Svetlana Alexievich
Posted on 08/01/2018 7:15:23 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Svetlana Alexievich’s magnum opus Second-Hand Time (first published in Russian in 2013), is an attempt to understand where Putin came from and why he has such a hold on the Russian people.
In her Nobel lecture of December 2015, Alexievich described Russia as “a space of total amnesia”. The way she puts it, things now are getting even worse. “Lawmakers say we should put Gorbachev on trial, a Solzhenitsyn monument has been vandalised, and they’re putting up more and more statues to Stalin,” she says. “But it’s not Putin telling people to do that — the initiative is coming from the grassroots.”
Each of her books is a dense tapestry woven from encounters with those caught up in epoch-making events, from the second world war to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. She is like a doctor probing the scar tissue of a traumatised nation — a hazardous enterprise in a country that is busy consigning memories of the gulag to oblivion, and whose president once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century.
In Second-Hand Time she tells the story of an old communist who was locked up during Stalin’s purges but later rehabilitated. He is summoned after the war and told that his wife, who was arrested with him, has died in the camps. “They called me into the district party committee. ‘Unfortunately, we will not be able to return your wife to you. She’s dead. But you can have your honour back.’ And they handed me back my party membership card. And I was so happy! I was so happy.”
He said: ‘You’ll never understand, all you care about are clothes and your stomach. But we had noble ideals. We were people of faith.’
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
Svetlana Alexievich
One of the few books I purchased after reading a library copy. A glimpse into the soulless soul of the former Soviet Union and modern Russia. A great read.
The similarities to the press treatment of Trump pretty much slap you in the face here.
I hated the Soviets and Communism and joined the military subsequently being stationed in Europe ready for the attack through Fulda. I never knew one day that I would hate the American Left much more. I never hated the people of the USSR. I hate American Leftists. Obama and Clinton made me vomit and colluded with Putin,Medvedev and Russian interests. They are pure treason. Our government just licks its...
The sensational woman’s fear of Putin is nothing ,compared with her American/European counterparts’ fear of Trump.
Look at WaPo’s slogan: democracy dies in darkness.
The fear of Putin, coupled with the fear of Trump, would make the woman become as hysterial as maxine waters/Hillary Clinton is.
The woman’s remarks about Hillary and Trump.
Pls enjoy.
..........
INTERVIEWER
Perhaps because of Trump. Many women protested when he was elected, marched in Washington. Perhaps it feels good to read about these women.
ALEXIEVICH
To see what a woman can do. And why are young people interested?
INTERVIEWER
I think they are afraid Trump will start a war.
ALEXIEVICH
Yes, and the Russians behind him. How did you elect Trump?
INTERVIEWER
It wasn’t me. As an Australian, I couldn’t vote against him.
ALEXIEVICH
Clinton wasn’t loved, was she? And now, would America support Clinton, or him still? Did they not become disillusioned, his voters? Are they sorry?
The woman’s remarks about Hillary and Trump.
Pls enjoy.
..........
INTERVIEWER
Perhaps because of Trump. Many women protested when he was elected, marched in Washington. Perhaps it feels good to read about these women.
ALEXIEVICH
To see what a woman can do. And why are young people interested?
INTERVIEWER
I think they are afraid Trump will start a war.
ALEXIEVICH
Yes, and the Russians behind him. How did you elect Trump?
INTERVIEWER
It wasn’t me. As an Australian, I couldn’t vote against him.
ALEXIEVICH
Clinton wasn’t loved, was she? And now, would America support Clinton, or him still? Did they not become disillusioned, his voters? Are they sorry?
This woman confirmed it:
Russians behind Trump.
Russophobe nuts should feel a thrill up their legs.
However, Svetlana herself has repeatedly stated she is not a Journalist but an author that writes in the style of a Witness in Testimony, points out that the style is Fiction, and notes that her characters and their testimony change in subsequent editions of the same novel.
This is remarkable honesty not shown by the Progressive Activist Western Media that use her to pedal their pathological hatred of Donald Trump and Legacy America.
Svetlana Alexievich writes novels to promote her viewpoint of the people she does not like because history didn't turn out the way she wanted.
The Elite Intellectual Progressive Activist Western Media disguise her novels as historical fact reported by a world class journalist.
Thank you for the enlightening analysis.
Her words did remind me of a typical liberal journalist (they call it advocacy journalism).
“would America support Clinton, or him still?
Did they not become disillusioned, his voters? Are they sorry?”
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