By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
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By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
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Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#2This is really fascinating. Because even though I am an Indian I didn't know the Soviet Union and India were that close. I wonder if any Indian school books mention this.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#3I'm taking a Russian lit class right now and it’s astonishing how much my Indian mother can follow along with my recounting of various plot points from Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. Russian literature is beloved in India
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#4Soviet books and influence were especially common in the state of Kerala, where we had the first democratically elected communist government. I remember this book called Misha (for kids) and Soviet Woman for well, women. They were very high quality prints, and was a joy to read.
Till the 80s Kerala had strong Soviet influence in politics, lifestyle and even in the architecture of buildings. I remember when I visited Vietnam, I was surprised by how similar their cities looked.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#5This is really fascinating. Because even though I am an Indian I didn't know the Soviet Union and India were that close. I wonder if any Indian school books mention this.
While I was growing up in the 90s in the same state in India as the author of the article, English translations Soviet science and math books were super cheap (I suspect they were heavily subsidized) and have had a profound impact on me. My mum used to read a lot of the English translations of literary works, but I had no interest in them until I was much older.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#6No mention of the most famous Russian book among Indian high Schoolers: [Problems in General Physics by I E Irodov](https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-Physics-I-Irodov/dp/...)?
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#7"Space Adventures in your Home" by F. Rabiza is perhaps this - https://itexts.net/avtor-florentiy-vladimirovich-rabiza/2638... - another translation "Space at your house" by Florentii Rabiza.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#8No mention of the most famous Russian book among Indian high Schoolers: [Problems in General Physics by I E Irodov]( https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-Physics-I-Irodov/dp/... )?
I have spent so much time with this book growing up. It was THE Book to solve to get the bragging rights that you know your physics.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#9I absolutely love MIR publishers. My interest in science still exists because of the books they published.
here Someone Has uploaded many of the MIR's titles.
Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks
#10I had a hardback of a soviet childrens book, which had a long story by Sergei Mikhalkhov called "Disobedience Holiday". Now thinking about it, it was as an allegory about the west in the same vein as "Animal Farm" was an allegory about the Soviets.
I think this is one of the things many in the third world started to be deprived off, following the Fall, inexpensive but very well made hardbacks printed in the USSR. The very smell of the ink and paper was something special, compared with locally made books.
The Chinese also had started printing cheap books for other countries in the third world, but they never could match the scope and scale of what USSR was doing.
And there seems to be an even older tradition of tiny pocket hardbacks mostly printed from England, small enough to fit almost in the palm of the hand, of classic novels majorly. I have managed to pick up a few at second hand sellers. I thought I'll write a blog post about them sometime, but I never came around to it.