Lisa Dickey traveled across the whole of Russia three times—in 1995, 2005 and 2015—making friends in eleven different cities, then coming back again and again to see how their lives had changed. Like the acclaimed British documentary series Seven Up!, she traces the ups and downs of ordinary people’s lives, in the process painting a deeply nuanced portrait of modern Russia.
From the caretakers of a lighthouse in Vladivostok, to the Jewish community of Birobidzhan, to a farmer in Buryatia, to a group of gay friends in Novosibirsk, to a wealthy “New Russian” family in Chelyabinsk, to a rap star in Moscow, Dickey profiles a wide cross-section of people in one of the most fascinating, dynamic and important countries on Earth. Along the way, she explores dramatic changes in everything from technology to social norms, drinks copious amounts of vodka, and learns firsthand how the Russians really feel about Vladimir Putin.
Including powerful photographs of people and places over time, and filled with wacky travel stories, unexpected twists, and keen insights, Bears in the Streets offers an unprecedented on-the-ground view of Russia today.
From the caretakers of a lighthouse in Vladivostok, to the Jewish community of Birobidzhan, to a farmer in Buryatia, to a group of gay friends in Novosibirsk, to a wealthy “New Russian” family in Chelyabinsk, to a rap star in Moscow, Dickey profiles a wide cross-section of people in one of the most fascinating, dynamic and important countries on Earth. Along the way, she explores dramatic changes in everything from technology to social norms, drinks copious amounts of vodka, and learns firsthand how the Russians really feel about Vladimir Putin.
Including powerful photographs of people and places over time, and filled with wacky travel stories, unexpected twists, and keen insights, Bears in the Streets offers an unprecedented on-the-ground view of Russia today.
It was a smartly written, entertaining novel about the everyday people of Russia, told through the perspective of a remarkably unbiased American woman. I picked it up primarily because I'm a russophile, and the summary intrigued me. I was curious to see how Russia evolved in modern times, especially since most of what I've read about Russia is primarily from the modern times. In some ways, it reminded me of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and a lot of The Tsar of Love and Techno, especially the parts about the Chechen war.
While I don't know if I'd be as attracted to this novel if it wasn't about Russia, it did, kind of unexpectedly, satisfy the observer in me. The person who is fascinated by other people and the different lives other people live, especially those so radically different than my own. It reminded me of why I love books like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil- the crime in that book is fascinating, but what interests me more is the people Berendt comes across. It's the same thing that always draws me to blogs and YouTube channels and the like. I just like knowing how other people live.
And again, the narrator is relatively unbiased. She's got a good balancing act. She definitely has a presence in the book, even more so than Berendt had in his book, with at several times her opinions being made clear, but she doesn't really look down on others for having differing opinions and at one point even comes to the conclusion that the Russians might even be more tolerant than she is- they were able to separate her from her opinions and her government, where as she was having a hard time separating them from their feelings and their government.
Dickey also does a good job showing the political opinions of modern Russia, and interestingly, they are the opposite of what some Americans may think they are. I find that quite a few Americans are convinced that the Russian everyday people hate Putin and their government and are only going along with it because they fear the repercussions. Of course, this is mostly true of liberals; conservatives have the tendency to think all Russians are still goddamn commies at heart. However, when Dickey traveled across Russia, she found that, nope, the Russian people just like Putin, even the young ones. I think that, in the end, just like France is more liberal than we are, Russia's just more conservative than we are. I'm not really sure why we are surprised or questioning why a guy like Putin got into power, or why he's so beloved by the people. Russia's always been ruled by leaders like that, and when a moderate comes into power, he's always overthrown or elected out or whatever. Think about it. They went from autocrats to Communists, you think our brand of Democratic Republicanism has a hope in hell of working for them. Then again, I typically believe that most countries have the government they deserve, yes, even America, especially America actually, and I'm weirdly non-fatalistic when it comes to governments (this is weird because I can't get on a plane without thinking that I'm going to die at any second but I just can't bring myself to feel like Doomsday is nigh about the next four years, because America's dealt with worse and we will come out it just fine. I mean, we managed to survive the 70s and the Carter administration, we can survive this).
Wow, that got political. Let's pretend that never happened. Anyway, yes, I liked this book. It was sweet in a lot of ways, like during the many reunion scenes, and sad in others, like the Mother of a Soldier chapter. It's a fascinating tale of three very timely periods in Modern Russian history, and I can't help but wish a little that her final trip was in the year 2017 because, well, I want to know what the Russian everyday man thinks about today's political turmoil.
9 out of 10
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