The book is a great insight, from a point of view of one child! Albeit Lea, in this case... Not many books about those times, are available so this book has opened the door for a country that history forgotten...btw her English, infused with Albanian accent is so unmistakable👍
As long as the right to freely criticize or satirize anything and anyone is held sacred, there is a path to correct any institutional injustice whether it's perceived or not perceived yet in the current philosophical and political climate.
My grandfather was one of the few truck drivers to leave the country during communism and my mom has all of these pictures with sunglasses and purses and stuff that no one else had at the time since he brought them from Italy
A superb book. Would also recommend books by Kapka Kassabova who grew up in Bulgaria and her travel writing really expands on the extraordinary mental, political and social anguish that still affects this part of Europe.
Walked & bussed through Albania in 1993 with a friend. At least 80% of people in the south were stick-thin suffering malnutrition. I went mainly to see how the Greek population were doing & the Albanians. The place was hell in burning acid. A dentist was telling us how he had been learning English through the programmes on BBC. One in four Albanians were spies for the Communist State. The police came to him asking why he was learning English. He said 'I want to be able to speak to all the world.' They said 'You are a bad man' & locked him into what sounded like a mining concentration/work camp for twenty years. He told us terrible stories of people murdered in his camp for disagreeing with communism. Fortunately the regime fell so he came out early. People were so desperate they were swimming to Corfu. They did not even have rowing boats or fishing tackle so they were using dynamite for fish. We were invited to five funerals of men on the coast who had died from the inadequate dynamite in one week. The Government had built 600,000 concrete bunkers against invasion telling their people 'The West wants our good water & bread.' The place was a nightmare. We met hundreds of people telling us horror stories. The people had been so enraged when the regime fell they tore down their excellent public buildings. What Lea says here is nonsense. My parents began the Taunton Communist Branch before the War. What finished me emotionally with Communism--I was finished intellectually a long time ago--was Albania in 93. Compared to Albania the West has good freedoms. We go through a crisis now but that is because the Extreme Right have managed to fool people & take over traditional Conservative Parties. Kick them out & find leaders to tackle the grave problems facing us.
My friend grew up in East Germany,. Said that when they got western sweets they would very carefully open the the wrapper fully without damaging it and then stick them to there bedroom furniture to decorate their rooms.
Was the kids life really that boring in Albania? In the USSR we had a large number of children's clubs, "circles", where we could study science, technics, stage theater plays, play music and, of course, play sports. I spent at least four happy years studying geology and astronomy. My sailing was mostly theoretical :) but in fencing I was a bit more successful
We had of course.They were called the house of pioneers.in each city and we had all.kind of activities and sports. singing and dancing competitions and sports from hiking chess.voleibol.bascketbol.swiming.atletic. we had groups in since like chemistry. physics. math etc.each school will held a competition on those subjects.
In the 1990s, NPR interviewed a Russian about his country’s latest financial crisis and when asked if Russians would topple their government, the Russian replied that they weren’t Albanians. The collapse of the pyramid schemes in Albania was viewed with bemusement in the former Soviet bloc.
Dear Lea, is your mother still with us? I loved listening to those five entries or summaries from your book on the BBC. The story about the coke cans and how your mother trampled on the dignity of those neighbours. How you would spend 'hours' in their garden. Forgetting the time. Ahhhh! An atop a fig tree too! :) How nice. It was cute how the neighhbours rallied thanks to you, but also how that man supported your parents and told you not to mention Enhver again otherwise you couldnt play with his medals. I would love to hear from your mother. I reckon she's quite a lady.
Can we talk about how to replace representative democracy by liquid democracy ( very short term and limited delegation by experts by choice for selected subjects) and non binary score voting for direct democratic voting?
I immigrated from Vietnam, which is still communist, to the United States. Analogous to what Lea describes about Albania under communism, most of my young cousins there also mostly believe they live in a free society with free elections, despite the government there being one authoritarian party that does not tolerate a free press or any expression of political dissent. The older generation has more nuanced opinion than this, similar to the older Albanians described by this author.
All balance has been lost in the economy and in society with the dominance of only one political model agter 1990 and we are headed for a greater totalitarianism than communism which so scares some who have not even experienced it
I think she succesfully captured the voice and memories of many who are now 40+, from the former Eastern Bloc. Not only for Albanians, but also for Romanians, Bulgarians etc the themes of this book - propaganda, lying, spying, lack of resources, lack of freedom and so on - are common and very relatable.
OK! I agree with last bit about the concept of freedom. However, why conflating important concepts: Stalinism, Communist, and Socialism are the same thing in her usage.
But they are not. Stalinism was the right definition and type of political and economic system. Socialism and communism have never existed in those countries. They were ruled by communist parties but they were not communist countries. China today is ruled by a communist party. Does that mean it is a communist country? Same for Vietnam and Cuba. It is also in the interest of the Western media and rulers to call those countries communist.
More on this: In Tunisia in the 1990s I knew an underground party called the Workers Communist Party of Tunisia. It still defended Moscow cited Albania under Enver Hoxha as an example. It was a Stalinist party in that regard. At the same time it defined Cuba as state capitalist! Other left-wing parties and organisations defined Albania as Stalinist. The issue then is not as it is portrayed by the mainstream literature and repeated ad nauseam for decades during the so-called Cold War and until now.
@Emira What you are saying is a contradiction. You cannot have both socialism and stalinism! Stalinism is a specific political and economic system. It had some socialist elements, but it was not socialism In Britain and France, for example, there is free health care. That’s a socialist element but most of the economy and social life is capitalist. Most of what existed in the Soviet Union was Stalinist politically and economically.
Albania was an extremely boring country in the Hoxha era and afterwards. This book captures the tedium and not in a good way. The Italian film L’America gives an outsider a feel for the country without the tiresome philosophizing of the book.
Just halfway into the book, an amazing read, warm yet precise, with a very distinctive voice of the author. Heartfelt compliments from Dubrovnik.
The book is a great insight, from a point of view of one child! Albeit Lea, in this case...
Not many books about those times, are available so this book has opened the door for a country that history forgotten...btw her English, infused with Albanian accent is so unmistakable👍
As long as the right to freely criticize or satirize anything and anyone is held sacred, there is a path to correct any institutional injustice whether it's perceived or not perceived yet in the current philosophical and political climate.
My grandfather was one of the few truck drivers to leave the country during communism and my mom has all of these pictures with sunglasses and purses and stuff that no one else had at the time since he brought them from Italy
Hello from Albania, Lea! As an Editor and Albanian, I can't wait to read your book. I hope you'll stop by to sign some copies. 😊👏
A superb book. Would also recommend books by Kapka Kassabova who grew up in Bulgaria and her travel writing really expands on the extraordinary mental, political and social anguish that still affects this part of Europe.
Walked & bussed through Albania in 1993 with a friend. At least 80% of people in the south were stick-thin suffering malnutrition. I went mainly to see how the Greek population were doing & the Albanians. The place was hell in burning acid. A dentist was telling us how he had been learning English through the programmes on BBC. One in four Albanians were spies for the Communist State. The police came to him
asking why he was learning English. He said 'I want to be able to speak to all the world.' They said 'You are a bad man' & locked him into what
sounded like a mining concentration/work camp for twenty years. He told us terrible stories of people murdered in his camp for disagreeing with communism. Fortunately the regime fell so he came out early. People were so desperate they were swimming to Corfu. They did not even have rowing boats or fishing tackle so they were using dynamite for fish. We were invited to five funerals of men on the coast who had died from the inadequate dynamite in one week. The Government had built 600,000 concrete bunkers against invasion telling their people 'The West wants our good water & bread.' The place was a nightmare. We met hundreds of people telling us horror stories. The people had been so enraged when the regime fell they tore down their excellent public buildings. What Lea says here is nonsense. My parents began the Taunton Communist Branch before the War. What finished me emotionally with Communism--I was finished intellectually a long time ago--was Albania in 93. Compared to Albania the West has good freedoms. We go through a crisis now but that is because the Extreme Right have managed to fool people & take over traditional Conservative Parties. Kick them out & find leaders to tackle the grave problems facing us.
My friend grew up in East Germany,. Said that when they got western sweets they would very carefully open the the wrapper fully without damaging it and then stick them to there bedroom furniture to decorate their rooms.
Mirembrema Lea, duke e degjuar intervisten Tuaj, me rikujtove te gjithe femijerine time. Per kete te pershendes👏🏻🙋🏻♂️!
Was the kids life really that boring in Albania? In the USSR we had a large number of children's clubs, "circles", where we could study science, technics, stage theater plays, play music and, of course, play sports. I spent at least four happy years studying geology and astronomy. My sailing was mostly theoretical :) but in fencing I was a bit more successful
Albania was significantly poorer than the USSR.
We had of course.They were called the house of pioneers.in each city and we had all.kind of activities and sports. singing and dancing competitions and sports from hiking chess.voleibol.bascketbol.swiming.atletic.
we had groups in since like chemistry. physics. math etc.each school will held a competition on those subjects.
@@loretaaliaj8476 yeah, exactly, houses of pioneers. And even palaces of pioneers in larger cities. Best wishes to all Albanian pioneers :)
In the 1990s, NPR interviewed a Russian about his country’s latest financial crisis and when asked if Russians would topple their government, the Russian replied that they weren’t Albanians. The collapse of the pyramid schemes in Albania was viewed with bemusement in the former Soviet bloc.
@@user-pc4i8ege55 Russia was a bigger country so it was easier to become self sufficient and you could trade better.
What a brilliant woman.
Dear Lea, is your mother still with us? I loved listening to those five entries or summaries from your book on the BBC. The story about the coke cans and how your mother trampled on the dignity of those neighbours. How you would spend 'hours' in their garden. Forgetting the time. Ahhhh! An atop a fig tree too! :) How nice. It was cute how the neighhbours rallied thanks to you, but also how that man supported your parents and told you not to mention Enhver again otherwise you couldnt play with his medals.
I would love to hear from your mother. I reckon she's quite a lady.
Great book. I read the brazilian translation. Really good book.
Can we talk about how to replace representative democracy by liquid democracy ( very short term and limited delegation by experts by choice for selected subjects) and non binary score voting for direct democratic voting?
I really enjoyed this book. Read it if you can!
I immigrated from Vietnam, which is still communist, to the United States. Analogous to what Lea describes about Albania under communism, most of my young cousins there also mostly believe they live in a free society with free elections, despite the government there being one authoritarian party that does not tolerate a free press or any expression of political dissent. The older generation has more nuanced opinion than this, similar to the older Albanians described by this author.
then one moves to the US, an oligarchy where elections are a façade and the government also persecute journalists.
All balance has been lost in the economy and in society with the dominance of only one political model agter 1990 and we are headed for a greater totalitarianism than communism which so scares some who have not even experienced it
An amazing memoir! I think it captures the alienation and dissatisfaction of those who’ve seen both worlds and seek for something new.
I think she succesfully captured the voice and memories of many who are now 40+, from the former Eastern Bloc. Not only for Albanians, but also for Romanians, Bulgarians etc the themes of this book - propaganda, lying, spying, lack of resources, lack of freedom and so on - are common and very relatable.
Amazing story.
That was my parents life
Tremblay Overpass
Genius
Cronin River
BUCE BJONDE
OK! I agree with last bit about the concept of freedom. However, why conflating important concepts: Stalinism, Communist, and Socialism are the same thing in her usage.
Bcs they were the same thing in communist Albania
But they are not. Stalinism was the right definition and type of political and economic system.
Socialism and communism have never existed in those countries. They were ruled by communist parties but they were not communist countries. China today is ruled by a communist party. Does that mean it is a communist country? Same for Vietnam and Cuba.
It is also in the interest of the Western media and rulers to call those countries communist.
More on this: In Tunisia in the 1990s I knew an underground party called the Workers Communist Party of Tunisia. It still defended Moscow cited Albania under Enver Hoxha as an example. It was a Stalinist party in that regard. At the same time it defined Cuba as state capitalist! Other left-wing parties and organisations defined Albania as Stalinist.
The issue then is not as it is portrayed by the mainstream literature and repeated ad nauseam for decades during the so-called Cold War and until now.
@@nadm.191
In Albania socialist, was really stalinism....
China is a diktature, too...
@Emira
What you are saying is a contradiction. You cannot have both socialism and stalinism! Stalinism is a specific political and economic system. It had some socialist elements, but it was not socialism In Britain and France, for example, there is free health care. That’s a socialist element but most of the economy and social life is capitalist.
Most of what existed in the Soviet Union was Stalinist politically and economically.
Stalinism is not Communism
Albania was an extremely boring country in the Hoxha era and afterwards. This book captures the tedium and not in a good way. The Italian film L’America gives an outsider a feel for the country without the tiresome philosophizing of the book.
50693 Breanna Mission