Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

calvertjournal.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 77 posts

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#11

Post by muks »

avmich wrote: post #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.

Wow.. wow.. there are others who have read the same things. :)

The hydro pneumatic rocket!

I tried to find Mir publishers books about 10 years ago. Apparently Mir got bought out and publishing ceased.

Another gem is "Fun with maths and physics" by Ya Perelman. It's available in a cheap reprint now, nothing that matches the original Mir publishers book.

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#12

Post by muks »

jeswin wrote: post #4

Soviet 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…

We got Misha in Hyderabad too in the 80s. My mother used to buy them for me regularly when I was a kid.

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#13

Post by billfruit »

lordleft wrote: post #3

I'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

While I think Russian lit is indeed beloved in India, Nabokov is perhaps yet to get his due appreciation, perhaps Solzhenitsyn also.

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#14

Post by vishnugupta »

muks wrote: post #11
avmich wrote: post #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.

Wow.. wow.. there are others who have read the same things. :) The hydro pneumatic rocket! I tried to find Mir publishers books about 10 years ago. Apparently Mir got bought out and publishing ceased. Another gem is "Fun with maths and physics" by Ya Perelman. It's available in a cheap reprint now, nothing that matches the original Mir publishers book.

I read the Kannada translation of the book "Fun with Physics" back when I was in primary school. Didn't understand large parts of it but that didn't stop me from repeatedly reading the books. As high quality as the content was I absolutely loved the high quality print, glossy and gorgeous paper, and really beautiful and durable hard cover. The illustrations were also of high quality. They also had a very distinct smell.

Another Kannada translated book I read (countless times) is stories from Russian history.

Needless to say Russian books are a part of my childhood :)

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#15

Post by rahulun »

kobiguru wrote: post #8
g4omingron wrote: post #6

No 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.

Ah I still ‘see’ the tiny fonts when I think about the book..

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#16

Post by rahulun »

vishnugupta wrote: post #14
muks wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow.. wow.. there are others who have read the same things. :) The hydro pneumatic rocket! I tried to find Mir publishers books about 10 years ago. Apparently Mir got bought out and publishing ceased. Another gem is "Fun with maths and physics" by Ya Perelman. It's available in a cheap reprint now, nothing that matches the original Mir publishers book.

I read the Kannada translation of the book "Fun with Physics" back when I was in primary school. Didn't understand large parts of it but that didn't stop me from repeatedly reading the books. As high quality as the content was I absolutely loved the high quality print, glossy and gorgeous paper, and really beautiful and durable hard cover. The illustrations were also of high quality. They also had a very distinct sme…

I remember reading a hard bound introduction to quantum mechanics from Mir publishers on a summer vacation..

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#18

Post by avmich »

muks wrote: post #11
avmich wrote: post #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.

Wow.. wow.. there are others who have read the same things. :) The hydro pneumatic rocket! I tried to find Mir publishers books about 10 years ago. Apparently Mir got bought out and publishing ceased. Another gem is "Fun with maths and physics" by Ya Perelman. It's available in a cheap reprint now, nothing that matches the original Mir publishers book.

Wikipedia says Mir publishing house exists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir_Publishers

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#19

Post by signa11 »

g4omingron wrote: post #6

No 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/... )?

don't forget i.a. maron for calculus :)

Re: By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks

#20

Post by poorna13 »

muks wrote: post #12
jeswin wrote: post #4

Soviet 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…

We got Misha in Hyderabad too in the 80s. My mother used to buy them for me regularly when I was a kid.

Yup. I got Misha even in a small town in Karnataka. I remember writing to Russian pen pals via Misha.
Post reply on HN