Books465 entries
Francis Spufford - Red Plenty
Released: 19/08/2010
Faber and Faber
Part historical account, part novel and part book of ideas, Francis Spufford's latest work is a vivid snapshot of the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Meticulously researched and entertainingly told, it is - surprisingly for a book about rubber production and planned economies - a gripping and unusual read.
For more information visit: http://www.faber.co.uk/work/red-plenty/9780571225231/ Buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0571225233?ie=UTF8&tag=cultur00-21&linkCode=as2&ca…Page [1]
60%
The Independent“History or fiction?...” In ditching convention, Spufford has conducted an experiment as bold in its smaller way as post-Stalin economics. But the result, while far from the failure the Soviet economy became, does not quite equate to success...
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100%
Financial Times“Superbly written...” As a gallimaufry of the funny, technical-scientific and deadly earnest, Red Plenty ranks as one of the strangest books ever written on the Soviet Union. From start to finish, the book is an eccentric delight; absorbing, pleasingly digressive...
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80 %
Scotsman“A compelling combination of deft fictional vignettes...” Perhaps Spufford should now devote his factional activity to the brilliant minds of RBS at Gogarburngorodok, or to BP engineers in the Gulf of Mexico...
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90%
Economist“A lesson against any Western smugness...” Mr Spufford has a gift for seeing things through others’ eyes—and a wonderful eye of his own for comic detail. He gives us the big picture—the cold war, the terror, the thaw, strikes, dissidence, pollution—through personal close-ups...
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100%
The Telegraph“Thrilling...” The composite characters are deftly drawn from a huge range of writings on Soviet social history. One can scarcely think of a recent book that conveys the everyday textures of life in the Soviet Union so well...
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90%
Guardian“Strange, risky and compelling...” It's a method that would normally repel me, but the audacity of the subject and the superb craftsmanship of the writing won me over. He can get carried away with his own virtuosity but more often his stories cut richly, subtly to the point...
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