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Aug 21, 2016Pisinga rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I had some reluctance to start to read this memoir, expecting it to be full of anti-Soviet attacks. But still I decided to read, looking at all the dithyrambs of admiration. In the beginning I did not see anything anti-Soviet, on the contrary, a deep sense of nostalgia. But as I continued reading, unpleasant feeling was growing. I would like to note that “The Russian equivalent of Angela’s Ashes” (Billy Collins). - is absolutely not accurate. There is nothing in common between “Angela’s Ashes” and ”A Mountain of Crumbs”. I didn’t like that Gorokhova, made the image of her mother as a symbol of entire Soviet life. What I saw is how her mother all her life worked hard, took care of the family, all the time was washing clothes for all family and was serving to them all, including the author. Ugly. Even if the author of the book then brought his mother to live with her in the United States. Despite the fact that in the book are many truthful facts, there are some that are absolutely untrue. For example - I can confidently say that no one was starving in the USSR. Yes, the tables of ordinary citizens didn’t have oysters for dinner, well, sorry, as well in other countries, not everyone can afford oysters for dinner meals. A self-respecting person will not be going abroad, to write a book showing all the flaws of his/her homeland, only to become famous. You can share your thoughts with friends, acquaintances and relatives. But do not create a "masterpiece", ridiculing everything about world, where you were born and raised. In addition, her life was not really so bad. It is unrealistic - 3-4 year old child, when she was in nursery school, is already thinking about the injustice of the political and economic situations.