverishly trying to rush out of the city. I had been hoping the book might add context to the events of the day and/or give a better picture of the Tsarnaev brothers. Unfortunately the book provides the reader with neither.
It's not to say this is a bad book, but it didn't add much for anyone not familiar with the story.The first part of the book is the most instructive. In less than 300 pages, veteran Russian journalist Masha Gessen gives a hurried account of the events leading up to and after the April 2013 Boston Marathon attack. Gessen gives the reader a brief history of Dagestan, Chechnya, the Caucasus, and Russia from WW2 to the fall of the Soviet Union and the chaotic nineties. For a reader unfamiliar with some of these places, such as myself, the book is most interesting in these parts. But, as the book progresses, she focuses quite a bit around the entire Tsarnaev family and continues to throw out tons of names and places that can bog a reader down.
It's at about the halfway point that the book begins to bring Tamerlan and Dzhokhar into the narrative. But, while the brothers lives begin to open up, their story never seems to take center stage. In Gessen's telling, the brothers are essentially supporting characters in their own movie. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or not; it could be that Gessen wanted the brothers to be drown out by history, political intrigue, and the twenty-first century Immigrant experience in America. But, again, while we see these themes play out in their lives the actual connection to the bombing becomes murkier to a reader.
It doesn't help that Gessen introduces Dzhokhar's stoner friends who could have walked out of the pages of a bad Judd Aptow script, or some of the other characters who pop out of their lives. To me, these characters add little to the story. Also, Gessen spends the last couple chapters hinting and finally dwelling on possible conspiracy theories centered around the brothers. This speculation feel out of place in the same book that began focused on such reporting and first-person accounts.
In the end, the book will likely teach the reader something about these events but not much about the Brothers themselves or their motives. They largely seem washed out by the events around them. Maybe the point of the book is meant to disappoint the reader, but it's not exactly a satisfying read.
It's not to say this is a bad book, but it didn't add much for anyone not familiar with the story.The first part of the book is the most instructive. In less than 300 pages, veteran Russian journalist Masha Gessen gives a hurried account of the events leading up to and after the April 2013 Boston Marathon attack. Gessen gives the reader a brief history of Dagestan, Chechnya, the Caucasus, and Russia from WW2 to the fall of the Soviet Union and the chaotic nineties. For a reader unfamiliar with some of these places, such as myself, the book is most interesting in these parts. But, as the book progresses, she focuses quite a bit around the entire Tsarnaev family and continues to throw out tons of names and places that can bog a reader down.
It's at about the halfway point that the book begins to bring Tamerlan and Dzhokhar into the narrative. But, while the brothers lives begin to open up, their story never seems to take center stage. In Gessen's telling, the brothers are essentially supporting characters in their own movie. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or not; it could be that Gessen wanted the brothers to be drown out by history, political intrigue, and the twenty-first century Immigrant experience in America. But, again, while we see these themes play out in their lives the actual connection to the bombing becomes murkier to a reader.
It doesn't help that Gessen introduces Dzhokhar's stoner friends who could have walked out of the pages of a bad Judd Aptow script, or some of the other characters who pop out of their lives. To me, these characters add little to the story. Also, Gessen spends the last couple chapters hinting and finally dwelling on possible conspiracy theories centered around the brothers. This speculation feel out of place in the same book that began focused on such reporting and first-person accounts.
In the end, the book will likely teach the reader something about these events but not much about the Brothers themselves or their motives. They largely seem washed out by the events around them. Maybe the point of the book is meant to disappoint the reader, but it's not exactly a satisfying read.
December 20, 2022
This started off with a really compelling and propulsive narrative but fell apart about 2/3 through, veering wildly away from the family and going into great detail about peripheral events that may or may not have involved the brothers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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