The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming Books

When `The Russians' Vera Grach and Gleb Merkulov, Vlad Lapin and his wife Nina and daughter Larisa as well as Marina Alexsandrova arrive, folks in town are a bit unsure of what they may want or what their own reaction to them should be. Before long Marina finds a job at the local college where she is an assistant to a married professor. David Van Stein and his wife Megan are parents of two young children. Vera develops a friendship with policeman Jeff Menard, Gleb returns and dies at the hands of another in Moscow and scientist Vlad spends Halloween evening trying to figure out the properties found in the bowl of lollipops his wife set out for little Trick-or-Treaters. Townspeople become disenchanted with professor Van Stein when they believe him to engage in an affair with Marina. Nina's mother Alla comes to visit from Russia and before long she and a local gentleman are drawn to one another. Bill only realizes the depth of his feelings after Alla returns to Russia. He soon follows. The book ends with Vlad and Nina preparing for the birth of their second child.

In The Russians Are Coming Lily Alex has produced an interesting glimpse into the lives of a group of common folks who move to a new area and begin to carve out lives for themselves. As with most of us while the lives of the six are dissimilar they cling to one another because of their ethnic tie. The various relationships described by writer Alex in The Russians Are Coming evolve much as is found in real life. Old relationships die, new ones are formed. Romance is lost under the skillful pen of writer Alex and is found again on the pages of The Russians Are Coming.

The book The Russians Are Coming is written in the delightful Alex technique, Writer Alex is Russian by birth, English is her second language and the book The Russians Are Coming embodies the best of both. From the opening lines The Russians Are Coming is set in the student's laboratory where we find Professor Stein speaking into a cell phone to the last paragraphs when we are told more Russians are coming writer Alex crafts an energetic tale filled with dynamic characters, intrigue and upbeat settings. Characters are fully fleshed, dialogue is potent, action maintains a steady forward clip.

A good book for a quiet evening The Russians Are Coming is an enjoyable read.

Reviewed by: molly martin

When `The Russians' Vera Grach and Gleb Merkulov, Vlad Lapin and his wife Nina and daughter Larisa as well as Marina Alexsandrova arrive, folks in town are a bit unsure of what they may want or what their own reaction to them should be. Before long Marina finds a job at the local college where she is an assistant to a married professor. David Van Stein and his wife Megan are parents of two young children. Vera develops a friendship with policeman Jeff Menard, Gleb returns and dies at the hands of another in Moscow and scientist Vlad spends Halloween evening trying to figure out the properties found in the bowl of lollipops his wife set out for little Trick-or-Treaters. Townspeople become disenchanted with professor Van Stein when they believe him to engage in an affair with Marina. Nina's mother Alla comes to visit from Russia and before long she and a local gentleman are drawn to one another. Bill only realizes the depth of his feelings after Alla returns to Russia. He soon follows. The book ends with Vlad and Nina preparing for the birth of their second child.

In The Russians Are Coming Lily Alex has produced an interesting glimpse into the lives of a group of common folks who move to a new area and begin to carve out lives for themselves. As with most of us while the lives of the six are dissimilar they cling to one another because of their ethnic tie. The various relationships described by writer Alex in The Russians Are Coming evolve much as is found in real life. Old relationships die, new ones are formed. Romance is lost under the skillful pen of writer Alex and is found again on the pages of The Russians Are Coming.

The book The Russians Are Coming is written in the delightful Alex technique, Writer Alex is Russian by birth, English is her second language and the book The Russians Are Coming embodies the best of both. From the opening lines The Russians Are Coming is set in the student's laboratory where we find Professor Stein speaking into a cell phone to the last paragraphs when we are told more Russians are coming writer Alex crafts an energetic tale filled with dynamic characters, intrigue and upbeat settings. Characters are fully fleshed, dialogue is potent, action maintains a steady forward clip.

A good book for a quiet evening The Russians Are Coming is an enjoyable read.

Reviewed by: molly martin

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING is a combination of romance, race relations and cultural differences all visited upon a small enclave of Russians at a university in America. The town is so backward that it still blasts a siren at 10 AM every morning - a holdover from the Cold War. A romance with a black person is taboo not only from a white point of view but also from the black community.

A stunning college student, Marina falls in love with David VanSteinn, her professor. The very married David is not immune to the Marina's lure and this could cause problems in his marriage. Gleb is married to Vera but he has a roving eye and his eye mostly roves toward women with money, which is far more important to him than his marriage. Gleb also has shady dealings with organized crime in Russia. A black policeman has fallen for Vera even though he doesn't really know her. When he takes her to visit his black church, he receives less than a warm welcome. Vlad and Nina seem to have a solid marriage but there are insecurities on both sides. Nina is rather plain and chubby and Vlad works all the time. Because he notices how flaky his friends are when it comes to relationships he wonders if Nina is straying.

The novel has its moments of suspense and drama. The people are almost too real as we follow them through their various relationships. There is an urge to tell them to stop and think about what they are about to do, not only to themselves but their respective partners. It was a very interesting novel and gave some insight into another culture.

Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I loved! I think it is a great book. Some parts are funny, some - very sad, but it's always something cool! I love true, real life stories! I especially liked the episodes with Goldy (what a name! I'll call MY dog that) and the scene with Easter Rabbit! The author could show exactly how a child's opinion often is different from an adult view. Since you (readers) haven't read the book yet, try it!

This book is by the noted photographer Andreas Fux. Mr. Fux visited Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain and took photos of handsome, sexy Russian men. This book is superior to other works featuring male nudes. It is a gorgeous coffee table book. I highly recommend it. This book shows the uncut men of Moscow.

Although this book has educational merit, and certainly a place in the study of the cold war, it is not a good book for people with little or no knowledge of the cold war. The book, although dry, is well written and well researched. Drawing upon primary sources it does a satisfactory job of presenting the stated thesis. However, the author really reaches at points (especially in the final chapters) to connect the subject he is discussing to the cold war. Some of the subjects discussed, for example the Civil War Centennial Celebration, took place during the cold war, but were not nessesarily connected to the cold war. If you are looking to build a foundational knowledge about cold war facts and history I suggest you look elsewhere.

A skimpy book (only 159 pages of text), with rather repetitive material, this cries out for photographs of the pageantry it describes. But there's only one photo (on the cover). Where are the colorful parades, the patriotic pageants, the anti-Communist publications of that era?

This book is the worst book i have ever read. I fell asleep before even reading the introduction. I highly recommend you avoid this book at all costs.

Of Fried's three books on the cold war era, this focused on pagentry rather than just McCarthyism (although the two are inextricably tied). "The Russians..." provided humorous and interesting anecdotes about the impact of the cold war on everyday americans in ways I could not have imagined. I highly recommend reading it.