Ara 
Svetlana Alexievich is a Nobel Prize winner and it shows. “Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets”, is nothing short of brilliant, and most definitely a must-read if you are into history. I would go as far as saying that even if you are not much of a history nut, it’s still worth a read. It’s one of a kind when it comes to how much of an eye-opener it can be, even more so because generally we only hear about the fallen Soviet Union from the side that “won” the war.
The pre-globalized Soviet life was different in every possible and conceivable way. Imagine living in a huge nation which was said to be the greatest ever, with superior technology, better standard of living and, overall, mighty fine, while the other end of the spectrum was bad, cruel, ridden with inequity, violence, diseases, and stuck in the past. Except, the roles were inverted and the government kept feeding the populace with propaganda for years. Something that could hardly happen today thanks to the internet, even when governments try as hard as they can to censor people and monitor what their population can access, like China.
It’s shocking how much the world has changed over the past 30-40 years. It was a lot easier to feed lies, and that also goes to the “winning” side and their meddling with supposedly communist governments in South America and Asia. Today, the locals would spread the word on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter and soon enough the whole universe would be well aware of the dirt that was carefully swept under the rug. Back in the day, you just had to control the big Media and that was pretty much it. No more, no less. Even if some individuals tried to speak up, they would get unpersoned and life would move on. Although, it’s not like silencing people through brute force has disappeared. It’s just harder to do it now that everyone is connected and hidden behind online nicknames.
One of my favorite parts of the book is how it explores the sudden change of lifestyle after the perestroika and glasnost. The dome was broken and the harsh reality was out to just about everyone: the Soviet Union was a joke. Chernobyl, in 1986, was the cherry on top. Not only were they not on top of the Nuclear game, but also way below the standard, with antiquate - and dangerous - power plants. The castle had fallen for good.
Once the floodgates are open, it’s really hard to stop it from causing continuous damage, which is essentially what happened after the big first blow in 1986 and their sketchy attempt to hide what happened from the world and their people. If it were not for the wind blowing the radioactive particles to Sweden, it would have taken a lot longer for it to become common knowledge.
To give credit where credit’s due, the Soviets did what they could to stop the disaster from escalating using rather questionable methods like sending workers to their death for a considerable amount of money. But that is for “Voices from Chernobyl” to cover. “The Last of the Soviets” goes on about the aftermath and what the ex-soviets thought of the then brand new Russia and their memories from the good old days.
And that is exactly where the book shines. Memories upon memories, of dozens of different people, from different social statuses and upbringings. Love stories, sob stories, war, hunger, personal struggles, even real estate scam. And, perhaps the most surprising bit, the fact that some people did indeed miss the Soviet Union and their Stalin. It’s so in-depth that it makes it easy to empathize with the characters and understand where their Stalinism comes from.
After all, that was their reality for decades, and suddenly it was gone and everything was different, along with the chaos of separatism and its horrifying fruits, which I won’t spoil, but I will go as far as saying it’s perhaps the part that is hardly ever explored by your average modern history book. Thus, the “eye-openess” of Svetlana’s masterpiece.
It turns out that the USSR was a lot more than just gulags, genocide, vodka, and Ladas. And it makes for a beautiful and unforgettable story.
The Conundrum of Perceived Value