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theclue's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 / 5
+loved the details she focused on like those dolls and the difference between generations and how she withdrew her kid of the simplest pleasure because of how she taught or how she compared the u.s. to her homeland and how fundamentally different an American viewed feminism compared to herself. I also loved how she described the feeling of being left behind from other parts of the globe cuz that's exactly how I feel and how glorious it feels just to be a tiny bit in touch with the outside world (other countries) (like when she described collecting foreign candy wrapping papers). related to her experiences on so many levels specifically when I compared them to the lives my grandma has led like when she talked about how they recycled everything not out of being environmentalists, but from the probability of shortage of everyday stuff. Last but not least i loved how neutral and even confused she felt about some new situations and ideas that contracted her childhood mindset and her current beliefs and understandings (when her mom wanted to buy a fur coat).
-what I did not like was how she jumped into historical events without any preparation. as a book that's written for a general audience not a specialized one, I expected to be educated on per say the Hungarian wars before getting into details about it. I had to google the ideologies, the wars, and so many other stuff to understand what exactly she was saying. considering this as a negative aspect the chapter on presidency and election was the worst. I had no idea what I was reading and it even got to a point where I skipped a paragraph or two.
the translation was decent although some phrasal verbs and idioms were translated literally which made me laugh so that's a pro. She didn't care to add feuilletons AT ALL which was annoying because there so many specific names that I wanted to look up and had to go with the translatd word
+loved the details she focused on like those dolls and the difference between generations and how she withdrew her kid of the simplest pleasure because of how she taught or how she compared the u.s. to her homeland and how fundamentally different an American viewed feminism compared to herself. I also loved how she described the feeling of being left behind from other parts of the globe cuz that's exactly how I feel and how glorious it feels just to be a tiny bit in touch with the outside world (other countries) (like when she described collecting foreign candy wrapping papers). related to her experiences on so many levels specifically when I compared them to the lives my grandma has led like when she talked about how they recycled everything not out of being environmentalists, but from the probability of shortage of everyday stuff. Last but not least i loved how neutral and even confused she felt about some new situations and ideas that contracted her childhood mindset and her current beliefs and understandings (when her mom wanted to buy a fur coat).
-what I did not like was how she jumped into historical events without any preparation. as a book that's written for a general audience not a specialized one, I expected to be educated on per say the Hungarian wars before getting into details about it. I had to google the ideologies, the wars, and so many other stuff to understand what exactly she was saying. considering this as a negative aspect the chapter on presidency and election was the worst. I had no idea what I was reading and it even got to a point where I skipped a paragraph or two.
the translation was decent although some phrasal verbs and idioms were translated literally which made me laugh so that's a pro. She didn't care to add feuilletons AT ALL which was annoying because there so many specific names that I wanted to look up and had to go with the translatd word
greenqueenjb's review against another edition
4.0
An enlightening, and often omitted view in history books; communism and post-communism from a biographical female perspective communicates the struggle for feminine identity under the doctrine.
grantica's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
it_is_shy's review against another edition
5.0
علاقمند شدم بیشتر از مجموعه تجربه و هنر زندگی بخونم
از کتاب هایی که باعث بشه سرچ کنم خوشم میاد
کتاب سیاسی نیست و بیشتر فلسفه زندگیه ولی بنظرم میتونه مقدمه خوبی برای سیاسی خوندن باشه :)
از کتاب هایی که باعث بشه سرچ کنم خوشم میاد
کتاب سیاسی نیست و بیشتر فلسفه زندگیه ولی بنظرم میتونه مقدمه خوبی برای سیاسی خوندن باشه :)
aminowrimo's review against another edition
5.0
I had to read this book for a history course and college, so I wasn't expecting it to resonate with me as much as it did. My parents grew up in Communist Romania and so I've heard stories of how it was for most of my life. Having experiences so close to my own in a book finally made me realize what people mean when they say that they "resonated" with a character or when a book affected them. I was crying off and on through the reading of this book, and have passed it on to my dad to read!
worldlibraries's review against another edition
4.0
Imagine living in a country where your political system did not consider your needs as a woman and mother important enough to provide for. It's easy enough in the West to bemoan the superficiality of a consumer culture, but how long could you last, Western ladies, in a country that had no consumer culture at all? Imagine a life without cosmetics, any sort of feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, where fruit was available only sporadically if at all, and where recycling was not about ecology but about the complete lack of any goods to replace worn-out items.
This book iis a wonderful description of what it was to live as a woman trying to create a normal life under a totalitarian regime. Encouraged by her feminist friends in the West, Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, Ms. Drakulic describes what it was like for women in the first few years after all of the regimes fell. While pundits described grand political theories about what just happened after the Wall fell and what was continuing to happen, Drakulic was among the first authors writing about how these regimes affected ordinary women.
This book is a quick and wonderful read that shows communism didn't necessarily end when the Wall came down. It will take future generations for all of that communism to leave the mind. I don't think any other writer has helped me see how communism breeds incredibly fascist outlooks in people since making a mistake of saying the wrong thing could be so well...fatal...plus job #1 was to survive iuntil the next day.
This book iis a wonderful description of what it was to live as a woman trying to create a normal life under a totalitarian regime. Encouraged by her feminist friends in the West, Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, Ms. Drakulic describes what it was like for women in the first few years after all of the regimes fell. While pundits described grand political theories about what just happened after the Wall fell and what was continuing to happen, Drakulic was among the first authors writing about how these regimes affected ordinary women.
This book is a quick and wonderful read that shows communism didn't necessarily end when the Wall came down. It will take future generations for all of that communism to leave the mind. I don't think any other writer has helped me see how communism breeds incredibly fascist outlooks in people since making a mistake of saying the wrong thing could be so well...fatal...plus job #1 was to survive iuntil the next day.
enbeefinery's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
wow, i’d be lying if i said this isn’t among the top 5 best books i’ve ever read. i particularly enjoyed essay 13 onwards, as it became more critical of western leftists and how easy it is to overlook some parts of history just because of how uncomfortable they make us. a must read.