Extremely Interesting

I thought I had read all of John Steinbeck’s works needless to say; I was surprised when I came across this book published in 1948. I had never heard of it.

Steinbeck and Robert Capa, photographer, embarked on a six week Soviet Union tour during the early stages of the Cold War era. They visited Soviet Georgia, Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kiev. The report they created on life under Joseph Stalin’s command, is a highly valuable historical document.

The people portrayed in their literary and photographic archive, are seen living in totally different conditions from those in the West. They were rebuilding a war torn country with the use of only primitive tools as the Germans destroyed all mechanized equipment as they pulled out of Russia. Steinbeck and Capa tried to avoid meeting officials and ministers, but to find time to travel across the cities to speak to people and to understand the way they were living. They tried for honest reporting without drawing conclusions.

The book sort of reminds me of “Travels with Charley” because it is a non-fiction travel memoir. Steinbeck was a great observer of life, and characters. He wrote of the Russian people with great respect. Steinbeck writes very well about the humor in situations, like the nightmares of bureaucracy and the difficulties of travel. Great book and a must read for those interested in history or just a good Steinbeck story. Richard Poe narrated the book.

8 people found this helpful

Steinbeck non-fiction is always good!

I love Steinbeck's writing, both his fiction and his non-fiction. So I am biased perhaps. This audio is as good as any of Steinbeck's later narratives, like Travels with Charley and Sea of Cortez, both of which I loved. A Russian Journal details Steinbecks' travels in Russia with Robert Capa after World War II. They went there to see how common folk lived and what was going on at ground level in the country. Steinbeck was the words man and Capa the photographs man. And Steinbeck reported in this book all the types of details and human interest events that he was known for in all his writing. The narrator of this book does an excellent job...good pacing, excellent diction, and occasional emphasis when appropriate...a good narrator does not stand between the listener and the book, he disappears and that is exactly what this narrator does....it is as if he is not there...he is not a distraction.

6 people found this helpful

There's a reason you haven't heard of this

It promised to be an eye-opening glimpse into the lives of everyday Russians during the Soviet Union. Instead, Steinbeck devoted most of the pages to descriptions of his companion's, the photographer Capa's, grooming habits.
I don't want to say it wasn't with a read, but it was rather disappointing. It illuminated only the Russian's hospitality towards Americans and their concern about avoiding another war.
A disappointing read.

2 people found this helpful

Dated Cold War Travel Log

This was billed as a 1948 trip to Russia to report on the truth of the new Soviet people. The group said they desired to be unbiased but they clearly were not. They clearly believed the Russian people would be like people everywhere and would not want war. Of course they were correct about that.

There is a telling line about the Russian peoples' unquestioning reverence of Stalin "by propaganda, by training, by constant reference, by the iconography"...they don't mention by fear. The authors clearly had a goal of moderating the growing red scare in the US and the potential for war by downplaying any Soviet aggression and humanizing the Russian people. This is all well and good, but it is different from journalistic truth and does not make for a really good book, even if you are John Steinbeck.

If you do listen to this book you may want to google-images "Robert Capa russian photos" and view the many superb photos. These photos were more impactful than the writing.

The writing is also a bit dated with Steinbeck doing a bit of a Hemingway impersonation. Otherwise this is a mildly interesting travel log by an excellent writer. Although I did enjoy this a bit, it is near the bottom of Steinbeck's writing and I am not tempted to read it again.

I found the narration excellent for this book, clear with good expressiveness.

1 person found this helpful

Weird narration

Narrator inserts lengthy pauses after EVERY sentence. Very annoying to listen to. Would not listen to this narrator again.

1 person found this helpful

Another delightful work by my favorite author

I like this book for several reasons.

One is that John Steinbeck’s writing never disappoints. It is clever, simple, precise, and oftentimes really funny.

Another reason is that the book glimpses a small but important slice of Russian/Soviet reality soon after the WWII.

The next reason is that Steinbeck traveled to different republics of then huge country of the USSR and wonderfully described his experiences.

The last reason is the feeling of pure joy that a reader gets from Steinbeck’s kind-hearted and often self-deprecating humor. He seems to have had a quality of contagious humanity. What can I say - that’s why he is one of my most beloved authors!
I do recommend this book. A lot.

An Excellent Account

Steinbeck with great insight and humor shows how we are all similar while simultaneously creating a longing to visit the land and people.

Great moments

Condensed Twain-like humor (A Tramp Abroad) which seems to model some of the writing, but the author seems to become exhausted and ends up in narration, and seems tired of his own book. The narrator is unflagging, and I, for one, liked the pacing.

no picture pdf :(

I liked the audiobook well read and interesting prespective. I wish the pictures could have been in a pdf.

a great story, well read worth a listen

its a great story, interesting to hear about the soviet union of the late 1940s