Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

It took me a long time to read this book. I could only take it in small portions at a time.

What was life like for the average Soviet citizen living under that regime? What did they go through when Glasnost and Perestroika brought a new honesty to their history, their politics, and their culture? This is an amazing book that movingly and thoroughly addresses these questions.

As I said, this book was not one I read quickly. Each chapter had impact on me, as I read of the crushing tyranny of the soul that was the daily life of a Soviet citizen--no, not citizen--they were victims of history's most horrible regime.

Imagine a society where to stand up and point out reality is to be labeled "mentally ill," and then to be put away and treated with drugs until your mind really is gone. Imagine a society where you are in danger of your life for even approaching the borders of your country, and where people try to desperately escape across those borders. The stories collected by the author during his many years as a journalist in the Soviet Union were crushing and heart-rending, but at the same time I was filled with amazement at the strength of some, who sought to tell the truth, who sought to be free. Also poignant were the accounts of so many, who after the revelations of Glasnost, felt their whole lives had been for nothing, that they'd been living a lie.

There was much here that resonated with me, based on my experiences in the former Soviet Union. A difficult, but necessary book.