Brian Lavelle<p>Currently taking my time to read this scintillating and heartbreaking work, Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich. A huge (700 page) distillation of so many monologues from women (and some men) who reminisce, idolise/idealise and grieve about life before the fall of the Soviet Union. The voices are those of the subjects, but she weaves a fascinating cloth from it all.</p><p><a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/SvetlanaAlexievich" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SvetlanaAlexievich</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/SecondHandTime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SecondHandTime</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/SovietUnion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SovietUnion</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/USSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>USSR</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/Socialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Socialism</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/Communism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Communism</span></a> <a href="https://lavelle.scot/tags/FitzcarraldoEditions" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FitzcarraldoEditions</span></a></p><p><a href="https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/second-hand-time/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books</span><span class="invisible">/second-hand-time/</span></a></p>