Post: #1

I could not put this book down. It attempts to explain modern Russia under Putin and give you an outsider's understanding of Russia. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Russia or planning to visit. I live near Russian people and I have dated some young Russian expats and they have been somewhat like the people written about in these pages.

Here is a really good review from NY Times on the book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/books/....html?_r=0

Also check out this excerpt from the book on Amazon. Read the piece on "No Complexes" fascinating stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Is-True-Ev...B00L4FSVZ6

I think if there was a mirror opposite of America it is Russia. It is almost like the US runs 180 degrees out of phase with Russia. Even their language to someone who does not speak it like myself. Almost sounds like you are playing an english tape running backwards. Just like it is our opposite.

Anyway check it out. It was easily worth the money.

Post: #2

Another excerpt is on the Russia's Gold Digging Academy. Definitely piqued my interest on Russia and the book:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...ademy.html

Post: #3

(12-30-2014 04:54 PM)Kissinger2014 Wrote:  Another excerpt is on the Russia's Gold Digging Academy. Definitely piqued my interest on Russia and the book:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...ademy.html

Yeah that got me too. It is interesting how Russians will develop a training class for a specific social function like that. Things that would be considered taboo here. Still it is amazing how the girls will pursue these "Forbeses" and the lengths they will go.

Post: #4

It would be helpful to put the title and author of the book you're referring to in the thread title. This way people know what you're talking about right away, can search for it, and find it if the links fail in the future.

Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia
by Peter Pomerantsev

Those excerpts hooked me. I just ordered the book. I've started to learn the Russian language, so it would be wise to learn about their modern culture as well. Thanks for posting

Post: #5

Generally speaking these "insights" should be taken with a pinch of a salt. Russian media certainly does follow an agenda but so does the major Western outlets, CNN, BBC etc and the same can be said for other countries along with their own broadcasters. Its a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. On another note Russian women receive a lot of stick and get painted with the image of being "gold diggers" or "strippers" but a lot of this comes from collective female jealousy or journalists trying to latch on to a politically correct stereotype to make some cheap laughs.

The only way you will be able to assess what the modern culture is like, will be by going and living there for yourself. Expats and other Russians living abroad won't really give you an accurate picture for this either, as like most immigrants they will adapt and react to the environment around them.

Post: #6

@getdownonit my bad. Not a big forum poster.


@constitutuion point taken. But just because western media is biased which they certainly are does not make Russian media any less biased or manipulated. But I would love to see someone try to start a new media outlet in Russia. That would make for a good story.

Also if you read the book there are very sympathetic Russian females also. It is not all negative. In fact I believe the author shows great affection for the Ruasian people.

And I certainly agree it is better to visit a country to get a better idea. But that is only one way to learn about a country. Not the only way. If it was; there would be no need for history books.

Post: #7

Just finished reading this book the other day. It's an easy read and is quite entertaining. The Russian-British author lived in Russia for nine years (2002-2011 or so), working as a producer for TNT, a Russian television network. This book is a collection of vignettes which showcase the rapid changes and overall dysfunction of modern Russia. These all come from his first hand experience, as Pomerantsev travelled around Russia and abroad to investigate and interview for his TNT projects.

The book is a reflection of Russia in the first decade of this millennium through the eyes of its author, utilizing individual episodes to illustrate broad sociopolitical shifts. It barely touches on Crimea annexation and was released before the recent Russian economic downturn.

Though it's always important to take an individual's take on society with a grain of salt, Pomerantsev seems to be as much of an expert on the subject as anyone could be. He's grown up with both Western and Russian perspectives, is a native Russian speaker, and has access to wide variety of Russian society, high and low, establoshment and outlaw.

No book could tell the whole story of Modern Russian Society. Nevertheless, this is a good place to start. Russia is fascinating, and this book gave me a fresh perspective on its current culture. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Post: #8

Mark Ames, he of The Exile, has just written an article about this book and the author who turns out, according to Ames, to be a bullshitting neo-con with an agenda massive agenda. It's an excellent article which if you have read this book or intend to I suggest you read.

http://pando.com/2015/05/17/neocons-2-0-...merantsev/

Post: #9

The book is also utter bullshit:

http://pando.com/2015/05/17/neocons-2-0-...merantsev/

(12-30-2014 04:04 PM)reco2100 Wrote:  I could not put this book down. It attempts to explain modern Russia under Putin and give you an outsider's understanding of Russia. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Russia or planning to visit. I live near Russian people and I have dated some young Russian expats and they have been somewhat like the people written about in these pages.

Here is a really good review from NY Times on the book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/books/....html?_r=0

Also check out this excerpt from the book on Amazon. Read the piece on "No Complexes" fascinating stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Is-True-Ev...B00L4FSVZ6

I think if there was a mirror opposite of America it is Russia. It is almost like the US runs 180 degrees out of phase with Russia. Even their language to someone who does not speak it like myself. Almost sounds like you are playing an english tape running backwards. Just like it is our opposite.

Anyway check it out. It was easily worth the money.

Post: #10

"This book is utter bullshit"

Yeah, and I'm sure you believe that Putin didn't convey his intentions about Ukraine before the last Winter Olympics, right? Nothing there, huh? move aong...

And you believe this is bovi excrement, too:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/2...me=topNews

And right up until you own Baghdad Bob moment, you will be smearing those EEEEEE-vil Neocon scum with more refrains like "Utter Bullocks."

I am sooooo persuaded. (Persuaded to read Pomerantsev.)

Visit
thepeoplescube.com

Post: #11

(05-28-2015 06:37 AM)Orson Wrote:  "This book is utter bullshit"

Yeah, and I'm sure you believe that Putin didn't convey his intentions about Ukraine before the last Winter Olympics, right? Nothing there, huh? move aong...

And you believe this is bovi excrement, too:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/2...me=topNews

And right up until you own Baghdad Bob moment, you will be smearing those EEEEEE-vil Neocon scum with more refrains like "Utter Bullocks."

I am sooooo persuaded. (Persuaded to read Pomerantsev.)

Visit
thepeoplescube.com

Did you even read the article he posted? Or did you get so excited and anxious to post your snarky comment that you missed it entirely?

Also, nice self-promotion there bro. Too bad it's no longer allowed.

Post: #12

Though I might jumpstart this thread.

I've been looking for books regarding life in modern Russia (including Eastern Europe) that is more focused on the everyday life of the people.
Might be novels etc... I miss being in Ukraine right now and want to immerse myself in some great stories.

Post: #13

I read Red Notice by Bill Browder last year, which was mainly about Russia. It read like fiction, and it probably was half-fictional. However, one memorable moment was his first trip to Eastern Europe. He was paid to give financial recommendations to a dying Polish bus manufacturing company, shortly after Ppland gained independence. The employees and bosses were counting on him (as a foreign expert) to pull off a miracle and solve the company's problems. He met the head honcho after spending a cold night in a worn down local hotel. The boss asked through a translator if they could do anything to make his stay more comfortable. He'd seen a space heater in the corner of the room, and asked for something like that to use in his hotel room. The boss gave a grin as wide as a football and said, "Mr. Browder, we can do better than that! We can get you a woman to warm your bed."

Post: #14

(11-07-2017 06:23 PM)Laska Wrote:  I read Red Notice by Bill Browder last year, which was mainly about Russia. It read like fiction, and it probably was half-fictional.

You may want to read Alex Krainer's review of Browder's book, which claims that much of it is indeed fictional, i.e., utter bullshit:

• The Killing of William Browder (2017)
  

Browder managed to get Amazon to ban Krainer's book.

Post: #15

I wonder how Orthodox the people, particularly young people, are there. Most I've met coming to the West seem to be atheist/materialist, but that may be a selection type bias or they may be exiles, of sorts. Not sure.

Post: #16

Bill Browder, there's a real winner. The guy opens an investment fund in Russia in the 90's and then has the sack to try and level accusations of corruption at the Russian government. Maybe they're grounded in truth of course, it would be naive to refuse to consider it, but again, this guy is a major player in the game and all of sudden he wants to come out like some upstanding businessman who is on the righteous side of a holy battle. Browder was an affiliate of every Russian oligarch and shady businessman in the country, and had a hand in far-reaching money laundering schemes which resulted in government crackdowns on foreign-run operations like his. Then all of a sudden he is super opposed to corruption. Cash ex-filtration is one of the main reasons Russia was in financial ruin post-USSR and this dude is trying to play the victim because he's gotta pay the piper.

Post: #17

I love Dostoevsky's analysis of Russian women in The Brothers Karamazov; in particular, how poorly some of them can age:

“Connoisseurs of Russian beauty could have foretold with certainty that this fresh, still youthful beauty would lose its harmony by the age of thirty, would “spread”; that the face would become puffy, and that wrinkles would very soon appear upon her forehead and round the eyes; the complexion would grow coarse and red perhaps—in fact, that it was the beauty of the moment, the fleeting beauty which is so often met with in Russian women.”

Post: #18

Any recommendation for history books on the Bolshevik revolution?

Post: #19

(11-11-2017 11:00 AM)MajorStyles Wrote:  how poorly some of them can age:

Quoting English Teacher X:

Quote:They age like dogs, 7 years for every normal one.

Post: #20

(11-11-2017 11:43 AM)Dusty Wrote:  Any recommendation for history books on the Bolshevik revolution?

The best book is, in my mind, 200 Years Together by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was banned from being translated into English, because it pointed an finger at the Jewish influence on the revolution (as well as the Holodomor genocide in the Ukraine). That being said, I challenge anybody to locate a book on the revolution that has more footnotes, cross references, and research that Solzhenitsyn's.

Post: #21

Second that, Major.

Also Sutton's Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution.

https://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/Sutt...tion-5.pdf

And Jüri Lina's Under the Sign of the Scorpion

http://jyrilina.com/english/under-the-si...et-empire/

Post: #22

(11-11-2017 11:43 AM)Dusty Wrote:  Any recommendation for history books on the Bolshevik revolution?

E. Michael Jones references Solzhenitsyn, here is a sort summary of his chapter on the Russian Revolution in his book titled "The Jwish Revolutionary Spirit and Its Impact on World History":

Post: #23

Dark times for US-Russian relations.
In September almost 900 members of the American Embassy and consulates got the official "invitation" from the Russian government that they must leave the country (this a response to the American confiscating Russian Embassy and consulates in the US). Then this month the stamp "Foreign Agent" for many American journalists (if not all) working in Russia, this basically give the FSB the free pass to watch them out very carefully.
I just wonder what will be next, maybe the end of visa for US tourists?

Post: #24

(11-11-2017 05:41 PM)MajorStyles Wrote:  

(11-11-2017 11:43 AM)Dusty Wrote:  Any recommendation for history books on the Bolshevik revolution?

The best book is, in my mind, 200 Years Together by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was banned from being translated into English, because it pointed an finger at the Jewish influence on the revolution (as well as the Holodomor genocide in the Ukraine). That being said, I challenge anybody to locate a book on the revolution that has more footnotes, cross references, and research that Solzhenitsyn's.

There's an english translation of it, just can't remember if it's completely finished or only part of the chapters. Just google it.

Post: #25

(04-07-2018 09:56 PM)Dragan Wrote:  

(11-11-2017 05:41 PM)MajorStyles Wrote:  

(11-11-2017 11:43 AM)Dusty Wrote:  Any recommendation for history books on the Bolshevik revolution?

The best book is, in my mind, 200 Years Together by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was banned from being translated into English, because it pointed an finger at the Jewish influence on the revolution (as well as the Holodomor genocide in the Ukraine). That being said, I challenge anybody to locate a book on the revolution that has more footnotes, cross references, and research that Solzhenitsyn's.

There's an english translation of it, just can't remember if it's completely finished or only part of the chapters. Just google it.

Fully translated pdf at Mega https://mega.nz/#!KbwSTJ7C!-omPB3z47Kx1c...1jhV3lFEQc