What do you think?
Rate this book
Воспоминания. Полное издание в одном томе
В книгу воспоминаний Андрея Дмитриевича Сахарова (1921—1989) — физика, создателя советской водородной бомбы (1953), академика Академии наук СССР (1953), лауреата Сталинской (1953) и Ленинской (1956) премий, трижды Героя Социалистического Труда (1954, 1956, 1962), общественного деятеля, диссидента, одного из лидеров правозащитного движения в СССР, лауреата Нобелевской премии мира (1975) — вошли книги: «Воспоминания» и «Горький, Москва, далее везде», написанные Андреем Дмитриевичем, и книга «Постскриптум» его жены и соратницы по правозащитной деятельности Елены Боннэр, рассказывающая об их жизни в ссылке в Горьком (1980—1986).
1277 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
72 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 25, 2021
Knygoje visko tiek daug, kad prireikė kelių skaitymų. XX a. sovietijos istorija, su šuoliais į branduolinę fiziką, pagarba žmogui ir kultūrai, brandi meilė šeimai ir pasauliui, globalus laisvas mąstymas, neįtikėtinas darbštumas ir kuklumas. Asmenybė, lygintina su Dalai Lama XIV (iš tų, kurių tekstus teko skaityti). Tiesiog neįtikėtina, kad geležiniame KGB narve subrendo, išgyveno, išsiskleidė tokia laisva siela. Neįmanoma išmatuoti, kiek ir kokią įtaką A. Sacharovo veikla padarė žmogaus teisių evoliucijai, TSRS žlugimui ir bendrai pasaulio krypčiai. Norisi tikėti, kad ne tik atominių bandymų dulkės šimtmečiais lemia mūsų gyvenimus, bet ir mintys, sudėtos į šią ar panašias knygas. Tik imkime ir skaitykime. Šią galima skaityti kaip gyvąją istoriją, kaip detektyvą, kaip saviugdos knygą, kaip vidinės laisvės įmanomybės įrodymą.
November 13, 2022
I write about three books here because they basically constitute a single memoir work. So, if you want to read memoirs by/about Андрей Сахаров, you should read these three books in this order:
1. Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания” (first publication: New York, 1990)
2. Елена Боннэр “Постскриптум. Книга о горьковской ссылке” (first publication: Paris, 1988)
3. Андрей Сахаров “Горький, Москва, далее везде” (first publication: New York, 1990)
All these books were published separately at different times, but, as I understand, in Russia, there was also a single volume that combines them together (Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания. Полное издание в одном томе” (2011)), which is a very correct approach.
Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания” was written mostly during his “exile” in Gorkiy. Theoretically, it should have been a normal memoir about the whole life of Андрей Сахаров. However, while the author was writing it, the KGB was repeatedly stealing the manuscripts (twice!) and tried to prevent its writing and publication, and Андрей Сахаров & Елена Боннэр were forced not only to rewrite everything again multiple times but also made huge efforts to avoid further losses of the book. Therefore, it was always hidden, copied, and secretly transferred abroad bit by bit and prepared for publication there by their children (without any hope that it could have been published in the USSR). Андрей Сахаров finished it in 1983, while he was still in Gorkiy and did not expect to be ever released again. So, the book was considered “finished” and was archived in the USA until Андрей Сахаров’s death and published there soon after he died (in 1990).
When Елена Боннэр was allowed to go abroad in 1985, she also hastily wrote there an addition to Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs, “Постскриптум. Книга о горьковской ссылке,” explaining and complementing some of the recent events described by Андрей Сахаров in his book. This is not a normal memoir and has no independent value, so it should be read just as an appendix to Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs (but quite important and interesting appendix). She was writing it during these several months when she was staying in the USA, because she knew that the KGB would try to steal and destroy this book similarly to how it hunted Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs, and it was safer and much more convenient to write the whole book in America and leave it there before returning to the USSR.
However, as we know, after 1983, there were many other important events in Андрей Сахаров’s life — there was “Perestroika” and he was released from his “exile” and even allowed to be elected to the first Soviet “Parliament” in the first approximation of a “Soviet democratic election” in 1989, so he tried to write something about all these events and significant changes, too, although he was already too old and too busy for writing. Thus, we also have another book of memoirs about the last years of his life and his work on “democratizing” the USSR, “Горький, Москва, далее везде.” This book is also should be considered just an addition to/continuation of the main book of memoirs, although technically they were initially published separately.
Anyway, all three books are just a single uninterrupted story of the life and work of Андрей Сахаров, and I recommend reading them together.
(Елена Боннэр also wrote her own memoirs, “Дочки-матери,” and this is a very different book about her own life, not related to Андрей Сахаров.)
*
Андрей Сахаров has a very specific manner of talking: dry, very calm, very exact, very restrained when he wants to be short and very detailed when he wants to explain his position as correctly as possible, subtly ironic, but overall not trying to impress or entertain the reader. As a result, the memoirs may look “boring,” especially for an ordinary reader who is not very “into” Андрей Сахаров’s life and public activity and the dissident movement in the USSR overall. It’s no wonder that this book has not been read by many people even in Russia. I should admit that I also felt somewhat disappointed, especially at the beginning — I respect Андрей Сахаров A LOT and consider him one of the key personalities around whom the history of the 20th century in the USSR/Russia is revolving, but I found the memoirs much less “interesting” and informative than those of many other dissidents. Still, I am very glad that I read all three of these books and eventually learned so much about these beautiful and essential people. I would say that the memoirs should be perceived as a bitter but necessary medicine — it’s not much fun to read them most of the time but you would be much, much healthier and wholesome when you read them.
The memoirs are divided into two distinctive parts: pre-dissident and dissident life. As you know, in his “pre-dissident” life, Андрей Сахаров was a physicist who worked in the area of mass-destruction weapons. Alas, if you expect a lot of interesting stuff about the subject, you would be very disappointed. Андрей Сахаров considered himself tied with the signed non-disclosure agreements about all the “secret” aspects of this work, so he talked about all this very vaguely (and as he died while the USSR was still alive, he never broke his liability, despite all the humiliations and violations the Soviets committed towards him). Therefore, we would never know much about this part of his life from him. Mostly, this half of the book is about physics, and he talks a lot about it (literally pages and pages of VERY technical explanations of various physical phenomena and problems ))) — if I read a text version of the book, I would skip all this, of course, but as it is impossible with the audiobook, I just rolled my eyes )).
The “dissident” part of the book (which interested me the most) also may look somewhat disappointing — as I said, Андрей Сахаров is quite dry and calm, even if he talks about the most outrageous and mind-blowing things. Nevertheless, over time, all the information he provides is gradually revealing some very interesting story, which is one of the most important stories of anti-Soviet resistance overall. I appreciated everything I learned from this book, and I actually learned a lot, although I initially had an illusion that “I already know all this.” Among other things, this book probably gives the most comprehensive understanding of all the mechanisms the KGB used toward dissidents in order to force them into submission. As we know, Андрей Сахаров was never imprisoned, sent to a psychiatric hospital, or physically attacked, but he had his own (and very impressive) share of all sorts of pressure, most of which are extremely disgusting and morally/socially/ intellectually disabling. Sometimes, it looks like the KGB enjoyed using Андрей Сахаров as a lab rabbit for trying new and new “techniques” of making life unbearable while they had just one limitation — not to harm/imprison him overtly/directly. Everything else was their special entertainment for dozens of years. So yeah, you can learn and understand a lot about the KGB from this book.
Well, I can only recommend these books and learning about Андрей Сахаров as much as you can if you haven’t already. I would not even quote anything here: there were many interesting observations in the memoirs, but it would be wrong to focus on them rather than on the personality of the author and his immense role in history overall.
I regret that Андрей Сахаров died in 1989 and has not seen the end of the USSR. I regret that his memoirs were written under such pressure and with so many limitations that he obviously could not tell everything he wanted to talk about. I regret that he did not have time for a more considerate analysis of what the USSR was exactly and why it had to be destroyed (he obviously had one of the clearest and firmest understandings of its criminal and unlawful nature overall but, sadly, had no opportunity to reflect about it publicly and express his intolerance to everything “Soviet” so he just insisted on the necessity to “reform” and “democratize” the USSR to the very end). However, I am sure that if Андрей Сахаров lived a little longer (another 5 or 10 years), he would have become one of the most influential anti-Soviet intellectuals/politicians and probably changed the fate of Russia forever, similarly to how Lech Wałęsa and “Solidarność” changed Poland forever.
I also was very glad to learn more about Елена Боннэр and her beautiful and extremely important partnership with Андрей Сахаров. Partly because of our usual reluctance to see an independent personality behind a woman who is also a partner of a famous man, partly because of a powerful “anti-Боннэр” campaign the Soviets led, we tend not to think about Елена Боннэр much beyond “the wife of Андрей Сахаров.” Meanwhile, both from Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs and her own books, it is very obvious that she was an extraordinary, talented, highly intelligent, strong personality, and what a blessing their marriage was for both of them, on a personal, intimate level and as a great example of two people doing history together. I understand perfectly why the Soviets hated her so severely )). I love and respect them both very much, as individuals and together.
1. Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания” (first publication: New York, 1990)
2. Елена Боннэр “Постскриптум. Книга о горьковской ссылке” (first publication: Paris, 1988)
3. Андрей Сахаров “Горький, Москва, далее везде” (first publication: New York, 1990)
All these books were published separately at different times, but, as I understand, in Russia, there was also a single volume that combines them together (Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания. Полное издание в одном томе” (2011)), which is a very correct approach.
Андрей Сахаров “Воспоминания” was written mostly during his “exile” in Gorkiy. Theoretically, it should have been a normal memoir about the whole life of Андрей Сахаров. However, while the author was writing it, the KGB was repeatedly stealing the manuscripts (twice!) and tried to prevent its writing and publication, and Андрей Сахаров & Елена Боннэр were forced not only to rewrite everything again multiple times but also made huge efforts to avoid further losses of the book. Therefore, it was always hidden, copied, and secretly transferred abroad bit by bit and prepared for publication there by their children (without any hope that it could have been published in the USSR). Андрей Сахаров finished it in 1983, while he was still in Gorkiy and did not expect to be ever released again. So, the book was considered “finished” and was archived in the USA until Андрей Сахаров’s death and published there soon after he died (in 1990).
When Елена Боннэр was allowed to go abroad in 1985, she also hastily wrote there an addition to Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs, “Постскриптум. Книга о горьковской ссылке,” explaining and complementing some of the recent events described by Андрей Сахаров in his book. This is not a normal memoir and has no independent value, so it should be read just as an appendix to Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs (but quite important and interesting appendix). She was writing it during these several months when she was staying in the USA, because she knew that the KGB would try to steal and destroy this book similarly to how it hunted Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs, and it was safer and much more convenient to write the whole book in America and leave it there before returning to the USSR.
However, as we know, after 1983, there were many other important events in Андрей Сахаров’s life — there was “Perestroika” and he was released from his “exile” and even allowed to be elected to the first Soviet “Parliament” in the first approximation of a “Soviet democratic election” in 1989, so he tried to write something about all these events and significant changes, too, although he was already too old and too busy for writing. Thus, we also have another book of memoirs about the last years of his life and his work on “democratizing” the USSR, “Горький, Москва, далее везде.” This book is also should be considered just an addition to/continuation of the main book of memoirs, although technically they were initially published separately.
Anyway, all three books are just a single uninterrupted story of the life and work of Андрей Сахаров, and I recommend reading them together.
(Елена Боннэр also wrote her own memoirs, “Дочки-матери,” and this is a very different book about her own life, not related to Андрей Сахаров.)
*
Андрей Сахаров has a very specific manner of talking: dry, very calm, very exact, very restrained when he wants to be short and very detailed when he wants to explain his position as correctly as possible, subtly ironic, but overall not trying to impress or entertain the reader. As a result, the memoirs may look “boring,” especially for an ordinary reader who is not very “into” Андрей Сахаров’s life and public activity and the dissident movement in the USSR overall. It’s no wonder that this book has not been read by many people even in Russia. I should admit that I also felt somewhat disappointed, especially at the beginning — I respect Андрей Сахаров A LOT and consider him one of the key personalities around whom the history of the 20th century in the USSR/Russia is revolving, but I found the memoirs much less “interesting” and informative than those of many other dissidents. Still, I am very glad that I read all three of these books and eventually learned so much about these beautiful and essential people. I would say that the memoirs should be perceived as a bitter but necessary medicine — it’s not much fun to read them most of the time but you would be much, much healthier and wholesome when you read them.
The memoirs are divided into two distinctive parts: pre-dissident and dissident life. As you know, in his “pre-dissident” life, Андрей Сахаров was a physicist who worked in the area of mass-destruction weapons. Alas, if you expect a lot of interesting stuff about the subject, you would be very disappointed. Андрей Сахаров considered himself tied with the signed non-disclosure agreements about all the “secret” aspects of this work, so he talked about all this very vaguely (and as he died while the USSR was still alive, he never broke his liability, despite all the humiliations and violations the Soviets committed towards him). Therefore, we would never know much about this part of his life from him. Mostly, this half of the book is about physics, and he talks a lot about it (literally pages and pages of VERY technical explanations of various physical phenomena and problems ))) — if I read a text version of the book, I would skip all this, of course, but as it is impossible with the audiobook, I just rolled my eyes )).
The “dissident” part of the book (which interested me the most) also may look somewhat disappointing — as I said, Андрей Сахаров is quite dry and calm, even if he talks about the most outrageous and mind-blowing things. Nevertheless, over time, all the information he provides is gradually revealing some very interesting story, which is one of the most important stories of anti-Soviet resistance overall. I appreciated everything I learned from this book, and I actually learned a lot, although I initially had an illusion that “I already know all this.” Among other things, this book probably gives the most comprehensive understanding of all the mechanisms the KGB used toward dissidents in order to force them into submission. As we know, Андрей Сахаров was never imprisoned, sent to a psychiatric hospital, or physically attacked, but he had his own (and very impressive) share of all sorts of pressure, most of which are extremely disgusting and morally/socially/ intellectually disabling. Sometimes, it looks like the KGB enjoyed using Андрей Сахаров as a lab rabbit for trying new and new “techniques” of making life unbearable while they had just one limitation — not to harm/imprison him overtly/directly. Everything else was their special entertainment for dozens of years. So yeah, you can learn and understand a lot about the KGB from this book.
Well, I can only recommend these books and learning about Андрей Сахаров as much as you can if you haven’t already. I would not even quote anything here: there were many interesting observations in the memoirs, but it would be wrong to focus on them rather than on the personality of the author and his immense role in history overall.
I regret that Андрей Сахаров died in 1989 and has not seen the end of the USSR. I regret that his memoirs were written under such pressure and with so many limitations that he obviously could not tell everything he wanted to talk about. I regret that he did not have time for a more considerate analysis of what the USSR was exactly and why it had to be destroyed (he obviously had one of the clearest and firmest understandings of its criminal and unlawful nature overall but, sadly, had no opportunity to reflect about it publicly and express his intolerance to everything “Soviet” so he just insisted on the necessity to “reform” and “democratize” the USSR to the very end). However, I am sure that if Андрей Сахаров lived a little longer (another 5 or 10 years), he would have become one of the most influential anti-Soviet intellectuals/politicians and probably changed the fate of Russia forever, similarly to how Lech Wałęsa and “Solidarność” changed Poland forever.
I also was very glad to learn more about Елена Боннэр and her beautiful and extremely important partnership with Андрей Сахаров. Partly because of our usual reluctance to see an independent personality behind a woman who is also a partner of a famous man, partly because of a powerful “anti-Боннэр” campaign the Soviets led, we tend not to think about Елена Боннэр much beyond “the wife of Андрей Сахаров.” Meanwhile, both from Андрей Сахаров’s memoirs and her own books, it is very obvious that she was an extraordinary, talented, highly intelligent, strong personality, and what a blessing their marriage was for both of them, on a personal, intimate level and as a great example of two people doing history together. I understand perfectly why the Soviets hated her so severely )). I love and respect them both very much, as individuals and together.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews