DISPATCHES FROM THE FORMER EVIL EMPIRE
Richard Threlked, DISPATCHES FROM THE FORMER EVIL EMPIRE
In a series of brief snapshots, Threlkeld, CBS's former correspondent in Moscow, provides a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of life in contemporary Russia. Threlkeld handles the familiar troubles—the economic woes, the political corruption, the nouveau riche—in a breezy, journalistic style that makes what can be a difficult subject accessible to the general reader ("Russians are yearning for some kind of raison d'etre that doesn't melt into thin air"). Indeed, virtually no aspect of the decrepit Russian society, whether post-Soviet medicine or the Russian Orthodox Church, goes untouched. But some of the book's strongest moments come when Threlkeld investigates more obscure topics. His description of the oil boomtown of Baku, Azerbaijan—a combination of the Hamptons and Istanbul, with oil derricks thrown in—lingers in the mind. Despite the difficulties he describes, Threlkeld remains surprisingly optimistic about Russia's chances: "Russians are survivors who've had to triumph over everything from the Black Death to Bolshevism.... And I've no doubt that, given time, this new experiment forced on this new generation of Russians will succeed." Threlkeld generally treats many things Russian with a gentle exasperation typical of a sympathetic outsider. Occasionally, his familiarity with his subject and his unblushing anti-Soviet stance borders on smugness: he derides Soviet-era "Kremlinologists" who "would speculate for months on the meaning of who was standing next to whom," seeming to forget our vulturous propensity in this country for feeding on quasi-political gossip and speculation. Readers may not share Threlkeld's high hopes for capitalism in Russia, but they will learn a great deal about the country's "challenges." (Mar.)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 02/26/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 295 pages - 978-1-61592-728-9
In a series of brief snapshots, Threlkeld, CBS's former correspondent in Moscow, provides a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of life in contemporary Russia. Threlkeld handles the familiar troubles—the economic woes, the political corruption, the nouveau riche—in a breezy, journalistic style that makes what can be a difficult subject accessible to the general reader ("Russians are yearning for some kind of raison d'etre that doesn't melt into thin air"). Indeed, virtually no aspect of the decrepit Russian society, whether post-Soviet medicine or the Russian Orthodox Church, goes untouched. But some of the book's strongest moments come when Threlkeld investigates more obscure topics. His description of the oil boomtown of Baku, Azerbaijan—a combination of the Hamptons and Istanbul, with oil derricks thrown in—lingers in the mind. Despite the difficulties he describes, Threlkeld remains surprisingly optimistic about Russia's chances: "Russians are survivors who've had to triumph over everything from the Black Death to Bolshevism.... And I've no doubt that, given time, this new experiment forced on this new generation of Russians will succeed." Threlkeld generally treats many things Russian with a gentle exasperation typical of a sympathetic outsider. Occasionally, his familiarity with his subject and his unblushing anti-Soviet stance borders on smugness: he derides Soviet-era "Kremlinologists" who "would speculate for months on the meaning of who was standing next to whom," seeming to forget our vulturous propensity in this country for feeding on quasi-political gossip and speculation. Readers may not share Threlkeld's high hopes for capitalism in Russia, but they will learn a great deal about the country's "challenges."
Reviewed on: 02/26/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 295 pages - 978-1-61592-728-9
