The Naked Pioneer Girl

by Mikhail Kononov, Andrew Bromfield

A pioneer girl with the Russian army, fifteen-year-old Mucha trudges along the road to her execution. Much more than death, Mucha fears expulsion from the collective in which she plays a real and useful part. The comrades come to her when they need warmth and tenderness and she's happy in this role. (Although someone really should tell the Supreme Soviet that knickers need to be made with better elastic!) During the siege of Leningrad, Mucha takes to the air over her beloved city. She sees Stalin sitting on a red star on top of the Kremlin, smoking his pipe and drinking tea and wondering what further anguish he can inflict on his truly, a tyrant of his time.

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Russian Literature

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cititoare Calatoare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanara pioniera orfana, este sigura ca ajuta la victoria Armatei Rosii in Blocada de la Leningrad, fiind iubita regimentului.
O bucata importanta din istoria Rusie ne este redata de aceasta copila, intr-un mod socant, uneori amuzant, revoltator si trist. Un amestec de trairi care nu ma pot face sa spun exact daca mi-a placut sau nu aceasta carte.

[Calin Zborovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte ciudata...un amestec de Henri Miller/Nabokov(Lolita) cu Svetlana Alexievici(Razboiul nu are chip de femeie). Un du-te-vino real-imaginar, un monlog care te face sa razi si sa plangi, te amuza, te socheaza, te scarbeste.

[Sergey Shkuratov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fine and psychologically tuned portrait of virgin girl in non-virgin environment. It is hard reading. not kind of entertainment.

There is completely unnecessary ugly postscriptum - I set 4 because it.

[Gabriela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I set this one aside as it is unbearable to read, I dread it for some reason..