Hey guys--So there are a ton of new posts and pictures now, so I hope you'll give them a look. Also, I've added some links on the side, sites I've been using a lot while I've been here.
Since Prague, I've read two books, You Shall Know Our Velocity and Putin's Russia, and I wanted to mention my impressions of both.
First of all, is not a new book, as I said earlier, but in fact 5 years old--I just hadn't heard of it. It is really wonderful, and immediately jumped onto the list of my favorite books. It's incredibly nuanced, funny, touching, and life-affirming, with a ton of really modern questions. The story, about two guys trying to go around the world in a week and give away $38,000, is also really involving. If you're at all interested, please read it. I've been reselling the other books I've read, but I'm keeping this one.
Putin's Russia is quite simply terrifying. While the journalist author exaggerates some points and stumbles into a few contradictions, it is honest and unflinching. I had no idea that things were as bad as they are in Russia now if even half of this book is to be believed. Rampant corruption, misconduct, authoritarian leanings, etc. There are countless stories since 2000 that made me a little sick to have given my money the government for my visa. Human rights violations, racial violence and purges against the Chechens in Moscow, environmental abuses, military misconduct everywhere--it goes on and on. If you're interested in modern Russian politics at all, you have to check it out. While, again, some of it has to be taken with a grain of salt because of the bias, there is simply too much concrete fact to ignore. Russia's still much closer to the USSR than it might seem.
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