Monday Book Review: Surviving Communism, Possibly Laughing

Though I had discussed this book in an earlier post and reference it often enough, I have never done an official review on the book: How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulić.  I bought this during my internship in Hungary (oh no, was that really 3 years ago?!) in a cool English bookstore on Hercegprima utca, right by Szent István [St Stephen].  I also bought Anna Édes while seriously bemoaning my lack of Hungarian fluency.  The title of the book was all I needed to buy it and I immediately started reading it in Szabagság tér during lunch with some zsemle and kolbász to munch on.  Those were good times for lunch, I'm telling you because she transported me into another world, though in many ways I was living with a little toe in that world.

Risen Again - 4/5 Recap & Rants

It was Easter this past Sunday and it was a good time to indulge in the east European traditions, some of which seemed a little more cruel than unusual.  Particularly when it involves whipping women.  There were lovely eggs to make up for it, though.  Though Europe had it tough because snow, not flowers, came to greet them on the symbolic holiday of rebirth.  It's like winter reborn.

The cat's out of the bag. Orbán is the most sought after television personality in Hungary.  No, I'm kidding, he's stealing all the airtime available.  I want graphs on the Politburo air times for comparison, just for kicks.

April Fool's!  I thought this was a pretty USA-centric holiday, but it turns out that Odessa is the OG of pranks.  The best part was that Humorina started during the Soviet rule. That's one way to let off steam about the endless droning of ideology!

Art, Music, Articles

Since I have not been following the news this week (which I am sure to regret since that's when EVERYTHING happens!), I can't do a summary.  I'm very sorry.  However, I do have a bunch of fun links and that's always a good time.  You're welcome.

FEMEN Moves to France

FEMEN has now set up camp in Paris, France after their well-publicized stunt in support of Pussy Riot.  The feminist featured in the piece linked above said that they were invited by French feminists, but Inna was also in physical danger after cutting down the Orthodox cross with a chainsaw.  I've featured and discussed FEMEN's protest methods in a post long, long ago, but I think that now Pussy Riot has received international support, American women are increasingly aware of their disenfranchisement, and attention is also being directed at westernizing countries in the Middle East where women are starting to fight back, feminism has come back in a way that hasn't been popular for at least 2 decades.

FEMEN and Feminism

via

Ever since I heard about this group, I was intrigued.  No, it was not because they were protesting topless.  My fascination stemmed from the visibility of a Ukrainian feminist group.  It's not like Eastern European feminist groups make many headlines, so FEMEN's prominence is not to be taken for granted.  It must be noted that bare breasts do make great news, though that's not why FEMEN bares them publicly.  This article on the Eastern Perspectives is well written and covers all the bases necessary for discussion, but I have used quotes from the Der Spiegel article linked at the end.