Secondhand Time

The Last of the Soviets

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Russia, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International
Cover of the book Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, Random House Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Svetlana Alexievich ISBN: 9780399588815
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group Publication: May 24, 2016
Imprint: Random House Language: English
Author: Svetlana Alexievich
ISBN: 9780399588815
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication: May 24, 2016
Imprint: Random House
Language: English

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A symphonic oral history about the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia, from Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

**NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND *PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LOS ANGELES TIMES *BOOK PRIZE WINNER

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Wall Street Journal • NPR • Financial Times • Kirkus Reviews

When the Swedish Academy awarded Svetlana Alexievich the Nobel Prize, it cited her for inventing “a new kind of literary genre,” describing her work as “a history of emotions—a history of the soul.” Alexievich’s distinctive documentary style, combining extended individual monologues with a collage of voices, records the stories of ordinary women and men who are rarely given the opportunity to speak, whose experiences are often lost in the official histories of the nation.

In Secondhand Time, Alexievich chronicles the demise of communism. Everyday Russian citizens recount the past thirty years, showing us what life was like during the fall of the Soviet Union and what it’s like to live in the new Russia left in its wake. Through interviews spanning 1991 to 2012, Alexievich takes us behind the propaganda and contrived media accounts, giving us a panoramic portrait of contemporary Russia and Russians who still carry memories of oppression, terror, famine, massacres—but also of pride in their country, hope for the future, and a belief that everyone was working and fighting together to bring about a utopia. Hereis an account of life in the aftermath of an idea so powerful it once dominated a third of the world.

A magnificent tapestry of the sorrows and triumphs of the human spirit woven by a master, Secondhand Time tells the stories that together make up the true history of a nation. “Through the voices of those who confided in her,” The Nation writes, “Alexievich tells us about human nature, about our dreams, our choices, about good and evil—in a word, about ourselves.”

Praise for Svetlana Alexievich and Secondhand Time

“The nonfiction volume that has done the most to deepen the emotional understanding of Russia during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union of late is Svetlana Alexievich’s oral history Secondhand Time.”—David Remnick, The New Yorker

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A symphonic oral history about the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia, from Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

**NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND *PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LOS ANGELES TIMES *BOOK PRIZE WINNER

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Wall Street Journal • NPR • Financial Times • Kirkus Reviews

When the Swedish Academy awarded Svetlana Alexievich the Nobel Prize, it cited her for inventing “a new kind of literary genre,” describing her work as “a history of emotions—a history of the soul.” Alexievich’s distinctive documentary style, combining extended individual monologues with a collage of voices, records the stories of ordinary women and men who are rarely given the opportunity to speak, whose experiences are often lost in the official histories of the nation.

In Secondhand Time, Alexievich chronicles the demise of communism. Everyday Russian citizens recount the past thirty years, showing us what life was like during the fall of the Soviet Union and what it’s like to live in the new Russia left in its wake. Through interviews spanning 1991 to 2012, Alexievich takes us behind the propaganda and contrived media accounts, giving us a panoramic portrait of contemporary Russia and Russians who still carry memories of oppression, terror, famine, massacres—but also of pride in their country, hope for the future, and a belief that everyone was working and fighting together to bring about a utopia. Hereis an account of life in the aftermath of an idea so powerful it once dominated a third of the world.

A magnificent tapestry of the sorrows and triumphs of the human spirit woven by a master, Secondhand Time tells the stories that together make up the true history of a nation. “Through the voices of those who confided in her,” The Nation writes, “Alexievich tells us about human nature, about our dreams, our choices, about good and evil—in a word, about ourselves.”

Praise for Svetlana Alexievich and Secondhand Time

“The nonfiction volume that has done the most to deepen the emotional understanding of Russia during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union of late is Svetlana Alexievich’s oral history Secondhand Time.”—David Remnick, The New Yorker

More books from Random House Publishing Group

Cover of the book Seawolves by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Shades of Gray by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Eden Burning by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Six Months in Sudan by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Before She Wakes: Forbidden Fairy Tales by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Rebirth: Star Wars Legends (The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory, Book II) by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Waking Land by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Woman in the Shaman's Body by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Rabbit Is Rich by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Delaneys of Killaroo: Matilda, the Adventuress by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book Cherry by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Big Oyster by Svetlana Alexievich
Cover of the book The Messenger by Svetlana Alexievich
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy