Moscow in the "good old days"
926790
Lots of interesting "tradecraft"procedures, each one a suspenseful episode in the overall story.
3664326
I enjoyed this novel.  It begins in Sunnydale but moves around a lot, giving us the characters we're used to as well as some new ones.  The plot was good; it held my interest throughout.  I felt that it retained the spirit of the Russian tales and characters it referenced while letting the Scobbies do their thing as well.
1373931
So well written, Amor Towles takes you back in time to experience  a Russia undergoing change. The reader finds themselves immersed in the life of a gentleman, Count Alexander Rostov put under house arrest in the Grand Metropol Hotel.
60425
Warning: SPOILERS!!!!

My husband is a Russian immigrant-he grew up in Ekateringburg, a city in the Ural Mountains, and he was very impressed with how accurately everyday life in Russia is portrayed in this book. I asked him about the scene where Renko's friend is happy with his broken washing machine, and he said that was true to life-that a Russian in that time would be happy with any new appliance whether it worked or not, because it was so hard to actually get anything. I thought about my time in Russia, and walking for blocks to buy milk, and then more blocks to buy cereal, and the American cop's comment about how there was no fresh meat in the stores. It's true-there wasn't much fresh food. All the little details of Russian life rang true.

Aside from my own personal experience, this was a fascinating mystery. It's not so much a who-done-it as a why-would-they-have-done-it. The story revolves around Russian sables-an animal so rare it's hard to find pictures on the Internet, that produces fur so valuable it's literally worth its weight in gold. In these days of political correctness, when fur is frowned upon, it's a truly unique look at a world where a coat can cost one hundred thousand dollars and a man will skin murder victims just to acquire a few animals. There's also some pretty ferocious commentary on how our government works, and it doesn't seem like there's much to choose between the United States and Soviet Russia when it comes to high finance. This is the book that introduced me to Arkady Renko and his love-hate relationship with Russia, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a different kind of detective story.
1211536
I love the service received from Amazon.com. I have worked with them for a number of years (10-15yrs ?) and have always experienced excellent service.

The book is wonderful ...I am a fan for some years, of everything "Russia" and in 2008 I was lucky enough to visit Russia for 3 weeks with my son. We travelled by bus between Moscow and St Petersberg and stayed in local hotels and travelled by local transport around the cities. There is nothing like trying to get as close as possible to the "locals" when travelling.

I suggest that if you want to "do" Russia. Do it like we did.

"Leroy 111"
3259658
Interlacing two stories, that of Christ's crucifixion and a modern-day visit by the Devil to early 20th Century Moscow, the author creates a beautiful (and fantastic - witches and devils and spirits and talking cats galore!) portrayal of life under the then-new communist regime.

An excellent choice for anyone interested in the first few decades of communist rule in Russia, or satire, or just a ripping good read.
723386
This delightful read brought back so many happy memories of that time.  It is a vivid reminder of how life has changed in many respects, but not the important one of a tightly knit community of resourceful and determined people.
2667439
Lots and lots of great old photos show you what life was really like in the old steel town. Its hard to believe all the changes that have happened in Pittsburgh.
4936655
William Ryan's The Holy Thief is well worth reading for any fan of police procedurals set in a special time and place.  This book takes place in Moscow in 1936 just as Stalin is ramping up his show trials, executions, and banishments to Siberia. A young woman is found tortured to death in a church.  Captain Alexi Korolev of the Moscow CID is assigned to investigate the first murder as well as several subsequent murders.

In a military/police state, there is a constant tension between the ordinary police force and the political police force, in this case, the NKVD.  Korolev has to deal with an NKVD colonel who seems to be helping him, but also feeding him information very restrictively.  There is also a political officer inside the CID who Korolev must contend with as well, not to mention the petty jealousies found in any police department.  However, in this time and place, one bad word to the 'right' people and an official can be banished to a gulag in the wink of an eye.  It has just happened to one of Korolev's colleagues and the memory of this hangs over the CID office like a think blanket of dread.

The book is strongest in terms of setting the atmosphere and letting us see what life is like for ordinary Russians in the bleak Moscow winters.  The plot is sufficiently complex that we are on edge for most of the book.  There's a bit too much artifice in how the novel ends (and this is why I did not award the last star), but Ryan has set himself up for a series of books about Korolev that could become really strong with a slightly defter hand at plot resolutions.
560589
Going back to Russia for the first time in decades, Stravinsky made a tour as a conductor. It was a strange meeting since his music had been banned undre the Soviets. The musicians really had no idea of Stravinsky style, so they gave him Russian style a la Tchaikovsky and Rimsky_korsakov. The result is at times slapdash but very exciting and full of emotion--a rare thing when Stravinsky conducted his own music. The sound is quite listenable.

This CD is out of print and offered by a vendor here at a ridiculous price for a used copy, but if you search hard enough (did I say eBay?), you should be able to pick up a copy of this delightful souvenir.
215613
Although there is little history or sociology in this book, I enjoyed it for the viewpoint of Soviet society in a changing era.  Hobson was a student of the Russian language studying at a local university.  She describes life in the student hostel she lived in, along with all the interactions with other foreigners and Russian students.  She said very little about the university.  This book details all the interactions with other Russian students, and life in the USSR during this transition.  After the New Year came, she experienced life in the Russian Federation.  Society's mores certainly changed during this time.

This book shows a personal experience of a society changing from Communist to Capitalist.  It is interesting in how Soviet mores changed drastically during this time.  The book had a good flow to it and reads easily.
4836243
Enjoyed walking down memory lane - one of the good ones from that era.
3530671
This book is a good read and well worth the purchase price for anyone interested in Russia before and during the Stalin era.  It not only provides a good helping of gore as well as the science regarding the handling of Lenin's corpse, but also gives a strong aroma of what life was like for society's upper echelons at that time.
1435130
This was a very pleasurable read. It allowed me to revisit a bygone era and served-up much of my childhood to me, with many of its happy memories. I believe any Montrealer-in-exile would enjoy the book. (Even non-Montrealers might get a kick out of it.)
4735970
Enjoyed the book a lot, takes you back to those interesting times in Russian  history.  Really got into that time period, the clothes,food and of course all the intrigue.
4665045
A recollection of life in an older time and place. Very entertaining and memory jogging for older folks like me, and enlightening for younger ones.
I was amazed at how similar the customs and language were to my time and place.  I thoroughly enjoyed having my memory jogged and can certainly see why those times have been called "the good old days."  Yes, those times were sometimes hard but family life was so much more important and even necessary back then.  It sad how technology has taken away the social closeness that we felt then.  To see so many totally involved with smart phones, and blackberries that they don't seem to see each other anymore even when together is really sad. I much prefer playing rummy, or go fishing, or monopoly with a friend or sibling to punching little buttons and ignoring my  surroundings or companions.........
2522195
Reading this book is truly a trip to the past. I am not old enough to recognize some of the older photos, but I can clearly see the changes in the locations depicted, during the past 90 years. These photos are clear proof of how much Queens has changed in the past century, changes much more drastic than the changes seen in old photos of Manhattan. Most of the photos are in good condition, clear and well captioned. A true keeper for you, or a great gift for someone who values this type of nostalgia.