Second Hand Time
by J
About This Novel
"Second Hand Time" is the latest work of Alexeyevich, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature. Through oral interviews, it tells the story of the painful social transformation in the two decades from 1991 to 2012 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the lives of ordinary people at critical historical moments, and the price they paid for their shattered dreams. In the book, everyone from academics to janitors are rediscovering the meaning of life. Their true narrations simultaneously present a major era and social changes from a macro and micro perspective, giving this far-reaching history a human face.
What Readers Think
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Official(28)Scraped 4d ago
a little thought
It took a little over eight hours to finish reading this book. In the early stage, there was doubt and confusion. The mid-term is about reflection and understanding. Later, there is extension and silence. Maybe, it's really like the sentence I heard: A dead Soviet Union is a good Soviet Union. I was deeply impressed by what my high school teacher said about the Soviet Union when teaching history. Khrushchev transformed the Soviet Union into chaos, Brezhnev transformed the Soviet Union into rigidity, and Gorbachev transformed the Soviet Union into death. At that time, the teacher just briefly analyzed it from a historical perspective and told some interesting stories. Then it passed. The Soviet Union became one of many knowledge points. At that time, I was also curious about what happened to this former big brother before he finally fell apart and was no longer the same. However, due to limited time at the time, I could only put this curiosity aside. Fortunately, a few years later, I still got a glimpse of some of its secrets from the book. Water can carry a boat and also capsize it. He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. The eternal truth. People is such an interesting term. When reading books about the Soviet Union, I think more of China. Especially China after reform and opening up. Reform is the self-improvement and self-development of the socialist system. While reading, I suddenly thought of a question: What would it have been like if China had not carried out reform and opening up at that time? Would it have been the next Soviet Union? With my limited knowledge, I couldn't think of an answer. But I think that would be terrible. We in China have been stumbling and exploring on our own for these years, but we have finally managed to survive. No matter how strong the situation is, China will not change its color. If miracles had a color, it would be Chinese Red. Big Brother is gone, and history should be remembered, for better or worse. We are the successors of socialism. I wish the motherland prosperity. If young people are strong, China will be strong. Happy and grateful.
another expression
This is the characteristic of this man's books. Express the author's point of view or the parties' point of view through other people's dictation. Give you a more layered perspective on the world.
Everyone's language is good and artistic. There is no cultural gap in Russia, even though it once lived in terror.
This book popped up out of nowhere and I read it, it's pretty good👍
Just bought the physical book
The annotations are a bit messy and not perfect.
I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it's good or not.
Poisonous? I didn't even add a bookshelf and popped it out... I've never seen it before.
The dream of Western democracy has become a reality, but the era of great countries is gone forever. Regret Now we are about to face the same problem and I will resolutely defend our great motherland...
Want to buy a physical book
Rating
Community(0)
Official(28)Scraped 4d ago
a little thought
It took a little over eight hours to finish reading this book. In the early stage, there was doubt and confusion. The mid-term is about reflection and understanding. Later, there is extension and silence. Maybe, it's really like the sentence I heard: A dead Soviet Union is a good Soviet Union. I was deeply impressed by what my high school teacher said about the Soviet Union when teaching history. Khrushchev transformed the Soviet Union into chaos, Brezhnev transformed the Soviet Union into rigidity, and Gorbachev transformed the Soviet Union into death. At that time, the teacher just briefly analyzed it from a historical perspective and told some interesting stories. Then it passed. The Soviet Union became one of many knowledge points. At that time, I was also curious about what happened to this former big brother before he finally fell apart and was no longer the same. However, due to limited time at the time, I could only put this curiosity aside. Fortunately, a few years later, I still got a glimpse of some of its secrets from the book. Water can carry a boat and also capsize it. He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. The eternal truth. People is such an interesting term. When reading books about the Soviet Union, I think more of China. Especially China after reform and opening up. Reform is the self-improvement and self-development of the socialist system. While reading, I suddenly thought of a question: What would it have been like if China had not carried out reform and opening up at that time? Would it have been the next Soviet Union? With my limited knowledge, I couldn't think of an answer. But I think that would be terrible. We in China have been stumbling and exploring on our own for these years, but we have finally managed to survive. No matter how strong the situation is, China will not change its color. If miracles had a color, it would be Chinese Red. Big Brother is gone, and history should be remembered, for better or worse. We are the successors of socialism. I wish the motherland prosperity. If young people are strong, China will be strong. Happy and grateful.
another expression
This is the characteristic of this man's books. Express the author's point of view or the parties' point of view through other people's dictation. Give you a more layered perspective on the world.
Everyone's language is good and artistic. There is no cultural gap in Russia, even though it once lived in terror.
This book popped up out of nowhere and I read it, it's pretty good👍
Just bought the physical book
The annotations are a bit messy and not perfect.
I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it's good or not.
Poisonous? I didn't even add a bookshelf and popped it out... I've never seen it before.
The dream of Western democracy has become a reality, but the era of great countries is gone forever. Regret Now we are about to face the same problem and I will resolutely defend our great motherland...
Want to buy a physical book
