Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets (Russian: Время секонд хэнд, romanized: Vremya sekond khend) is a 2013 book by Belarusian Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich. An oral history of the Soviet Union and its end, it shares the feelings and views of its people as the country transitioned to capitalism. The book contains few comments from the author herself.
 | |
| Author | Svetlana Alexievich |
|---|---|
| Translator | Bela Shayecivh |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 2013 |
Published in English | 2016 |
| ISBN | 9780399588822 |
Themes
editSecondhand Time reflects on the hopes of the Russian people in the early 90s and the broken promises by its politicians.[1] It also documents the cultural and political life of its citizens in Soviet Russia as money and commercial restaurants replaced the influence of books and domestic kitchen spaces.
Reception
editUpon release, Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets was generally well-received. According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on thirteen critic reviews with seven being "rave" and four being "positive" and one being "mixed" and one being "pan".[2] On Bookmarks September/October 2016 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews.[3][4]
The Guardian named it the third best book of the 21st century.[5] The New York Times ranked it #72 in its list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.[6] Dwight Garner described it as an "enormous radio" of stories but commented that they sometimes are "baggy and repetitive". Comparing the author to Studs Terkel, Garner praised the observations of Alexievich and the English translation's quality.[1] In The Australian, Mireille Juchau wrote that the work had "magnetic detail" and commented that the subtitle "An Oral History" did not encompass the scale of its contents, citing Ales Adamovich's description of Alexievich as an author of "epic chorus"-style literature.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Garner, Dwight (2016-05-24). "Review: In 'Secondhand Time,' Voices From a Lost Russia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
- ^ "Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets". Book Marks. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ "Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ "Secondhand Time" (PDF). Bookmarks. p. 5. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Guardian Staff (2019-09-21). "The 100 best books of the 21st century". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
- ^ "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century". The New York Times. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Juchau, Mireille (16 August 2016). "Whispers of the Russian soul". The Australian.