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Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM
The institutional instability that the lack of a clear and easily understood system for the transfer of power led to helped to hasten the demise of the Soviet system. Of course, Gosplan probably did its fair share, and ultimately the greed of the people at the top led them to take the system down from above. Why hide money in Swiss banks and hope the KGB doesn't reveal what it knows about your money if you can take down the system and just own that money outright with no fear?

I mostly agree with Don Raleigh's points but had the opportunity to have some very interesting debates with him on the subject as I'm not in 100% agreement (he was my Soviet history professor in college - in fact, he urged me on multiple occasions, once with another professor, to become a Russian historian; in retrospect, I probably should have done it).


In retrospect, life would have been easier for me had I gone into grad school as a Russian historian rather than as a Central European one. I might still be continuing history rather than leaving it for a two year masters program in urban planning.
The woman is crazy about labor history.
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1620 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 890 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM 819 Views
Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution wahooka - 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM 925 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 758 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 846 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 917 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 882 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 749 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 906 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 808 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 909 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 344 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 734 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 343 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 841 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM 944 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 794 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 880 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM 940 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM 856 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 927 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 843 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 985 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 323 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 893 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 815 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 864 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 840 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 834 Views
There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM 819 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 704 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 865 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM 979 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 842 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1128 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM 861 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 789 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM* Rebekah - 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM 320 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 342 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 299 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 962 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 987 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 830 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 833 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 879 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 880 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 891 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 705 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1096 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 786 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1214 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 875 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 267 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 878 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you? Tashmere - 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM 837 Views
Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM* Tom - 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM 307 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 791 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 968 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 808 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 843 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 853 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 863 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 886 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 777 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 879 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM 821 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 953 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM 639 Views
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