Exit Into History

by Eva Hoffman

Shortly after the dramatic events of 1989, Eva Hoffman, a Polish-born American, spent several months travelling through Poland and four other Eastern European countries which had just undergone an historic transformation. This is her narrative of those travels, and a portrait of a social landscape in the midst of change.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, European History, Poland, Politics, Historical

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Eva Hoffman is a writer and academic. She was born Ewa Wydra July 1, 1945 in Cracow, Poland after her Jewish parents survived the Holocaust by hiding in the Ukraine. In 1959, during the Cold War, the thirteen years old Eva, her nine years old sister "Alinka" and her parents immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where her name has been changed to Eva. Upon graduating from high school she received a scholarship and studied English literature at Rice University, Texas in 1966, the Yale School of Music (1967-68), and Harvard University, where she received a Ph.D. in English and American literature in 1974.

Eva Hoffmann has been a professor of literature and creative writing at various institutions, such as Columbia University, the University of Minnesota, and Tufts. From 1979 to 1990, she worked as an editor and writer at The New York Times, serving as senior editor of “The Book Review” from 1987 to 1990. In 1990, she received the Jean Stein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1992, the Guggenheim Fellowship for General Nonfiction, as well as the Whiting Writers' Award. In 2000, Eva Hoffman has been the Year 2000 Una Lecturer at the Townsend Center for the Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2008, she was awarded an honorary DLitt by the University of Warwick. Eva leads a seminar in memoir once every two years as a part of CUNY Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing.

She now lives in London.

Her sister, Dr. Alina Wydra is a registered psychologist working in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Hoffman

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, though thought the intro chapter could have been an afterword. Excellent to get an idea of what it was like immed after the cold war ended in Eastern Europe. Loved the personal interviews and thoughts from people the author met on her travels.

[Iliyana Petrova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grabbed this book not knowing what to expect. A Bulgarian myself, I managed to learn a ton of new history - both medieval and post-communist transitional history, of the Eastern European countries she visits, even my own. Most of all, I was impressed by the author’s connections - the travellogue parts really were a front-line account on post-Communist democratic transition, elite transformation, and cultural change. As Hoffman wrote about Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Sofia in transition, she did so in the company of people like Lech Walesa’s closest political ally; Vaclav Havel, the person who organised Imre Nagy’s burrial (forgot his name), and Blaga Dimitrova, and Deyan Kyuroanov. good stuff. will be reading more of her work.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the precipitate fall of the Communist governments of Eastern Europe almost exactly twenty years ago, a whole new genre of post-Communist tourism was born almost overnight. There was Timothy Garton Ash, with his excellent The History of the Present, which surveyed the whole ground even as it shifted, from East Berlin to Yugoslavia. Then a few Eastern Europeans themselves got into the act: Croatian-born Slavenka Drakulic with her illuminating Cafe Europa and now Polish-born Eva Hoffman with her Exit into History show us the changes from their own unique perspective.

By and large, Hoffman writes an interesting survey of the changes as they appeared to her over two years in the early 1990s when she wrote the book. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that she had some horrendous experiences in Romania which affected her judgment. Also, she was a little less than fair to the Hungarians. Predictably, she was at her best describing the situation in Poland, which she knows intimately, and Bulgaria, where she had no preconceptions going in.

[Jarry · Rating 4 out of 5]

a travel log for Poland, Czech, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria.
she likes Poland, Czech, and Bulgaria, doesn't like Romania.
Poland has been disappeared as a country during WW2, Czech's largest immigrants are Vietnamese. Poland is also anti-Jew in the history, while Bulgaria protects Jews in their country during WW2.
the first east Europe introduction, quite fun.

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so sane! And really interesting as well (even if I didn't look at the contents closely enough before borrowing, as it's about none of the countries I'm about to visit. Still, now I know I really want to visit Bulgaria.). Will definitely be searching out more of Hoffman's books.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about Eastern Europe, post-Communism. The author, Eva Hoffman, visited Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria in 1990 and then again in 1991, and this book is her travel memories and her impressions of the political, economic, and social changes occurring then at breakneck pace.

The book really improved as the author moved away from the familiar (Poland, where she grew up, and to a lesser extent, Czechoslovakia) and into unknown territory. I felt the part about the Poles in particular was much less sharply observed, which is understandable since Ms. Hoffman is more closely attached to Poland and Polish history. I was also disappointed that nearly everyone she interviewed in Poland was either a literary luminary and/or a newly minted politician. I wanted to know more about ordinary people. But again, this focus on the intelligentsia bothered me less as she moved further from her comfort zone. The adventures and observations from Romania and Bulgaria were particularly fascinating, and I was very interested to learn more about those parts of the world.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great book. It's not a literary classic or anything, but it's pretty imperative reading for anyone that has any curiosity about history, especially in Eastern Europe. Hoffman travels back to the country of her birth, Poland, right after liberation from the Soviets in 1989 and again a year later.

If Hoffman wrote this now, it would probably be pushed as a memoir. And it would lose much for that. Hoffman does talk about her own experience growing up in the country and what happens to her in each of the countries while she exits in them and interviews many of the residents. She's trying to get a snapshot of what each country is experiencing. For the most part, you don't get a sense that she's oversimplifying the entirety of a population's experiences or feelings, with the exception of Romania.

Anyway, the book matches really well with the perceptions I heard from other travelers and from my own experience.

[Gage · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish reading this book. The book sounded really interesting and should have been considering the topic, but I struggled through the first 3 sections and finally gave up because it was so hard to get into. I wish it would have been better because I really wanted to learn about what the fall of communism was like since I'm traveling in these countries now.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally hitting the big 3-0. i blame thicky and all the New X-Men graphic novels he threw at me.

this is a good travelogue of a woman who grew up in Poland, emigrated to the US, and then went back to visit Poland, and 4 other countries in Eastern Europe right after the end of the Cold War. It's a great viewpoint on a time/place that i've honestly not read much about before.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first chapter sets the tone of what life was like in 1990, in post-USSR world. Hard to imagine but there are conversations had with people experiencing a change to the status quo not unlike one might suffer from during the after effects of a catastrophic natural event.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written travelogue across Eastern Europe right as the iron curtain fell.

[bitterpale]

Left over from a Poli Sci class at uni. It was an optional read for the class and I never did it but held onto it to eventually read.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit dense, dark and slow at parts but what do you expect in a book about the Soviet legacy!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most surprising for her and for me was the chapter on Bulgaria — with its high European and folk Balkan cultures.

[Jenel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but not as good or as relevant as Shtetl.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you have so much disdain for the people, why did you go there?

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The politics got a bit dense in spots, but the travel narrative aspect worked well.