The Soviet Union was founded on a fairytale. It was built on 20th-century magic called 'the planned economy', which was going to gush forth an abun...
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Dec 05, 2011
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Red-Plent...
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The Observer
Strange Horizons
The Guardian
The Independent
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Mar 19, 2011
Nicholas
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This is a really interesting book, a light on an important period of history (the Soviet Union from 1959 to 1969) of which I knew much less than I had realised, looked at through the eyes of true believers in the economic system of Communism as it developed under Khrushchev, who were then bitterly disappointed as Brezhnev and Kosygin (and later Brezhnev alone) took over. I grew up at the tail end of the Brezhnev era, when the Soviet system seemed monolithic and permanent; subsequent events prove
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Jan 18, 2011
Ernie.tedeschi
rated it:
Red Plenty is a work of historical fiction that thoroughly blurs the line between "history" and "fiction" in a fascinating way. It recounts the attempts by the Soviet Union in the 1960s to engineer their economy into prosperity and dominance over the West (hence "red plenty"). Spufford follows several characters -- as varied as an academic economist and Nikita Kruschev himself -- through various disjointed episodes in which they plan, implement, and ultimately recog
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Nov 15, 2010
Frank
rated it:
Another novel, and one of the strangest I've read in a long, long time.
It's a novel based on, of all things, the attempt to transform the Soviet economy using cybernetics and computers in the early 1960s, during Khruschev's cultural "thaw." The author describes the book as a fairy tale, albeit a heavily footnoted fairy tale based on real people, but its really more like a science fiction story, one set in a land not more advanced but still very distinct from any we've know More...
It's a novel based on, of all things, the attempt to transform the Soviet economy using cybernetics and computers in the early 1960s, during Khruschev's cultural "thaw." The author describes the book as a fairy tale, albeit a heavily footnoted fairy tale based on real people, but its really more like a science fiction story, one set in a land not more advanced but still very distinct from any we've know More...
Aug 25, 2010
Doug
rated it: 
Easily my book of the year so far, this is a remarkably original and entertaining book.
This is a mixed fiction/non-fiction book about economics. Please don't let it put you off - this is not just a book for geeks and wonks (although they'll love it too), this is a story ultimately of people, and how people just won't do what they ought to, no matter what.
The unassailable position of Capitalism in it's current form is not due to the inherent greatness of Capitalism, but b More...
This is a mixed fiction/non-fiction book about economics. Please don't let it put you off - this is not just a book for geeks and wonks (although they'll love it too), this is a story ultimately of people, and how people just won't do what they ought to, no matter what.
The unassailable position of Capitalism in it's current form is not due to the inherent greatness of Capitalism, but b More...
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Sep 14, 2010
"Comrades, let's optimize!"
Coming from an operations research background, the mere idea of having a fiction book on dual prices had me drooling since I've first heard about it. To actually get several features on Kantorovich and mentions to both Danzig and Koopmans is just the icing on the cake.
So, what's going on here? It's a history of failed central planning in the USSR. However, it is a very humorous one, filled with good ol' Eastern European humor ("How do More...
Coming from an operations research background, the mere idea of having a fiction book on dual prices had me drooling since I've first heard about it. To actually get several features on Kantorovich and mentions to both Danzig and Koopmans is just the icing on the cake.
So, what's going on here? It's a history of failed central planning in the USSR. However, it is a very humorous one, filled with good ol' Eastern European humor ("How do More...
Feb 05, 2012
Iain
rated it:
A fictionalized history of Soviet Union economics. Absolutely terrific read, especially in the light of the current financial crisis.
If you've ever wondered how the USSR functioned day-to-day, this is the book for you. Spend a few hundred pages in the heads of Spufford's large cast of characters and it will all start to make a certain twisted sense, so much so that you may begin to wonder how Western-style capitalism can possibly function. As one character asks, "but who tells y More...
If you've ever wondered how the USSR functioned day-to-day, this is the book for you. Spend a few hundred pages in the heads of Spufford's large cast of characters and it will all start to make a certain twisted sense, so much so that you may begin to wonder how Western-style capitalism can possibly function. As one character asks, "but who tells y More...
Jan 11, 2011
Gareth
rated it:
If you had to write a book on Soviet Ecconomics in the 1950s and 1960s would you choose to write work of non-fiction? And attract a very small audience to a yawn-festival. Would you write a novel? And, if so, how would you comment on the theory and provide the reader with sufficient background? Fancis Spruford's solution is to do both. Short explanatory introductions to sections provide the theory and a series of very loosely linked dramatic chapters illustrate the effect of the theory. He
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Dec 28, 2010
Vuk
rated it: 
Interesting book, who would tell that a fictionalized account of planned economy can be so much fun!
Still, I got to confess I had a few problems with the method. He's adept at fiction, but my main problem is that fictional passages sometimes feel bit laboured. I mean, the point is fairly thinly stretched and no matter how accomplished prose it is, it's hardly worth it reading for the sake of it.
Just as importantly, this is really a book about our 'years of plenty'. It's reall More...
Still, I got to confess I had a few problems with the method. He's adept at fiction, but my main problem is that fictional passages sometimes feel bit laboured. I mean, the point is fairly thinly stretched and no matter how accomplished prose it is, it's hardly worth it reading for the sake of it.
Just as importantly, this is really a book about our 'years of plenty'. It's reall More...
Jun 27, 2011
thegift
rated it:
Fascinating series of fiction-nonfiction portrayals of the project of communism in the USSR, through the twentieth century, as if a Russian folk tale. This shows a sympathetic, if misinformed, idealistic sort of tyranny. Everything would work out in the end, all people would receive great wealth, if they could just get the 'planned economy' to work. A useful corrective to simple ideological slurs. The numbers were right, if only the people had been uniformly idealistic, rather than, say, simpl
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Dec 15, 2011
Todd
rated it:
This is a good book, though I wanted to like it more than I did in the end, given the glowing reviews and genre innovation. The dust jacket alludes to this innovation, asking "is it history? is it a novel?", suggesting it is a blend of the two. Sort of. It is more like a set of somewhat connected short stories of historical fiction, interspersed with some useful and interesting historical context. For quite a while I kept looking for the novel (single-story) thread, and felt lost as
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Dec 21, 2011
Riet
rated it:
Dit was een goede suggestie van Ella. Ik denk wel, dat je een basis idee van de moderne Russiche geschiedenis moet hebben om het te kunnen waarderen. De schrijver laat in een aantal korte verhalen zien hoe de planeconomie van de Soviet Unie werkte, of liever gzegd: niet werkte. Het is vaak heel humoristisch, de personages zijn echt of gebaseeerd op bestaande personen. Het maakt wel duidelijk wat we al wisten n.l., dat hun systeem niet de vervanging van het onze kon zijn.
Feb 18, 2012
Edmole
rated it:
A remorseless yet gorgeously poetic exploration of a country painting itself into a corner with good intentions and poor outcomes. What does it mean to mean well in a place where meaning doesn't always mean what it's meant to? What's the point of being a genius in a world ruled by idealogues and bureaucrats? And what's a story about Russians without the melancholy of the permanently thwarted?
Brilliant.
Ed
Brilliant.
Ed
Sep 19, 2010
Michael
rated it:
Spufford has a lovely, decorous writing style; he also has an acute mind: anyone who can take Soviet economic policies and make a kind of sense of them (without getting swamped by the very real horror of their consequences - see latest death counts in Moa's Great Leap Forward, China 1959(?) - ) sure gets my vote for Respect!
I had thought at first these were excerpts from the life of a Soviet State, but a through-line appears the further one reads into it. Gives the whole enterprise a More...
I had thought at first these were excerpts from the life of a Soviet State, but a through-line appears the further one reads into it. Gives the whole enterprise a More...
Apr 19, 2011
Stantontas
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 13, 2011
Tudor
rated it:
Brilliant book about the scientists of Soviet Russia that tried to make the "planned economy" work. You know that you are in the presence of something special when you read non-fiction, science-(non)fiction, historical-(non)fiction, realistic-fiction and biography all at the same time.
Jan 24, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
I really enjoyed this, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Russia (or America, really), the 1960's, idealism, philosophy, economics (or no interest in economics, really)... I would recommend it to anyone interested in a view of life that's totally different from what we're living today, but only removed by a few decades, by a continent or two. Forthcoming from Graywolf in Spring 2012!
Aug 14, 2011
Dylan
rated it:
Straddling the line between fact and fiction it tells the story of the the reality of political ideology on the peoples of Russia, during the 50s and 60s.
Jul 27, 2011
Ingenious and entertaining 'novel' about the Soviet planned economy of the Krushchev era - sounds dry, but it ain't
Feb 03, 2012
Seth
rated it:
Among the narrative highlights of this book are a chapter-long, biologically-accurate story of the development of a single lung cancer cell and a few-pages-long dramatization of the functioning of logic circuits, both embedded in a surprisingly gripping tragedy about the development of the Soviet state and the mathematical, computer, and economic systems that aimed to support it. I was deeply impressed by this book, and I'm not easily impressed (though I may be a corner-case for this sort of thi
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Oct 30, 2011
Anthea
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The idea behind the book (the moment when the USSR appeared technologically superior to the US) is a clever and interesting one, but ultimately I found this dissatisfying. Good idea, flawed execution.
Sep 13, 2011
Ian
rated it:
A really inventive and successful mix of history, fairy tales, and short stories capturing the 20th century Russian spirit as it embraces communism only to be bitterly let down.
Jan 18, 2011
Maria
rated it:
This book is approximately what would happen if you sent a human interest features writer to an alternate history Soviet Union, and then stapled together whatever they wrote that was relevant to economic planning. The characters are thin, the pacing is uneven, and the exposition never quite provides the support needed to move from handwavy ideas to real economic or political arguments.
So it's a good thing the ideas are interesting.
So it's a good thing the ideas are interesting.
Sep 13, 2011
Jake
rated it:
Excellent book. Unlike another book I've read before. Parallels great stories with history. Writing was a bit dry in places, but throughout the majority of the book, highly enjoyable.
Mar 16, 2011
Ouranosaurus
rated it:
A fascinating look both at the nuts and bolts of the way Soviet life actually worked – in particular, the economic side – and a story about the people who tried to actually make it work better. And failed. But it was one of the most interesting failures in Soviet history. Spufford's mix of fiction and history is made much better by the extensive endnotes.
May 31, 2011
Arithmomaniac
rated it:
I was surprised at how vividly and movingly the rise and fall of Soviet economics - from points of view across Soviet society - could be told.
The stringing together of short stories, the attention to detail, and the delicious interweaving of important facts and fleshed-out fiction sucked me in. And it's almost clean, too.
The stringing together of short stories, the attention to detail, and the delicious interweaving of important facts and fleshed-out fiction sucked me in. And it's almost clean, too.
