
By the book: reflections on an Indian childhood reading Soviet hardbacks - lelf
https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/4172/reflections-on-an-indian-childhood-reading-soviet-books
======
g4omingron
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/...](https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-
Physics-I-Irodov/dp/8183552153))?

~~~
kobiguru
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.

~~~
yantrams
For REAL bragging rights, you had to solve Krotov :)

~~~
raybon
Bukhantsov was the real deal. Higher than Krotov

~~~
yantrams
Never heard of it. Will check it out. Thank you!

PS: One of the highest points during my college prep days was when I managed
to solve this kinematics problem from Krotov where the condition for a ball
bouncing in a well to get out depends on the ratio of some parameters to be co
prime. Good times.

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lordleft
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

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

~~~
alehul
Nabokov, to be fair, left Russia before the age of 18 and I don't believe he
ever returned [1]. Lolita, his magnum opus (at least by public opinion), was
first written in English. Despite his upbringing, I'm not sure he would be
best classified as Russian Lit.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov)

~~~
dang
Nabokov wrote many novels in Russian before he reluctantly switched to
English. I prefer them to his later work, which is a bit too gimmicky for me.
The earlier novels have that quality too, but it's more in balance with his
other gifts. They're absolutely wonderful (edit: and not too long!), and there
are good translations.

~~~
alehul
Nine, apparently!

Any particular recommendations out of those? And does an English version carry
the same weight, or does one have to read in Russian to appreciate most of it?

~~~
dang
I read them in English. The translations are great and I'm pretty sure he
vetted them carefully. IIRC, his son did some of them, in between being an
opera singer.

My favorite was Luzhin's Defense, about a chess master who goes mad. But I
liked all of them, including Despair, Glory, and Invitation to a Beheading.
Invitation to a Beheading is unusual, sort of phantasmagoric—a bit like Kafka
at his most dreamlike. If you like movies that play games with "what is real",
it's in that spirit.

The first two English novels Sebastian Knight and Bend Sinister are very much
in the style of his Russian novels. But the language of the Russian novels is
lush rather than brittle, and this comes out even in the translations.

My impression of Nabokov is that he was inwardly a romantic and even a
sentimentalist, but was conflicted about that and so wrapped it in many layers
of cleverness. For me, the cleverness and self-reference get to be too much in
the later work. He's at his best when the cleverness and the romanticism are
equally matched and the tension between them has the most energy. People say
the sentimental side comes through more strongly in his memoir (Speak, Memory)
but I haven't read that one.

------
kobiguru
I absolutely love MIR publishers. My interest in science still exists because
of the books they published.

here Someone Has uploaded many of the MIR's titles.

[https://mirtitles.org/category/mir-
publishers/](https://mirtitles.org/category/mir-publishers/)

~~~
talonx
MIR, Raduga (mostly children's fiction), Progress (popular science, if I
remember correctly) - these publishers were really cheap in 80s and 90s India,
compared to similar books in terms of content, printing and binding. Perhaps
that's why they were such a favourite. I used to frequent a bookstore solely
devoted to these called Vostok. That bookstore is long gone.

I still have many of these, some gifted by relatives, in my shelves today.

These days, at book fairs and on sites like OLX, certain unscrupulous sellers
have taken to selling whatever such Soviet hardbacks they can find at
astronomical prices. To be fair to them, it's a supply and demand problem.

------
selune
Comments in this thread are kind of trippy but also so heartwarming to read. I
was born in independent Ukraine but, unsurprisingly, I studied math and
physics with the help of all of those Soviet handbooks: Perelman, Irodov etc,
basically all of them are household names.

It's amazing to realize that somebody from a totally different culture,
continent, language, was slouching over the same problems as I was, maybe even
at the same time.

~~~
vram22
Good points. I am in India. When in college, used to buy and read those books,
for math., physics, etc. Good content. I remember Ya. Perelman's [1] books in
particular, for popularizing physics to the layman. Stuff about perpetual
motion machines (explaining why they cannot work), physical phenomena related
to refraction, reflection, etc., and much else besides.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Perelman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Perelman)

------
markvdb
What many people don't realise is that the Soviets also made significant
investments in "high" culture in western Europe. I distinctly remember a very
important independent film distributor in Belgium got at least partly financed
initially by the USSR. They did modestly well and were able to survive the
collapse of the USSR until well past the year 2000.

Edit: The distributor was called Progrès films, founded in 1950 by the
communist party of Belgium. It worked until 2002, after which other
independent cinema projects like cinéart and cinélibre took over.

~~~
myth_drannon
Well, the belief was that the capitalist regimes were keeping down and
exploiting the proletariat by keeping them uneducated. Once given an
opportunity for education and exposed to science and culture they will raise
up against their masters.

------
billfruit
I had a hardback of a soviet childrens book, which had a long story by Sergei
Mikhalkhov called "Disobedience Holiday". Now thinking about it, it was as an
allegory about the west in the same vein as "Animal Farm" was an allegory
about the Soviets.

I think this is one of the things many in the third world started to be
deprived off, following the Fall, inexpensive but very well made hardbacks
printed in the USSR. The very smell of the ink and paper was something
special, compared with locally made books.

The Chinese also had started printing cheap books for other countries in the
third world, but they never could match the scope and scale of what USSR was
doing.

And there seems to be an even older tradition of tiny pocket hardbacks mostly
printed from England, small enough to fit almost in the palm of the hand, of
classic novels majorly. I have managed to pick up a few at second hand
sellers. I thought I'll write a blog post about them sometime, but I never
came around to it.

~~~
lb1lf
As for the latter, that would possibly be The Collector's Library?

Large selection of classics, printed on thin 'Bible paper', hardback,
diminutive size, ribbon marker.

I tend to always keep one or two in my cabin luggage for the occasions when I
feel like giving the Kindle a rest.

~~~
billfruit
I do find them from different publishers, Oxford World Classics dated from
1940's and other's like Blackie and Son's from the 50's. They are so
conveniently sized.

------
bibyte
This is really fascinating. Because even though I am an Indian I didn't know
the Soviet Union and India were that close. I wonder if any Indian school
books mention this.

~~~
sseth
It's good to know the history here. For most of 50s and 60s we were roughly
equidistant between US and USSR. It was the crass support for Pakistan's Ayub
Khan by Nixon and Kissinger before the Bangladesh war in 1971, which forced
India to shift a little closer to the Soviet Union. Both Nixon and Kissinger
had a visceral hatred of India and Indira Gandhi - see [1].

The USSR did help us with arms and with votes in the United Nations. While
this was generally helpful, it led to a shameful episode when India chose to
tacitly support the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. It may surprise many
Indians to know that more recently, inspite of our tilt to the West, we have
supported Russia's annexation of Crimea, and we were one of the first major
countries to recognize the annexation.

[1] [https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/indira-gandhi-
is-...](https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/indira-gandhi-is-a-bitch-
the-indians-are-bastards/227789)

~~~
agapon
I do not think that India has recognized that annexation. And there are no
major countries that have recognized it.

------
sseth
I remember too. Wonderful books at throwaway prices. I remember Ya Perelman's
books on physics. Also a wonderful book just on limits which helped me
understand the concept in a way which no other maths book could. And we also
used to have beautifully illustrated magazines. I still have many of these
books. I think Ya Perelman really made me fall in love with Physics.

~~~
yantrams
Yakov Perelman forever! Are you referring to the limits book in dialogue
format ? I came across one few years back.

------
jeswin
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 Vietnam, I
was surprised by how similar their cities looked.

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

~~~
poorna13
Yup. I got Misha even in a small town in Karnataka. I remember writing to
Russian pen pals via Misha.

------
avmich
"Space Adventures in your Home" by F. Rabiza is perhaps this -
[https://itexts.net/avtor-florentiy-vladimirovich-
rabiza/2638...](https://itexts.net/avtor-florentiy-vladimirovich-
rabiza/263812-kosmos-u-tebya-doma-florentiy-rabiza.html) \- another
translation "Space at your house" by Florentii Rabiza.

~~~
muks
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.

~~~
vishnugupta
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 :)

~~~
yantrams
Is this the book you are referring to ? -
[https://sovietbookbugs.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/rassian-c...](https://sovietbookbugs.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/rassian-
charithra-katalu-gadhalu.jpg)

~~~
vishnugupta
Holy mother!!! Never in my dreams could I imagine I'd be seeing it again.
You've made my day :-). And, as you'd know surely, how similar/close Kannada
and Telugu scripts are I could effortlessly read it!

It does bring back a flood of memories. Thanks again :-)

~~~
yantrams
You're welcome :) Memorable tales and gorgeous illustrations. This is one of
the few books I managed to keep in absolute mint condition :) I have a scanned
version lying around in my collection. Will upload sometime soon on my blog.

------
myth_drannon
Venkatesh Rao (of Gervais Principle fame) wrote nicely on the same topic
[https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/08/30/morning-is-wiser-
than-...](https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/08/30/morning-is-wiser-than-
evening/)

------
ordu
_> I wonder who Rabiza was; none of the many fan sites for Soviet books say
that._

I've found a short postmortem from 2002 in a magazine "Science and Life"[1].
Seems he was engineer, painter and popular science writer/journalist.

[1]
[https://www.nkj.ru/archive/articles/4982/](https://www.nkj.ru/archive/articles/4982/)

------
DarmokJalad1701
I remember reading translated versions of Yakov Perelman's "Physics for
Entertainment" as a kid. There were also translations of more "propaganda-ish"
works like "Three Fat Men".

------
tshanmu
Ya Perelman - Fun with maths and Fun with Physics brings back so many memories
(Irodov had too much at stake so there no unbounded joy of learning for
learning's sake)

~~~
wces
I started loving Physics with Marathi translation of this book:
[https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Entertainment-Yakov-
Perelman/...](https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Entertainment-Yakov-
Perelman/dp/2917260068)

------
yantrams
I can't emphasize enough how important these books were in shaping my
childhood in a rural town in India. I still vividly remember making a fuss
when Misha and Sputnik stopped after the fall of Soviet. A part of me is
forever indebted to Russia for this.

Given the strong Communist presence in Andhra Pradesh, the state I am from, we
were lucky to have a great number of these books translated to Telugu, by no
less than legends like Sri Sri.

I have some of the children's books uploaded on my blog at
[http://linkdot.link/sooviytt-prcurnnlu-childrens-
books.html](http://linkdot.link/sooviytt-prcurnnlu-childrens-books.html)

PS: I named my daughter Aelita after the science fiction classic.

~~~
jhbadger
Funny thing about the Sputnik magazine. In a lot of the West it was seen as
Communist propaganda (which to be fair a lot of it was), but in the late 1980s
it was actually banned in East Germany because it wasn't Communist _enough_ as
it wrote favorably about Perestroika and Glasnost, which the leaders of the
GDR weren't happy about.

~~~
lb1lf
According to an ossi friend of mine, the moment he could no longer buy
Sputnik, that torch of progressive socialism at his local Leipzig newsstand
was the moment he realised that the GDRs days were numbered...

------
fredley
"Ants among Elephants" by Sujatha Gidla is the true story of a communist
revolutionary in (what is now) Andhra Pradesh in the mid 20th century, I'd
recommend it: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450688-ants-among-
elep...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450688-ants-among-elephants)

