- Paperback: 280 pages
- Publisher: Narcissus Publications (28 Feb 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 802385173X
- ISBN-13: 978-8023851731
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,811,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Brendan Howley in Blue Ear: Global Writing Worth Reading, October 8, 2000
I admire Vaknin's ability to keep his intellectual balance, no mean feat in the circumstances. He is in the right place at the right time, because when Milosevic falls, there will be a reckoning that will shake Europe from Berlinto the Bosporus to Moscow. My father urged me to prefer small books over thick tomes, arguing that small books meant the author saw clearlyenough to write precisely. It's advice I have rarely had cause to regret. I have the same memory of Vaknin's small and beautifully produced book.
After the Rain is that rarest of reading experiences: principled and thoughtful and irritating and prescient, all at once. Vaknin will be proved right or wrong as history grinds on in the Balkans, but his is a book I will return to.
John Harris in "Blue Iris", November23, 2000
Moments of Frenzy The essays in the second part, "Economy," stand better on their own feet. Vaknin is on his scholarly turf here, apparently. His unusually lengthy analysis of the International Monetary Fund is highly informative. Still, I must say that I find the moments of frenzy to be the book's most fascinating feature. In any state of advanced social decay, such as a civil war, there comes a point when more "facts" merely move one to impatience. What does it matter how many dozens were assassinated yesterday, or which banker transferred how many millions to his private account? Names and dates become irrelevant when such facts designate a daily routine. I can see that Vaknin is quite capable of reporting a scandal in detail; I think I can see why he doesn't. There's just too much of it. The relevant datum is the great cloud of stench obscuring the heavens, not the location of isolated fires. What we ought to learn--but won't--from the Balkans is that (to use Vaknin's recurrent metaphor) an infection is sometimes best left to spread until it activates sufficient antibodies. The Western solution of treating symptoms and amputating limbs has condemned these people to a hopeless decline. The Foreward is right: the book's sub-title misses the point. I suspect that Vaknin was being diplomatic here, for he might well have written Why the East Detests the West After Attempting an Embrace."
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When Chancellor Kohl's party and Edith Cresson are suspected of gross corruption - these are labelled "aberrations" in an otherwise honest West. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Don't Say, Dr. Vaknin!,
By A Customer
This review is from: After the Rain - How the West Lost the East (Paperback)
Dr. Vaknin's work is nothing less than a revolutionary way of looking at, and understanding, developments in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. If your eyes glaze over from the usual treatment of ethnic strife, economies in transition, and democratization in eastern Europe, Sam Vaknin's book is for you. Unlike most writers on the topic, he has the advantage of having lived in the region for many years and worked inside various governments. More importantly, he refuses to bow to political correctness -- a unique attribute for a western analyst covering the Balkans. There is not a chapter of this book that fails to enlighten, surprise, amuse or infuratiate. These are natural reactions to Dr. Vaknin's keen powers of observation, his insight, and his vivid, take-no-prisoners writing style. I have never had so much fun reading about a topic that is often inherently depressing. You may agree or disagree with Dr. Vaknin's views, but you won't be able to put away his book until you've read it cover to cover. Also recommended: Anything by Misha Glenny on this topic.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Primal Scream,
By A Customer
This review is from: After the Rain - How the West Lost the East (Paperback)
I have been living and working in the Balkans during the last decade. I know the area and its inhabitants well. The last year saw the eruption of a literary force of rare magnitude - Sam Vaknin. I followed his articles in 'The New Presence' and 'Central Europe Review'. They astounding feats of verbal fireworks, fine arabesques intertwined with volcanic lava - a MUST READ! With the exception of Rebecca West, I never read anything which comes remotely close to this either in forcefulness of expression or in acuteness of penetration. The book oozes pain and erudition in equal measures and left me shocked and overwhelmed.Also recommended: Rebecca West - Grey Falcon Balkan Ghosts
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The distilled essence of the Balkans,
By A Customer
This review is from: After the Rain - How the West Lost the East (Paperback)
Using a variety of remarkably astute Political and Economical observations as the most transparent excuse Dr Vaknin has produced a portable pocket sized Balkan State. Cunningly fitted between the covers are remarkable vivid sketches of the still mysterious Balkans as they are today, "After the rain". All seen through the eyes of one of the last true "Wandering Jews". Every shade, colour and nuance is there, hard information, constantly interupted by the shifting colours of a reforming world on the brink of the 21st century. A world of heros, rogues and fools as old as time itself and as new as the morning. A very unusual and precious book.
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