Thursday, November 27, 2014

Russia- Books Update from The New York Times

'Stalin'

By STEPHEN KOTKIN
Reviewed by JENNIFER SIEGEL
The first volume of a new biography argues that Stalin had social as well as organizational skills.

'There Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In'

By LUDMILLA PETRUSHEVSKAYA. Translated by ANNA SUMMERS.
Reviewed by JENNY OFFILL
In three tales, women contend with ne'er-do-well children and the pressures of communal living.
Eduard Limonov

'Limonov'

By EMMANUEL CARRÈRE. Translated by JOHN LAMBERT.
Reviewed by JULIA IOFFE
After a career as a poet, butler and media celebrity, Eduard Limonov helped organize a group of nationalist thugs.
Literary Landscapes

To Russia, With Tough Love

By MASHA GESSEN
Masha Gessen recounts the literary history of Moscow and describes why she's become disillusioned with the city of her birth.
David Baldacci

David Baldacci: By the Book

The author, most recently, of "The Escape" was a library rat growing up: "Libraries are the mainstays of democracy. The first thing dictators do when taking over a country is close all the libraries, because libraries are full of ideas."
·         By the Book: Archive
The Kremlin's script: A majority of Russians still get most of their information from state-run TV.

'Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible'

By PETER POMERANTSEV
Reviewed by MIRIAM ELDER
A British television producer's foray into the "surreal heart" of 21st-century Russia.
Vladimir Putin

'Putin's Kleptocracy'

By KAREN DAWISHA
Reviewed by RAJAN MENON
A damning account of Vladimir Putin's rise to power and his plans to restore Greater Russia.

'Twilight of the Eastern Gods'

By ISMAIL KADARE. Translated by DAVID BELLOS.
Reviewed by CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN
The Moscow of Ismail Kadare's novel is full of young writers who live and drink together.
Residents at a broken main during the siege.

'Leningrad: Siege and Symphony'

By BRIAN MOYNAHAN
Reviewed by REBECCA REICH

Shostakovich's composition for a besieged Leningrad.

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