The Red Passport: Stories

by Katherine Shonk

A beguiling debut collection set in the "New Russia" about love, dislocation, and the struggle to get a foothold in a changing world

The eight unpredictable, poignant, and often comic stories that make up Katherine Shonk's The Red Passport portray the tumult, hopes, and disappointments of Russians and visiting Americans alike in post-Communist Russia. Many of the Russians in these stories are strangers in their own country, learning to navigate a new landscape of Dunkin Donuts franchises that flourish where consumer culture had so recently been anathema; where the fall of the Soviet Union has not in fact brought about peace or prosperity; and where people still find a way to reach out and for love, despite often disastrous results. "My Mother's Garden" reads like a parable of broken promises--an old woman living near Chernobyl does not understand why she can't eat those robust, lovely, enormous onions, better than any she'd grown for decades. "Our American" is set in Moscow and tells the story of a thirteen year old boy who watches with fascination and dread as his older brother, a veteran of the Chechen war, pursues the naïve American girl next door. "The Young People of Moscow" describes an extraordinary day in the life of an aging Russian couple selling Soviet poetry in an underground bazaar. In her elegantly crafted stories Shonk delves deeply into these people, finding both the nub of their disappointment and the truth of their good intentions. Describing a place that is at once exotic and disconcertingly familiar, The Red Passport is a moving and startling book that doles out amazement and delight in equal measure.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Russia, Adult

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

KATHERINE SHONK is the author of the novel HAPPY NOW? and the story collection THE RED PASSPORT, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year. Her writing has appeared in Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, Tin House, and elsewhere. She works as an editor for Harvard University and lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Katherine Shonk]

This is my book of stories, based on my experiences living in contemporary Russian in the mid-1990s.

[Kelly]

This book is comprised of short stories that seem to explore the way US/UK culture is perceived in Russia, post-Cold War. Read half the stories and decided to call it quits. It's not that these stories aren't competently written, but more the fact that they are vignettes that don't seem to build to any sort of greater vision or conclusion, not even within the pages of each story. Slightly ironic, but not attractive enough to hold my attention.

[Dee W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight short stories about New Russia, but more importantly about Russians. It's become such a joke, Soviet to capitalist so quick, but New Russia is rife with social stagnation under all the glitz. These stories are about who they are as a people, where they are going and how they view with new world they live in. It's not happy, it's honest and gritty and that makes it better. More real. More Russian.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this book on my shelf for a year before I picked it up to read it. It was a quick read. The book is made up of 8 short stories about post-Soviet life in Russia. Each one of the stories left me me with the feeling of melancholy. If you like books about Eastern Europe this is a nice little book with some great characters. Bravo to the author on some of these characters, they were so true to life.

[Kristina Hoerner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book of short stories about post Communist Russia even though it was outside my comfort zone. The cool thing is that I went to college with the author and was unaware of her writing talents.

[Laila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't like short stories, probably because I want to know more. These stories were no exception, I wanted more, more, more! Of the eight stories, six I loved so much I wish they were fleshed out into full novels.

[Lindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I had this on my Amazon wish list for about ten years before I received a copy, and have only now just read it. I found the stories highly readable although I will admit that a few endings left me somewhat dissatisfied- but that may be the nature of a short story.

I remain torn between wondering if it's presumptuous for a student of Russia and Russian culture to write from the perspective of the people, or if that is one of the ways in which the interesting societal and cultural differences are most keenly observed (and then set down for the American observer).

Nevertheless, as a former student of cold-war and post cold-war politics, and a sometime frequent visitor to Russia, I really enjoyed reading these. They triggered a lot of old memories and rekindled interest in this since neglected area of my studies.

[Pen Stratton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eight short stories based in Russia. If you thought Russia was a bleak place full of miserable people, this book will do nothing to change that. The stories are well written, building characters well, but nothing uplifting in any of them. I should give it a higher rating for the writing, but I prefer something happy at some point in a read, though it's good to read something a bit different once in a while.

[Auriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Shonk- thank you for taking me back. The real presence of Russian people, culture and society were ubiquitous in every one of your wonderfully written stories. The authenticity of your characters, plots, beautifully painted imagery and details, big or small, was beyond impressive and incredibly nostalgic, provoking on several accounts deja vu of my own time living in Russia. The amount of times I paused after reading a passage in your book that was so familiar is completely lost. From your descriptions of the public transportation and living conditions to the mention of Russian superstitions and typical mannerisms found in Russian people, you never ceased to bring a longing smile to my face. The Red Passport is a must read for anyone who has lived in Russia and wants to be transported back or wondered about the lifestyles of the people who have lived there post-Soviet Era. Simply delightful.

"...these intricately woven narratives provide unforgettable slices of a Russia that is at once both exotic and disconcertingly familiar."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I will be picking up the Red Passport anytime I want to feel like I'm back at my home away from home.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author's bio says nothing about any connection with Russia, yet there must be something given the subject of these stories. Also, at $4 bought on sale in Seattle, the price was right!

Well, much time having passed, I have finished this 200 page collection of short stories.

The fact that I stopped and started with this is probably the strongest indicator that I wasn't all that taken with this collection. The stories all are set in either post-Soviet Ukraine or Russia. The stories are fine individually but there is sameness to how most of them are told and what the underlying themes are that meant that reading them one after the other wasn't engaging.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is realizing that this Russia of the 1990s that she describes no longer exists.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume of short stories is set in post-Communist Russia. Americans wander through each story, and the Russians resent them for their excess of money, of leisure, of compassion. In one story, a grandmother moves back to her home near Chernobyl. She can't understand why her family tells her not to live there, why she can't eat those onions in her garden. Why, look at them! They've never grown so robustly before! Another story is about a mail-order bride, returning to care for a sick relative. Her young American daughter believes the fanciful stories her mother tells about how and why she departed Russia long ago. That is, until a Russian cousin reveals a few more details.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Katherine Shonk's collection of short stories set in Russia. Although I haven't visited post-Soviet Russia (I was there during the last month of the USSR, though), from her stories I feel as though I witnessed it first hand. Her speciality is relationships: between Americans and Russians, older Russians and younger Russians, and combinations of the these. Shonk was fortunate to live in Russia during its transition into the 21st century and has so effectively captured that time in The Red Passport.

[Leanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katherine Shonk’s short stories—mostly told from an American perspective—take place in post-Communist Russia. I was particularly struck by the story "Our American" as two young Russian men fall in love with an American girl—or, rather, they fall in love with the possibility of her rescuing them from the desperation of their current circumstances. The authenticity of this story is resounding; I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. I even reread the story—something I rarely do.

[Natalie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay. My two favorite stories in it were "My Mother's Garden" (which deals with Chernobyl) and "The Wooden Village of Kizhi" (which deals with emigration and mail-order brides!). The writing was quite good; it's just that some of these stories didn't touch me the way they did when I first read them years ago.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories set in 1990's Russia. Their life circumstances are different, their way of looking at life is different, but the characters are still real human beings with whom we relate and for whom we have feelings. Definitely deserved its 'Best Book' designation.

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

These didn't get there for me.

They're decent snapshots of what I imagine it would be like to live in Russia, but they didn't quite work as stories.

On the other hand, I found the book on a bargain table at Chapters for $1, so no harm no foul.

[Raffy Rillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

All standouts but exceptionally, the first 5 stories are unforgettable, to mention 'Our American' which reads like a novel cut off short. I love this collection. :)