Goodnight, Mr. Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire

by Tiziano Terzani

Book Overview

The author of this book was travelling the length of the Amur - the great river that marks the boundary between Siberia and China - in 1991 when news broke of the conservative coup to depose President... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330329626
• ISBN13: 9780330329620
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Publications
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A great pair of eyes.

I think it is great book because it gives you an open window on the facts. It is obvious (referring to Mr. Surendran review) that in some way T.T. gives his opinion about the facts, but you also got all the space to try and imagine yours. In some situations I disagreed with his way of interpreting things, and this is the wonderful thing. Trough his eyes I've developed a critical vision about certain situations that came in depht to my attention thanks to his book. I agree with the idea that taxi driver or political leaders are not a onest and complete mirror of the state of things (talking for some minutes with these categories of citizen it is obviously not the same that would be living in a local family for a few years, but when you now it...), but they still are a contact with the community and for this pieces of local colture wherein you can read something. I didn't feel that this book want to be the "truth" about Soviet Union disgregation, it is just a great reportage.

A great pair of eyes.

I think it is great book because it gives you an open window on the facts. It is obvious that in some way T.T. gives his opinion about the facts, but you also got all the space to try and imagine yours. In some situations I disagreed with his way of interpreting things, and this is the wonderful thing. Trough his eyes I've developed a critical vision about certain situations that came in depht to my attention thanks to his book. I agree with the idea that taxi driver or political leaders are not a onest and complete mirror of the state of things (talking for some minutes with these categories of citizen it is obviously not the same that would be living in a local family for a few years, but when you now it...), but they still are a contact with the community and for this pieces of local colture wherein you can read something. I didn't feel that this book want to be the "truth" about Soviet Union disgregation, it is just a great reportage.

Too bad it didn't find a US publisher!

Great book. It gives you the sens of traveling the right way: knowing people, feelings, habits, foods and not just sightseeing. The same astonishing inner energy I experienced while reading his other books on Asia. His way of writing proves that history is not "great" men or "headtitles" but a flowing movement of individuals sharing similar feelings or struggling to find a place for them. I wish I were him!

Where is Kirghizia?

Did you spend 1991 hiding under your bed, avoiding the news because: a) it's just all too complicated; or, b) does anyone really know where Kirghizia is, anyway? Well, here is your chance to astound all your friends with your knowledge of the events of Fall 1991. In case you didn't know it, the Soviet Union collapsed that year. Photojournalist Tiziano Terzani traveled through Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus regions just as the republics declared their independence, ending the Soviet empire as we knew it. This is the story of his travels. As an aside, Terzani was in the Gilligan's Island school of sightseeing; he originally planned on a two-week trip on the Amur River through Siberia. He spent almost three months, all the while in an unsuccessful search for shaving cream. This is an easy-to-read eye-witness account of the break-up, including important historical details and a clear view of the region's murky future. Enter the world of the KGB, communists, Bolsheviks, ancient kings, racial conflicts, and men in apricot-colored suits. Say goodnight, Mister Lenin. Oh, and by the way, Kirghizia is now known as Kyrgyzstan. It is sandwiched between Kazakstan and China. It become officially independent on 31 August 1991.