Word: aksyonov
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, Barrie Penrose and Simon Freeman -- IN SEARCH OF MELANCHOLY BABY, Vassily Aksyonov -- MAN OF THE HOUSE, Tip O'Neill with William Novak -- THE MAKING OF THE AFRICAN QUEEN, Katharine Hepburn -- MIAMI, Joan Didion -- THE SONGLINES, Bruce Chatwin
BEST INTENTIONS, Robert Sam Anson CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, Barrie Penrose and Simon Freeman -- IN SEARCH OF MELANCHOLY BABY, Vassily Aksyonov ORPHANS: REAL AND IMAGINARY, Eileen Simpson -- RACING THROUGH PARADISE, William F. Buckley Jr. -- THE SONGLINES, Bruce Chatwin
That cloud, at least, turns out to be silver-lined. In this entertaining account of his Americanization, Aksyonov finds a country as exasperating as his own. His life becomes a feast of surprises, like TV newscasts with little real news but lots of murder, unemployment and homelessness, just like the Soviet press carries about the U.S. The solipsism of American novelists distresses him, as do the squalor of the South Bronx, the smell of popcorn in movie theaters and the fondness of Washington politicians for jogging. "Public figures are not to be seen running through the streets of Moscow with...
...same time, Aksyonov discovers heroic all-beef patties (gamburgery, as Russians call them) and college students who tackle his Soviet-literature courses with gusto, as well as enough fellow immigrants so that he never has to feel insecure about his English. The transplanted jazz fan is disappointed to learn that his beloved music has been shouldered out of the marketplace by rock. But he gains a grudging, un-Marxist respect for the market itself. "The sad fact," he writes, "is that the human race has failed to invent a system of economic relations more natural than money." He even comes...
...Aksyonov is sometimes a bit too fascinated with subjects Americans take for granted, like big cars, surly bureaucrats and the "notorious checked trousers and flower-laden hats" of the elderly. Nonetheless, the message of Melancholy Baby is reassuring: America is still the immigrant's silver lining, tarnished by its blandness but ennobled by its generosity. "I see more than the bright windows of my new home," Aksyonov concludes. "I see its mildewed corners as well. I trust that if I point them out my new country won't throw me out." Not to worry. America tends to welcome its satirists...