What do you think?
Rate this book
Arbat Tetralogy #3
Дети Арбата. Книга 2. Страх
Трилогия «Дети Арбата» повествует о горькой странице истории России — о том времени, которое называют «периодом культа личности». В романе «Страх» (вторая книга трилогии) продолжается рассказ о судьбах «детей Арбата» — Саши, Вари, Лены, Нины.
Файл электронной книги подготовлен в Агентстве ФТМ, Лтд., 2013.
Файл электронной книги подготовлен в Агентстве ФТМ, Лтд., 2013.
875 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
39 people are currently reading
489 people want to read
About the author
Anatoly Rybakov
26 books90 followersAnatoly Naumovich Rybakov (Russian: Анатолий Наумович Рыбаков; January 14, 1911 – December 23, 1998) was a Soviet and Russian writer, the author of the anti-Stalinist Children of the Arbat tetralogy, novel Heavy Sand, and many popular children books including Adventures of Krosh, Dirk, Bronze Bird, etc. One of the last of his works was his memoir The Novel of Memoirs (Роман-Воспоминание) telling about all the different people (from Stalin and Yeltsin, to Okudzhava and Tendryakov) he met during his long life. Writer Maria Rybakova is his granddaughter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 26, 2020
Not exactly a pick-me-up, but a great portrayal of how totalitarian power is accumulated, and at what cost, and how ordinary people are forced into complacency and submission by an extremely repressive political regime. Very scary and hopeless, and unfortunately true. The novel covers just a couple of years, during which Stalin arrested and killed millions of people in order to secure his power, eliminating any person who could potentially pose a threat to him.
May 9, 2025
До скоро, мнозина живееха относително луксозен и сигурен живот - без страх и мисли за бъдещето. Но за няколко години ситуацията рязко се измени. Световна смъртоносна пандемия, жестоки и кървави войни и конфликти, политическа и социална несигурност - новите реалности разбъркващи света в който живеем. Те владеят и определят битието на все повече люде по света.
Но нищо не може да се сравни със страха и терора болшевишки, властвал десетилетия в СССР. Уврежданията са непоправими и се виждат ясно и в следващите поколения. Защото има само три категории същества, в това болно и изродено общество - доносници, палачи и жертвите им...
Книгата отсъпва малко на предните две и се надявам да харесам последната част повече.
Ще ми липсва Михаил Юриевич...
Моята оценка - 4,5*.
Цитати:
"По статистика, в началото на 37-а година по затвори и лагери са се намирали 5 милиона души. Между януари 37 и декември 38 година са били арестувани още 7 милиона. От тях са разстреляни 1 милион, а в лагерите са загинали над 2 милиона."
"Когато разговаряш с един руснак, все едно разговаряш едновременно с всички. Няма друга страна, освен тази и хитлеристка Германия, където съзнанието да е толкова лишено от свобода, угнетено, наплашено, поробено."
"Идея, в чиято основа лежи омразата към врага, е най-могъщата идея, защото създава атмосфера на всеобщ страх."
"Върху кръв не може да се построи щастливо и справедливо общество."
"Лъжата стана морална норма в обществото, всеки лъже на всяка дума."
"Многомилионна страна, пееща, крещяща, проклинаща измислени врагове и прославяща своите палачи. Стадото препуска с бясна скорост и който забави крачка, ще бъде стъпкан, който спре, ще бъде премазан."
Но нищо не може да се сравни със страха и терора болшевишки, властвал десетилетия в СССР. Уврежданията са непоправими и се виждат ясно и в следващите поколения. Защото има само три категории същества, в това болно и изродено общество - доносници, палачи и жертвите им...
Книгата отсъпва малко на предните две и се надявам да харесам последната част повече.
Ще ми липсва Михаил Юриевич...
Моята оценка - 4,5*.
Цитати:
"По статистика, в началото на 37-а година по затвори и лагери са се намирали 5 милиона души. Между януари 37 и декември 38 година са били арестувани още 7 милиона. От тях са разстреляни 1 милион, а в лагерите са загинали над 2 милиона."
"Когато разговаряш с един руснак, все едно разговаряш едновременно с всички. Няма друга страна, освен тази и хитлеристка Германия, където съзнанието да е толкова лишено от свобода, угнетено, наплашено, поробено."
"Идея, в чиято основа лежи омразата към врага, е най-могъщата идея, защото създава атмосфера на всеобщ страх."
"Върху кръв не може да се построи щастливо и справедливо общество."
"Лъжата стана морална норма в обществото, всеки лъже на всяка дума."
"Многомилионна страна, пееща, крещяща, проклинаща измислени врагове и прославяща своите палачи. Стадото препуска с бясна скорост и който забави крачка, ще бъде стъпкан, който спре, ще бъде премазан."
February 16, 2025
През 1937 г. партийният апарат в СССР окончателно превзема промишлеността и индустрията. Оцелелите технократи и важни специалисти са или осъдени, или стават безгласна буква. Странни смъртни случаи вилнеят сред членовете на ЦК (почти като в днешна Русия, паралелите се натрапват). В училищата и малкото стремеж към преподаване, основано на знание, е заместено със сляпа партийна реторика, доносничество и насилие срещу вредните елементи в училищна униформа. А Сталин най-сетне стига до заключителния засега етап на пълно разчистване на инакомислието или по-скоро на каквото и да е логическо мислене в армията, разстрелвайки 40,000 висши офицери или над половината от ръководството и. Сталин просто смята, че по-младите кадри бързо ще се изучат (а и са лоялни), а Германия е силно надценен враг в неговите очи. И Париж, ах, Париж на белогвардейците!
Но в тази трета подред (в единственото старо българско издание) книга устремът спада забележимо спрямо предходните две. “Романтичната” нишка между Варя и Саша е толкова нелепа и неубедителна, че директно започнах да прескачам тези части, добре, че не са много. Част от героите изчезнаха необяснимо. Ниво държат тъмните гледни точки, както и продължаващото очертаване на този шизофренен, вледенен, отчужден пейзаж, който вече се е оформил в Русия по онова време. Силно свидетелство за епохата, което е належащо за преиздаване у нас!
3,5⭐️
August 2, 2016
Втората книга от трилогията на Рибаков за децата на Арбат.. Всъщност, тъй като я четох на руски се оказа ,че първата част на " Страх" съдържа голяма част от онова, което при нас е издадено като " Трийсет и пета и други години", та като я започнах отидох почти на средата. Четох я в електронен вариант, не знам какво съдържа издадената у нас "Страх" ( намира се само на старо тук таме). Изключително интересна ми беше! Тя всъщност разказва за живота на Саша Панкратов, след заминаването му от Сибир, съответно и живота на другите Арбатски деца в периода 35- 37-ма години. Времето след убийството на Киров , в което Сталин започва да прочиства страната от неблагонадеждни елементи и " врагове на народа".. Време динамично, време на терор, страх , доноси, арести. Време , в което хората са предпочитали да мълчат , защото не се знае кой до теб какво ще чуе и какво ще каже.. Аз лично, тъй като не съм прекалено запозната с този период от историята, постоянно сверявах разни неща ( слава Богу в интернет вече човек може да намери всичко). Даже не съм си мислела ,че ще ми бъде интересно да чета мислите на Сталин, и политическа история. Но Рибаков толкова добре е описал всичко, и доколкото успявам да следвам нещата, изключително исторически достоверно. Разбира се, това е художествено произведение, но цялата тази угнетяваща обстановка, създадена от репресията, целият този страх и ужас буквално витаят във въздуха.. Започваш да съчувстваш на тези обикновени хора, които са се страхували от един прост телефонен звън , или поглед на случаен минувач! Исторически тези години са оказали огромно значение в историята на СССР - малко преди страната да влезе във Втората световна война са ликвидирани над 40 000 опитни военни, генерали, командири, летци - повече от половината от Висшия военен състав на страната! Разстреляна или пратена в лагерите е огромна част от интелигиенцията - лекари, писатели, професори и учени!. Много драматична за мен книга, предполагаща към размисъл, защото Колелото на историята си се върти! Продължавам с третата книга " Прах и пепел", и препоръчвам тази на всички , които биха имали желание да се потопят в онова страшно време!
September 8, 2012
This is another big-ass Russian novel, with close to 700 pages and a huge cast of characters spread across a good chunk of the old Soviet Union, from Siberia to Moscow to Kaliningrad. It is the second novel of a trilogy, the first entitled Children of the Arbat, which I read in 2008 not even knowing it was part of a trilogy. Sequel or not, Fear is so good that I plan to move on to the third novel, Dust and Ashes, some time in the coming year.
Anataly Rybakov took his chances writing these works during the 1960s and 1970s, when Khrushchev and Brezhnev were still not ready to face the collective horror that was Josef Stalin's purges of the 1930s. For decades, the Arbat trilogy circulated in samizdat format until they finally reached the printers during the rule of Gorbachev.
There are numerous characters who narrate bits and pieces of the story, the two main ones being Sasha Pankratov, who has been exiled to a small Siberian village near Taishet for a implied slur on Stalin, and Stalin himself. Others include: Yuri Sharok, an interrogator for the NKVD (the forerunner of the KGB); Vadim and Vika, brother and sister, the former an informer for the NKVD and the other an escapee from Russia when she marries a French writer; and Varya and Nina, two sisters, one a devoted Stalinist who finds herself liable to arrest for associating with the wrong people, and the other a young divorcee who tries to get together with Sasha, but is flustered by his being forbidden to visit Moscow because he was a political prisoner.
Mind you, Rybakov's novels requi9re a great deal of attention, as -- typical with fat Russian novels -- every character has multiple names and nicknames. A familiarity with such conventions as Sasha being a nickname for Aleksander and Varya, for Varvara, will help.
The most frightening part of the books are the chapters seen from Stalin's point of view. As Rybakov sketches him, he is a frightening paranoid. Even a stray look askance from a subordinate sets him off, leading to the latter's execution after days of torture. Most of these chapters conclude with a "butcher's bill" summarizing the executions of the former leaders of the Russian Communist Party and the military.
The purges started with the assassination of Sergey Kirov, head of the Leningrad Party, in December 1934. This assassination is now thought to have been the work of Stalin, who was widely thought to be his best friend, but who was actually envious of his popularity. That theory is backed up by the mysterious disappearance of virtually the entire Leningrad Party security apparatus.
Once he got started, Stalin added other enemies, accusing them of being involved in the murder of Kirov -- and why not kill two birds with one stone? -- tools of the evil Trotsky, who by this time had left the country. First there were Kamenev and Zinoviev, who right after the October Revolution were among the most powerful leaders of the Party. Then Bukharin, Rykov, and scores of others. Then, just before World War II, he decided to purge most of the generals and admirals of his armed forces, starting with the Civil War hero Tukachevsky.
At one point, at a political denunciation meeting in Kaliningrad, Pankratov (who managed to leave Siberia as his 3-year term was up and the security organs had not yet tracked his peregrinations) has this thought:
Anataly Rybakov took his chances writing these works during the 1960s and 1970s, when Khrushchev and Brezhnev were still not ready to face the collective horror that was Josef Stalin's purges of the 1930s. For decades, the Arbat trilogy circulated in samizdat format until they finally reached the printers during the rule of Gorbachev.
There are numerous characters who narrate bits and pieces of the story, the two main ones being Sasha Pankratov, who has been exiled to a small Siberian village near Taishet for a implied slur on Stalin, and Stalin himself. Others include: Yuri Sharok, an interrogator for the NKVD (the forerunner of the KGB); Vadim and Vika, brother and sister, the former an informer for the NKVD and the other an escapee from Russia when she marries a French writer; and Varya and Nina, two sisters, one a devoted Stalinist who finds herself liable to arrest for associating with the wrong people, and the other a young divorcee who tries to get together with Sasha, but is flustered by his being forbidden to visit Moscow because he was a political prisoner.
Mind you, Rybakov's novels requi9re a great deal of attention, as -- typical with fat Russian novels -- every character has multiple names and nicknames. A familiarity with such conventions as Sasha being a nickname for Aleksander and Varya, for Varvara, will help.
The most frightening part of the books are the chapters seen from Stalin's point of view. As Rybakov sketches him, he is a frightening paranoid. Even a stray look askance from a subordinate sets him off, leading to the latter's execution after days of torture. Most of these chapters conclude with a "butcher's bill" summarizing the executions of the former leaders of the Russian Communist Party and the military.
The purges started with the assassination of Sergey Kirov, head of the Leningrad Party, in December 1934. This assassination is now thought to have been the work of Stalin, who was widely thought to be his best friend, but who was actually envious of his popularity. That theory is backed up by the mysterious disappearance of virtually the entire Leningrad Party security apparatus.
Once he got started, Stalin added other enemies, accusing them of being involved in the murder of Kirov -- and why not kill two birds with one stone? -- tools of the evil Trotsky, who by this time had left the country. First there were Kamenev and Zinoviev, who right after the October Revolution were among the most powerful leaders of the Party. Then Bukharin, Rykov, and scores of others. Then, just before World War II, he decided to purge most of the generals and admirals of his armed forces, starting with the Civil War hero Tukachevsky.
At one point, at a political denunciation meeting in Kaliningrad, Pankratov (who managed to leave Siberia as his 3-year term was up and the security organs had not yet tracked his peregrinations) has this thought:
They were all tied to the same rope. A country of many millions, singing, shouting, damning invented enemies, and glorifying their own executioners. The herd was rushing at wild speeds and whoever slowed would be trampled, whoever stopped would be crushed. You had to keep running and shouting at the top of your lungs, because the whip would hit whoever was silent. You couldn't stand out in any way. You had to trample the fallen ruthlessly and recoil from those who were hit with the guard's whip. And shout and shout to quell the fear within you. Victory marches and songs were that shouting.At the end of Fear, Sasha is surprised to hear that Kaliningrad is declared off limits to all ex-Section 58 (Political) prisoners; and he is given 24 hours to leave. He sets his sights on Ufa in the Urals, where his fellow truck driver Gleb has gone with several other politicals to start a ballroom dancing act.
April 3, 2023
“There must be those who differ. If there were no unorthodox thought there would be no thought at all”
August 28, 2021
Отличная книга. Еще более трогательная, чем первая часть. Переживаешь за героев и то непростое время. Люблю такие книги: художественные и в то же время с реальным историческим сетом.
February 18, 2014
The Arbat Saga continues and , together with greats such as Arthur Koestlers 'A Darkness At Noon' Vassily Grossmans 'Forever Flowing'and the works of Solzhenitsyn ,the Orwellian terror of the Stalin years in the Soviet Union been captured so accurately. The true characters of some of the people who we met in Children of The Arbat are revealed. Sasha Pankratov becomes a wiser,more cynical man who finally realises the nature of the Communist society in Russia. Varya Ivanova blooms into a remarkable young women who faithfully waits for Sashas return and through her mistakes,trials and tribulations has gained great strength One of the most touching aspects of the book is the relationship between Varya and Sashas mother Sophia Alexandrovna who Varya is devoted to and who sees Varya as a beloved daughter Together they help each other through these terrible times .Yuri Sharok fully integrates himself into the NKVD with all the cunning and cruely which this evil organisation requires .Vadim Marasevitch shows himself up as a spineless flunky who sells innocent people out in order to survive.However unlike Sharok ,his conscience destroys him psychologically in MacBethesque fashion.His sister Vika -as opportunistic and immoral as she can be-has to be admired for managing to extricate herself from the Soviet tyranny and through an opportune marriage resettling in democratic France where through her husband and an aqauaintance with a colourful Russian emigre/celebrity she enjoys the high life she has always yearned for.Nina Ivanova for all her blind loyalty to the Communist Party falls victims to its brutal machinations and ,helped by Varya, flees to the Far East ,to escape being another victim of the purges,to her soldier boyfriend Maxim Kostin. Rybakov's extensive delving into Stalins mind is a brilliant study of evil. Ultimately we learn how tyranny and removal of even the most basic freedoms destroys the lives of so many ordinary people . We are forced to realise the terrible horrors we create by letting power be concentrated in the hands of one man,group,clique or party
November 2, 2025
If this had been published when it was written (in 1960), I have no doubt it would be a fully-fledged international classic. Instead it sits in a dusty corner of the Russian canon. I loved Sasha and Varvara in #1, but the best perspectives in the second book were surprisingly Yuri and... Vadim!
“Some idols he found for himself - Alexei Tolstoy, Leonov, and Zoshenko had demanded that Tukhachevsky be shot. Pasternak ought to be added to them. Yes, even Pasternak couldn't stand the pressure. Vadim trembled with joy when he saw his name among the rest... “Tell me, dear, what millennium is it outside?” This one! Everyone signed - Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Vasily Grossman, Tynyanov, Paustovsky, Konstantin Simonov, Antokolsky, Fedin, Sholokhov, Fadeyev, Tikhonov, all of them...Is that considered the normal order of things?…”
“Some idols he found for himself - Alexei Tolstoy, Leonov, and Zoshenko had demanded that Tukhachevsky be shot. Pasternak ought to be added to them. Yes, even Pasternak couldn't stand the pressure. Vadim trembled with joy when he saw his name among the rest... “Tell me, dear, what millennium is it outside?” This one! Everyone signed - Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Vasily Grossman, Tynyanov, Paustovsky, Konstantin Simonov, Antokolsky, Fedin, Sholokhov, Fadeyev, Tikhonov, all of them...Is that considered the normal order of things?…”
June 10, 2018
Pewnie powinnam napisać to po przeczytaniu ostatniego tomu serii, ale co tam, najwyżej się powtórzę: to powinna być lektura szkolna. Nieocenione walory edukacyjne - i pod względem historycznym, i bardziej uniwersalnym (czyt. jak działa - czy przynajmniej może działać - dyktatura, jakie chwyty stosuje, na co nie wolno dać się złapać). A jednocześnie wiem, że nigdy do tego nie dojdzie. Lektura o człowieku, który jest przekonany o własnej, wiekopomnej roli w historii narodu, uważa się za wielkiego stratega, każe zmieniać teksty książek czy artykułów historycznych tak, by jak najbardziej uwypuklały JEGO rolę, nawet jeśli w rzeczywistości żadnej nie odegrał, który "nienawidzi tak zwanej demokracji z jej parlamentarnym bajdurzeniem", uważa, że "jedynym dobrem prawdziwego wodza jest władza. W wodzu naród powinien widzieć człowieka bezinteresownego, który nic nie żąda dla siebie" itd., itd.? Nie widzę tego.
Rybakow pisze jakoś tak rzeczowo, beznamiętnie; tak, że wszystko to, co się dzieje, choć przerażające, napawa nie tyle przerażeniem, co raczej niedowierzaniem. Nieraz aż nie sposób się nie zaśmiać, tak absurdalne jest to wszystko (scena, w której pomocnik Stalina w ułamku sekundy zmienia się z sympatycznego, godnego zaufania młodzieńca w szpiega japońskiego wywiadu, bo krzywo spojrzał na Stalina, gdy ten rozerwał kartki książki palcem zamiast nożem do papieru!). Za to końcówka, z głosowaniem w zakładzie Saszy, jest naprawdę mocna. Psychologicznie.
Moja Lena Budiagina znów doczekała się tylko jednego rozdziału. Widać, że autor nie miał pomysłu na poprowadzenie tej postaci. Za to, w przeciwieństwie do poprzedniej części, dużo więcej jest tu pozostałych bohaterów, a mniej polityki, przesłuchań, procesów. Nina wraca może nie na pierwszy, ale chociaż na drugi plan. Podobnie Wadim. Ku mojemu zdziwieniu (do czasu...), dostajemy nawet rozdziały z udziałem Wiki Marasiewicz. Pierwsze skrzypce grają, standardowo, Sasza, Waria i Jura Szarok. No i Stalin, wielki wódz wymordowujący pół wojska w przeddzień II wojny światowej.
Coś czuję, że wiem, jak to się skończy. Sasza i Waria nigdy nawet się nie spotkają. Któreś z nich zginie - pewnie Waria, jeśli autor chce naprawdę doprowadzić do spotkania Saszy i Maksyma z posłowia 1. części. Albo skończy się wielkim nic: żadnych dramatycznych wydarzeń, przyjdzie wojna, rzuci ich w różne strony i koniec. W każdym razie, happy endingu się nie spodziewam.
Rybakow pisze jakoś tak rzeczowo, beznamiętnie; tak, że wszystko to, co się dzieje, choć przerażające, napawa nie tyle przerażeniem, co raczej niedowierzaniem. Nieraz aż nie sposób się nie zaśmiać, tak absurdalne jest to wszystko (scena, w której pomocnik Stalina w ułamku sekundy zmienia się z sympatycznego, godnego zaufania młodzieńca w szpiega japońskiego wywiadu, bo krzywo spojrzał na Stalina, gdy ten rozerwał kartki książki palcem zamiast nożem do papieru!). Za to końcówka, z głosowaniem w zakładzie Saszy, jest naprawdę mocna. Psychologicznie.
Moja Lena Budiagina znów doczekała się tylko jednego rozdziału. Widać, że autor nie miał pomysłu na poprowadzenie tej postaci. Za to, w przeciwieństwie do poprzedniej części, dużo więcej jest tu pozostałych bohaterów, a mniej polityki, przesłuchań, procesów. Nina wraca może nie na pierwszy, ale chociaż na drugi plan. Podobnie Wadim. Ku mojemu zdziwieniu (do czasu...), dostajemy nawet rozdziały z udziałem Wiki Marasiewicz. Pierwsze skrzypce grają, standardowo, Sasza, Waria i Jura Szarok. No i Stalin, wielki wódz wymordowujący pół wojska w przeddzień II wojny światowej.
Coś czuję, że wiem, jak to się skończy. Sasza i Waria nigdy nawet się nie spotkają. Któreś z nich zginie - pewnie Waria, jeśli autor chce naprawdę doprowadzić do spotkania Saszy i Maksyma z posłowia 1. części. Albo skończy się wielkim nic: żadnych dramatycznych wydarzeń, przyjdzie wojna, rzuci ich w różne strony i koniec. W każdym razie, happy endingu się nie spodziewam.
October 18, 2024
Terrifying fictional account of life during Stalin's murderous reign.
January 2, 2021
De beste tot nog toe, ongelooflijk verslavend om mee in de Sovjet samenleving van de jaren 30 te stappen
December 13, 2015
Вторая часть трилогии "Дети Арбата" повествует о времени "расцвета" сталиских репрессий в Советском Союзе в 1936-1939 годах. В отличие от первой книги, где можно было прочитать о надеждах и идеалах главных героев, в этой книге - лишь мрачные реалии той эпохи. Автор великолепно описал атмосферу того времени, когда в лагерь в Сибири или на расстрел можно было угодить по мельчайшей неостороженности, когда "стучали" соседи, коллеги, родственники...
Паранойя "Главного машиниста страны" очень тонко описана в ЕГО внутренних монологах. Паранойя по отношению ко всем и ко всему. Эта паранойя переносится на все общество, и всеми овладевает Страх.
Книга тяжелая, несмотря на прекрасный язык и интересные сюжетные линии. Ее тяжесть - в сокрушающей действительности, в которой живут герои книги, а также - в детальности описания судебных процессов (а также того, что им предществовало) над соратниками Сталина.
Особенно понравилось описание внутренних размышлений и сомнений многочисленных главных и второстепенных героев книги. Нет больше настолько четкого деления на "хороших" и "плохих" как в первой книге. Главные НКВД-шники показаны людьми, попавшими в машину репрессий, откуда им уже не выпрыгнуть - иначе задавят и их, и их семьи. Даже Сталин в книге показан не как туповатый тиран, а как человек, делающий решения, руководствуясь своим природным умом, жесткостью, но и страхами и предрассудками.
Паранойя "Главного машиниста страны" очень тонко описана в ЕГО внутренних монологах. Паранойя по отношению ко всем и ко всему. Эта паранойя переносится на все общество, и всеми овладевает Страх.
Книга тяжелая, несмотря на прекрасный язык и интересные сюжетные линии. Ее тяжесть - в сокрушающей действительности, в которой живут герои книги, а также - в детальности описания судебных процессов (а также того, что им предществовало) над соратниками Сталина.
Особенно понравилось описание внутренних размышлений и сомнений многочисленных главных и второстепенных героев книги. Нет больше настолько четкого деления на "хороших" и "плохих" как в первой книге. Главные НКВД-шники показаны людьми, попавшими в машину репрессий, откуда им уже не выпрыгнуть - иначе задавят и их, и их семьи. Даже Сталин в книге показан не как туповатый тиран, а как человек, делающий решения, руководствуясь своим природным умом, жесткостью, но и страхами и предрассудками.
December 29, 2011
As the continuation of Children of the Arbat, Fear dives right into the heart of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union. I didn't however, think that it was as good, or even had the same sense of urgency as Children of the Arbat. I was annoyed at the focus on Stalin as the second main character next to Sasha, and I felt that the stories and fates of characters that we spent a lot of time getting to know in Children of the Arbat got sidelined as a result, and you learn developments about some of them only in passing. I will finish the trilogy though at some point.
August 10, 2011
Читать всю трилогию. Рекомендуется кто интерисуется историей ссср. Читается очнь легко, прочел на одном дыхании в отпуске. Видно что автор очень хорошо прочувствовал описываемый период. Изложение последовательное. Культ личности Сталина и всего полит. аппарата того времени а так же обвчного народа описан подробно и красочно.
May 19, 2024
Мне страшно жить так, как описано здесь
August 24, 2024
What an extraordinary book, this historical novel set in Stalin’s reign of fear and mind control. It follows the stories of several college-age protagonists who find themselves caught in the deadly dance of picking a path through the betrayals and tragedies, and mixes in with them the first-person story of Stalin’s evolution into evil, uncanny in its understanding of the psychology of tyranny using factual history. Counterpointed against this is the very grounded stories of people from Moscow, mostly, plus a long saga into the hinterlands, all under-girded by a deliciously poignant love story.
September 18, 2025
Към момента, лично за мен, най-добрата книга от тетралогията. Основната причина за това ? Доста по-ограниченото количество глави, които се разказват през "погледа на Сталин". А също така най-накрая и сюжета се "заплети", на ниво "интригуваща, човешка история".
Посягам смело към последната част, за да приключа тетралогията.
Посягам смело към последната част, за да приключа тетралогията.
May 11, 2018
Great book. A continuation of the Rybakov's historical fiction of the Stalin years. Characters continue to develop and the story lines stay true. If you enjoy Russian history lightened by strong characters and a good plot, this is a winner.
December 17, 2019
Очень тяжело читать такие книги. Удивляюсь, как многие вообще смогли выжить в то время.
Репрессии. НКВД. Расстрелы
Репрессии. НКВД. Расстрелы
August 9, 2023
Основные события проходят в 1937 году – этого достаточно, чтобы понять о чём будет книга.
June 12, 2025
Отличная книга про, наверное, два самых драматических года советской истории.
October 30, 2023
שם הספר : פחד , והשם הזה מאפיין במדויק את מה שמרגישים בזמן הקריאה. תקופה מפחידה, אפלה, האימה מורגשת בכל, החל מצמרת השלטון ועד לאחרון האדם. רמת הירידה לפרטים מדהימה.
*****************************
О таких, как Саша Панкратов, тоже писали в газетах, сообщали по радио и говорили на собраниях, но как о врагах, которых надо уничтожить. И тех, кто им сочувствует, тоже надо уничтожить.
Так как никто не хотел быть уничтоженным, то никто не выражал сомнения в том, что надо уничтожать людей, суда над которыми не было и о вине которых узнавали из коротких газетных сообщений.
Безопаснее было вообще о них не говорить. Лучше говорить о другом. Например, об отважных полярных летчиках, вывозивших в прошлом году со льдин Ледовитого океана экипаж потерпевшего кораблекрушение парохода «Челюскин». А если и приходила кому-нибудь в голову мысль, что спасение из тюрем невинных людей не менее важно, чем спасение «челюскинцев», то вслух эту мысль не высказывали.
*****************************
О таких, как Саша Панкратов, тоже писали в газетах, сообщали по радио и говорили на собраниях, но как о врагах, которых надо уничтожить. И тех, кто им сочувствует, тоже надо уничтожить.
Так как никто не хотел быть уничтоженным, то никто не выражал сомнения в том, что надо уничтожать людей, суда над которыми не было и о вине которых узнавали из коротких газетных сообщений.
Безопаснее было вообще о них не говорить. Лучше говорить о другом. Например, об отважных полярных летчиках, вывозивших в прошлом году со льдин Ледовитого океана экипаж потерпевшего кораблекрушение парохода «Челюскин». А если и приходила кому-нибудь в голову мысль, что спасение из тюрем невинных людей не менее важно, чем спасение «челюскинцев», то вслух эту мысль не высказывали.
February 26, 2025
Fear perfectly captures the atmosphere of terror in Stalin’s Soviet Union in the 1930s. As Sasha Pankratov returns from exile in Angara, he finds a society drunk on fear—ordinary citizens, high-ranking politicians, secret police, and even the military live in constant anxiety, knowing that anyone can be accused, tortured, and executed.
Stalin uses Kirov’s assassination as a pretext to fabricate a conspiracy against himself and the Soviet Union, launching a scorched-earth policy of purges, fake trials, forced confessions, and real executions. His absolute power is built on terror, ensuring that no one, not even those in his inner circle, dares to challenge him.
Stalin uses Kirov’s assassination as a pretext to fabricate a conspiracy against himself and the Soviet Union, launching a scorched-earth policy of purges, fake trials, forced confessions, and real executions. His absolute power is built on terror, ensuring that no one, not even those in his inner circle, dares to challenge him.
July 8, 2021
Много рассуждений Сталина
October 20, 2015
Continuing the story of Children of the Arbat, Fear is well named. Excellent exploration of trying to navigate a constantly shifting political landscape. Rybakov did an amazing job of portraying the purges and explaining how the stage was set for a power vacuum as Stalin entered the Second World War. Again, he goes inside Stalin's mind for some of the story, and again it is an icky place to be.
Every once in a while, the story would bog down, which is what kept it from being a five star read.
Every once in a while, the story would bog down, which is what kept it from being a five star read.
December 25, 2012
To be clear, I read the English translation, Fear, which is the second installment in Rybakov's Arbat trilogy. It's much darker than the first installment, as the early 30s slide into the heart of the purges and uncertainty of the years right before WWII. As with the first installment, the getting inside of Stalin's head was a distraction for me, and the characters seem thinner and more archetypal than in the first novel (even knowing their backgrounds). Still, however, a Russian novel in the highest tradition, and one of the best accounts of the Stalinist era I've read.
September 21, 2014
Raamat, millest esimese poole lugesin umbes aastal 1989 või nii ja teise poole aastal 2014. Raamat ise on räigelt hea, kui suht sünge isikukultuse, kõikjal valitseva hirmu ja karmi terrorirežiimi kohta võib hea üldse öelda. Tegelased on samad, kes "Arbati lasteski", tegevus aga keerleb ümber järjest karmimaks mineva repressioonide ja lavastatud kohtuprotsesside, puhastuste, vangiheitmiste ja mahalaskmiste ratta.
Karm lugemine. Karm aga väga hea.
Karm lugemine. Karm aga väga hea.
April 18, 2015
I fell for these characters when reading Children of the Arbat and was interested to see what befell them next. Rybakov does a great job of creating the sense of justified paranoia and I felt like I better understood the Soviet psyche after reading this book. I do wish it had ended less like part of a series, though.
July 26, 2015
Attention chef d'œuvre. Ou presque. Du niveau de "La Saga Moscovite" d'Axionov. C'est dire. Le tome deux des Enfants de l'Arbat. Extraordinaire roman qui raconte la Grande Terreur comme personne ne l'avait jamais fait. A lire absolument. Très grand livre russe. Vite lisons le tome 3, dernier tome de la saga.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews