Customer Reviews:
 "So Leonid Ilyich is alone in his apartment and hears the doorbell ring...." August 27, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is a shame this book went out of print so quickly. The author was a fresh, naive immigrant at the time, with perhaps a tendency to engage in a cliche or two but with a very witty turn of phrase. She acknowledged upfront the fact that her experience in Moscow--one that included a nanny, summers at a dacha and in Latvia, and a father with an important job with Melodiya who seemed very wise to the ways of politics--differed from those of the average schoolgirl. Those caveats aside, Young (Jung in her native Russian) engages us in a story of a girl growing up as a Jew in Brezhnev's Russia, to some extent aware of the differences in politics amongst adults around her, to some extent just being a kid, ironically learning and performing in her appartment for Mama and Papa "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Lloyd-Weber's "Jesus Christ Superstar." As she discusses her life in a special English school for which she qualified from first grade to tenth, when she emmigrated, the anecdotes she tells of herself and other children are amazing both for their similarity to Western primary and secondary educational experiences, and their differences. One of the more horrific scenes schoolchildren (not the author) become involved in has to do with a hockey game, at night, where many Western tourists are attending. Kids would know that Westerners would have gum, candy, and other treats to hand out, and would, in gestures highly embarrrassing to the Soviet heirarchy, not wanting their populace to have a third world sheen, grab, beg, and run for such treasures. Apparently to stop this from happening, when the hockey game let out and the children were waiting as expected, all lights on the outside of the arena and parking lot were turned off. Deathly screams were heard, but as Young states, it's difficult to know whether anyone was hurt or died because it was never covered in the media. (Young also notes that she felt much safer walking around in New York at night in 1988 than Moscow; the reason people thought there was "no crime" under communism was that it simply didn't get written about. Everyone knew someone who had been mugged, raped, shot, or so forth.)
Many of Young's other stories of school are much more idyllic, learning about the history of Russian literature and poetry, learning about those who went against the system as well as those who were held up as Soviet models. There are the descriptions of the ceremony surrounding school: flowers brought for the teacher on the first of September, the first, second and third graders in their Octoberist scarves, pinned with a tiny gold picture of the baby Vladimir Lenin, the older children in their red and white Pioneer uniforms. Each dual desk accomodated one boy and one girl. Young, flirty female teachers the boys oggled at, and old grouchy teachers. An air raid drill with real air raid masks.
Sprinkle in some great Soviet jokes, a few more anecdotes concerning home, travel, relationships between Katya and her family and friends, and this book becomes not only fascinating but enjoyable to read.
Speaking of jokes, to set up my title....the author lived in the USSR when it was being run by a funny looking guy with very bushy eyebrows named Leonid Brezhnev. To everyday Russians he was known to not speak very well, according to Young...both because it seemed he had marbles in his mouth and because he needed a lot of prompting, and was always seen reading notes up close. Ergo, he is alone in his apartment, the doorbell rings; and Leonid Ilyich slowly pulls out a paper from his pocket and reads "Who....is.....it?" (paraphrased from book).
I did not give the book five stars because I know that while the writer's experience in Russia was exceptional, her experience as a Jew leaving Russia was also exceptional. And with the amount of worldliness she had at that time, she should have known that. I would have liked to have discussed the experiences, for example, of friends she'd made in New York who'd had a more difficult time. Ms. Young talks freely with her school friends about leaving Russia (although she tells them she's going to Israel); I have immigrant friends who were told "we're going on a long vacation; we can't tell you where, and you can't tell anybody" and they didn't, out of fear of the government intervening, even though they had a legal right to leave.
 A fascinating insight June 19, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was lent this book by a friend who grew up in Soviet Russia. The author has done a magnificent job of illustrating what life was like under the communist regime. Soviet Moscow seen through the vivid memories of a young girl is a fascinating and sometimes disturbing place.I enjoyed the opportunity to be taken inside a different culture and shown around by such a masterful writer. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in first hand accounts of Soviet Russia or biographies that illustrate a different lifestyle. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A revealing insight into Soviet Russia June 13, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A friend lent me this book to give me a feel of what her childhood was like. It paints a vivid picture of Soviet Russia seen through the eyes of a young girl. It was a fascinating and insightful read that taught me a great deal about a very different way of life.I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Soviet Russia or who likes to read biographies that illustrate a different culture to their own. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sounds a great deal like my life September 9, 2003
Well written and astute, Katya Jung (Cathy Young) did an outstanding job of capturing life in the former Soviet Union in the 70's and 80's.
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