- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (Trade); Reprint edition (1 Nov 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0618257470
- ISBN-13: 978-0618257478
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 15.1 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 813,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Lingua Franca, Tina Rosenberg, August 1996
"I admire Hochschild greatly for his use of personal narratives to understand the human response to terror. The question of why many Russians continue to revere Stalin--even some who suffered greatly during his regime--is one whose importance permeates Russia's current political crisis and indeed will endure long beyond it."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 1994
"An exceptionally perceptive and honest book that sensitively attempts to do justice to those who lived under Stalinist tyranny and the following 40 years of state-imposed silence."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The demise of the Soviet Union may be considered the end of everything that smelled of the cold war and the defeat of the Russians that is to begin a new era. But Russia's past , and especially the last cnetury will haunt the people for many more years to come. In this book, we shown with blinding clarity the effect Stalin still has on the people. Other books like The Union Moujik and Gulag Achipelago also explores that line.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Mesmerizing and Haunting
3 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
Every so often, a book comes along that no written review, no matter how carefully crafted, can really do justice to. This is one such book.
Hochschild's six month sojourn in 1991 through the remnants of the gulag archipelago is the mesmerizing tale of a once mighty nation still very much haunted by its past descent into madness. Interviewing both victims and perpetrators alike, Hochschild aptly conveys the great extent to which Soviet society still remains conflicted some 50 years after the terror of Stalin's Great Purge.
To his credit, Hochschild does more than simply chronicle the tyranny of Stalin's regime; he continually asks "why?". Why did a movement supposedly predicated on championing and elevating the common man turn so quickly on 20 million of its own people? Why would a regime exert so much time and effort prosecuting and persecuting persons it knew to be innocent? After all the unspeakable injustices perpetrated by Stalin, why would so many weep at his passing? Why do some victims of the regime readily embrace their former captors and tormentors as fellow casualties while others refuse to speak of their ordeals to this very day? A thought provoking narrative that admirably weaves together a complex tangle of emotions and issues.
If The Unquiet Ghost has a shortcoming, it is the author's tendency to occasionally interject his personal political beliefs into the narrative. While some political expressions perhaps have relevance, such as when Hochschild criticizes his liberal forebears who refused to see Stalin's Soviet Union for the brutal totalitarian dictatorship that it was, his off-hand commentary regarding political issues unique to the United States detracts from what it otherwise a fantastic book.
Hochschild's six month sojourn in 1991 through the remnants of the gulag archipelago is the mesmerizing tale of a once mighty nation still very much haunted by its past descent into madness. Interviewing both victims and perpetrators alike, Hochschild aptly conveys the great extent to which Soviet society still remains conflicted some 50 years after the terror of Stalin's Great Purge.
To his credit, Hochschild does more than simply chronicle the tyranny of Stalin's regime; he continually asks "why?". Why did a movement supposedly predicated on championing and elevating the common man turn so quickly on 20 million of its own people? Why would a regime exert so much time and effort prosecuting and persecuting persons it knew to be innocent? After all the unspeakable injustices perpetrated by Stalin, why would so many weep at his passing? Why do some victims of the regime readily embrace their former captors and tormentors as fellow casualties while others refuse to speak of their ordeals to this very day? A thought provoking narrative that admirably weaves together a complex tangle of emotions and issues.
If The Unquiet Ghost has a shortcoming, it is the author's tendency to occasionally interject his personal political beliefs into the narrative. While some political expressions perhaps have relevance, such as when Hochschild criticizes his liberal forebears who refused to see Stalin's Soviet Union for the brutal totalitarian dictatorship that it was, his off-hand commentary regarding political issues unique to the United States detracts from what it otherwise a fantastic book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Questioning, searching, thought-provoking
2 Aug 1997
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Hochschild examines the harsh reality of people living with the legacy of Stalinism. Russia is a country that rests on buried corpses, and as Hochschild relates, their ghosts are no longer silent. As Russians attempt to confront the past, many find it too painful to face the truth about their loved ones and even themselves. But for some, the deeply buried memories of the horror of Stalinism is surfacing. Hochschild causes the reader to ask "Would I have done any differently?" Hochschild's book is an important tool in helping understand the great problems that face the people of Russia today. His book causes the reader to ask if, indeed, there is a little Stalin in all of us
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
An insightful look into Russia's Stalinist past
27 Jun 1996
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Hochschild writes an interesting account of life in Russia after the fall of Communism. He examines the scars of the Stalin years, and how contemporary Russian society is dealing with the past. The book takes the reader on a short tour of Russia, with Hochschild's visits to previously closed towns, ending in the Kolyma region, notorious for its labor camps. Throughout the book, Hochschild interviews Russians from all walks of life, former camp inmates and guards, doctors,workers, and former party members. While some long for the security offered in the Communist past, most await the prosperity of the free market economy. Almost all have difficulty dealing with the purges of the Stalin years, since many Russians lost family members as a result of arrest and detention. Hochschild does a commendable job of exposing the divisive nature of the purges, and how the society is having a difficult time placing responsibility, especially in the face of new information coming from formerly closed government sources almost daily. Hochschild's book is a must read if one is to fully understand the Russian people, as they search for their place in the community of nations
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