Get It Now A Mountain Of Crumbs Developed By Elena Gorokhova Disseminated As Softcover

BBC RadioBook of the Week:
Elena Gorokhova wishes her mother had come from Leningrad, the world of Pushkin and the tsars, lace ironwork and pearly domes.
Its sophistication might have left a permanent mark of refinement on her soul,

But she didn't,

She came from the provincial town of Ivanovo in central Russia, where chickens lived in the kitchen and a pig squatted under the stairs.


She came from where they lick plates,


Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio,

Episodes

/: Elena's mother has become a mirror image of her motherland,

/: At five years old, Elena goes to nursery and learns about being part of the collective,

/: Elena can only go to college is she is a member of Young Communist League,

/: Elena and Nina are considered mature enough to teach Russian to visiting Americans,

/: Robert has returned to Texas and Elena wonders if she can visit him,

sitelink bbc. co. uk/programmes/btff Compulsively readable reads like a journal wonderful "curlupwitha blanket book", I can't imagine any reader not falling in love with Elena Gorokhova, Who wouldn't enjoy being friends with her Great woman! "The Russian Equivalent of Angela's Ashes Billy Collins"

Yeah, that quote right there should have warned me that I was just not going to be entranced by this memoir.
The relationship between Elena and her mother was basically the central theme , but it's pretty common mother daughter relationship problems, In fact, Elena lived a fairly ordinary life with very ordinary sentiments about coming of age under a very strict Communist government.
Maybe that is what is supposed to shock meI can certainly understand why she chose to leave and begin a new life in the U.
S. How much a culture shock it would have been for a person who only heard negative things about America and now she's experiencing that freedom.
But also having to let go of the Soviet perception of the U, S would have been a challenge, If I look at the amount of memoirs I have read over the last handful of years, I just find this book not as memorable.
In "A Mountain of Crumbs," author Elena Gorokhova powerfully depicts her childhood and early young adulthood in Soviet Russia, She focuses on a series of anecdotes, starting with her mother's story, and covering such topics as her father's illness, her sister's career, family vacations, membership in Young Pioneers and her own eventual fascination with Western culture and literature, which led her to leave the country.


Those looking for a straight biography will be disappointed, as the memoir is more a series of vignettes, Her focus on the universal i, e. a child's curiosity about sex, falling in love, wondering what to do about a

career versus the particular Young Pioneers, food, the dascha was especially well done.
The disillusionment of her elders with the revolution and the entire concept of vranyo were also extremely well done, As another reviewer has mentioned, she excels at creating atmosphere, One can almost feel the humiliation of the transgressor at the Komosol meeting or feel the aching feet of those waiting in line for "something good.
"

Perhaps it's just my Westernized mind, but what was missing for me was an explanation of Elena's infatuation with foreign culture which could have proved very dangerous for her family and what drove her to leave her family, her friends and her home, trusting someone she didn't know all that well with her entire future.
Was it just adolescent rebellion Disappointment and disillusionment with the regime Was that really strong enough to drive her to walk away from her family, not knowing if she would ever see them again Also, the ending was more than a little abrupt.
Maybe she's planning on a sequel, Also, in some instances, the device she uses to give her point of view is a bit distracting she will lay out the scene, discuss it and then "weigh in.
" It's hard to explain this, but I tend to prefer a more seamless transition between narrator and character,


I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would, The book is beautifully written, and there are a few charming stories from Lena's childhood, but overall, it was a dull and sometimes frustrating read.


The book is pretty slow paced, and there was not really anything overly exciting that happened in Lena's life, There was the time her father passed away, but she didn't write much about it, It was written almost as a fact, with not much detail about her actual grieving process, other than an occasional thought about him from time to time throughout her life.
There was also the summer she spent on the beach which I enjoyed reading, but it almost was out of place with the rest of the book.
It seemed like this Lena on the beach was a completely different person than in the rest of the book, I have a sneaky suspicion that perhaps all of the stories from the beach were not true, or, that she is holding back some of her personality in the rest of the book.


An example of the above includes the paragraph where she states she first had sex at agewith a manyears her senior at a party.
It seemed so bizarre and out of place, I'm sure there were more stories like that, that Lena could have put in her book, I'm sure they would have made it a better read as well,

Other than the book being somewhat boring, I just don't understand the urgency to get out of Russia and go to 'America'.
There was no event or series of events in her life that lead the reader to understand why Lena was so unhappy with her life.
Se spent the first chapters of the book telling us about her mother, and why the way she is, I feel that she should have put the same effort into making the reader understand the state of communist Russia, and how it affected her life.


There were only little glimpses of oppression, with little to no explanation, She stated that 'Russian citizens are not allowed to visit friends abroad', as if it were something everyone should know, Also, she comments on guards in front of restaurants, keeping people out, although Communist Russia is suppose to be for the collective good.
If that is so, who exactly eats in these restaurants As someone who does not come from a communist country, I wish she would have explained it much more than she did.


As a reader with little knowledge on communism, it seemed odd that a young, highly educated woman with a good job was trying to get out of Russia as if her life depended on it.
Things really didn't seem that bad from my reading point, It also seemed to me a little childish that she was holding on to this fantasy of America, and that if she moved there, her life would suddenly be easy and happy.


There were no details about how her life was after moving to the states, Perhaps it is in another memoir, There is only a bit of an epilogue that states she is remarried to the love of her life, living in a big house, has a great daughter and money to spend.
Sounds like the perfect American dream, I just feel that the older Lena got, the less I liked her, We all want to be free and independent, but at the same time there are obligations in life, Also family. I found it terribly selfish of her to be thinking so much about herself, and nothing of her mother and sister who have always been by her side.
And for what reason does she have to leave Well, from my reading it was because she wanted to read racy books and buy pantyhose.
I just think she is a self centered woman who thinks only of herself,

So,for this book, I'm really disappointed in it, and surprised at all the great reviews, The elegant writing style was what gave this memoir the second star, If it wasn't for that, it definatley would have been a one star, There's just something about Lena I don't like, and I don't think she's telling us the whole story,

Happy Reading!.