| Koba the Dread - Laughter and the Twenty Million
(2002)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Political persecution - Soviet Union; Soviet Union - Politics and government - 1917-1936; Soviet Union - Politics and government - 1936-1953; Terrorism - Soviet Union |
| Publication Date |
7/17/2002 |
| Format |
Hardcover (7.8
x
5.7
mm)
|
| Publisher |
Miramax Books |
| Language |
English |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
| Between 1917 and 1953 people living in what came to be known as the Soviet Union were ruled by two of the most ruthless leaders in the history of the world. In Koba, the word itself a childhood nickname of Stalin's, Martin Amis is compelled, through his scathing prose and razor-sharp insight, to reevaluate the eras of Lenin and Stalin and the unbelievably broad scope of human suffering the two men caused. Illustrated with a remarkably dynamic patchwork of personal recollections, shocking accounts of gulag survivors, and revelatory historical texts and critical essays, Koba the Dread brings under scrutiny Lenin and Stalin's motives and actions. Amis returns again and again to the Collectivization and the Terror, making Koba the Dread a chilling analysis of the complicity necessary to eliminate nearly a half-billion people. But more than a tale of death and defeat, Koba is alive with the voices of survivors, and it celebrates the influence and power of the written word as both adversary and ally to Lenin and Stalin's purges. Amis remarks, "It remains an eternal mystery: what it is in people that lets them survive."But even more than historical, Koba the Dread is primarily a personal meditation, continuing where Amis's memoir, Experience, left off. Amis explores the complicated political shift his father -- the poet, author, and critic Kingsley Amis -- underwent during his lifetime and his enduring and continued influence over Martin. Originally a vocal card-carrying member of the Communist party, Kingsley was such a vocal anticommunist by the time Martin was college age that he and his son would argue for hours about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Coming to terms with the carnage ofLenin and Stalin is, in many ways, coming to terms with the starkness of his father's change of heart, and his own. |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Alibris |
| Purchase Price |
$7.04 |
| Acquire Date |
4/26/2011 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Very Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
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|
| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
DK268.4 .A48 2002 |
| Dewey |
947.084 |
| ISBN |
9780786868766 |
| Cover Price |
$24.95 |
| No. of Pages |
320 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
Very Good Very Good condition. Good dust jacket.
4.55 + 2.49 shipping
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I probably would have gotten more out of this book had I read it a couple of decades ago (but, of course, it's not that old). This is a nice survey of Stalinism. This might be a valuable book to read if you're just starting your study of Stalin, Stalinism, and the Gulag. Most of the main sources for this book I've either already read (Gulag Archipelago, Volkogonov's Stalin biography, the novels of Vassily Grossman) or are already on my to-read list (Bardach, Shalamov).
I'm not sure what drove Amis to write this book. It is not a scholarly work - it has no notes, and like a work of fiction has a "Permissions" section rather than a bibliography. It ends with open letters to Christopher Hitchens and Amis' father. Amis admits that his father saw the light when the Soviets put down the Hungarian revolt in 1956. It seems a bit pointless to me to castigate somebody for their beliefs 45 years renounced. |
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