Tag: non-fiction

Book: Bulat Okudzhava “From School to the Front”

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Since my youth I have liked the work of Bulat Okudzhava, though back then I knew him only as a performer of songs. At home we had several of his records, and I enjoyed listening to the entire collection of my parents’ music. A little later I discovered Okudzhava also as the author of music and lyrics for many film songs, which I still enjoy listening to today.

Among other things, Bulat Okudzhava wrote quite a few songs for war films. I am sure almost everyone knows at least “We Face Deadly Fire” from Belorussky Station, or “Drops of the Danish King” from Zhenya, Zhenechka i ‘Katyusha‘. Okudzhava’s songs were able to convey the full range of feelings, and between the lines you could sense that the author knew what he was writing about.

And then I came across a book by Okudzhava from the series “My War,” in which veterans’ memoirs are published.

From School to the Front is not a single work but a collection of recollections that can formally be divided into “novellas” and “stories.” Formally — because this is not fiction, but rather the memoirs of Bulat Shalvovich, conveyed in his own manner.

The book begins with excerpts from interviews with the author, and only then come his writings. Okudzhava’s childhood was not easy. His father was repressed, and his mother also endured prison as the wife of a repressed man. And then came the war, at the start of which Bulat Okudzhava was only 17 years old.

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Book: Alexandra Arkhipova, Anna Kirzyuk “Dangerous Soviet Things”

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If someone says to you “dangerous Soviet things,” what would you think of first? For me, right away it’s the “coffin on wheels.” It may sound like nonsense, something that never existed. But many of my peers knew dozens of such scary stories. Eduard Uspensky even wrote his novella about the Red Hand based on them.

However, the book Dangerous Soviet Things is more serious, though at times it deals with equally “nonsensical” theories that, nonetheless, people believed.

The book by Alexandra Arkhipova and Anna Kirzyuk is a large study of the phenomenon of the urban legend, with a focus specifically on the Soviet era. Abroad, the study of urban legends began quite a while ago; in our region, somewhat later. Though in certain periods the KGB quite actively and professionally collected such information, since behind rumors and legends there always hides some secret fear. And one must understand where the fear comes from, and also know how to counter it — or use it to one’s advantage.

From the description of the book, you expect popular science — interesting and entertaining reading. But from the very first pages, it feels like a bucket of cold water has been poured over you. Because the first seventy pages are an immersion into highly specialized terminology and the history of studying urban legends. For non-specialists (like me), this becomes rather disheartening. And only after that do the authors begin to examine the legends themselves, dividing them into thematic groups.

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Book: Dan Irish “The Game Producer’s Handbook”

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The word “producer” entered our everyday vocabulary in the former USSR around the 1990s. For many, it was associated both with a person who could turn any idea into a product and any person into a star, and at the same time with something shady. Apparently this was because many people back then had a lingering sense that any business was tied up with some kind of crime or vulgarity.

Later, however, the word no longer felt foreign in the language. In film it replaced the position of “film director” (in the sense of production management), and in many other industries the role finally came to mean what it should — someone who helps organize production as a whole, and who enables the team to create the product.

In the game industry, to which I have already devoted many years, this role exists as well. Yet to this day, few could really explain to you what exactly a producer does on a team. People still do not understand the meaning of a producer’s work, and some consider producers to be arrogant, overpaid idlers and budget-burners.

Dan Irish is an experienced game producer (the legendary Myst series was created with his participation, starting from the third installment). In 2005 he wrote the book The Game Producer’s Handbook, which is still often recommended to novice (and not only novice) producers.

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Book: “The Square of Changes”

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A few days ago marked two years since the death of Raman Bandarenka — a man who became one of the symbols of the 2020 protests in Belarus and, sadly, one of its victims. Raman was one of the residents of a Minsk courtyard at the intersection of Chervyakova Street, Kakhovskaya Street, and Smarhonski Tract, which during the protests became known as “Square of Changes.” Another resident of this “square,” Stsiapan Latypau, who handed out flowers to protesting women and actively took part in the life of his courtyard-“square,” was detained, attempted suicide several times during his trial, and ultimately received 8.5 years in a high-security prison.

In today’s world, we often know very little about our neighbors, especially when living in the huge “ant hills” of residential districts. But this courtyard became known to all concerned Belarusians. It appeared in many news reports, tea gatherings and even concerts were held there. Residents hung white-red-white ribbons on the fences, painted a mural on a transformer booth, and fought to preserve it. And it was for this reason that it received its own name — “Square of Changes.”

This courtyard, this phenomenon, has already been forever inscribed in the history of modern Belarus. And in 2022, Yauheni Otsietski decided to publish a photo album about this “square.”

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Book: Jean-Christian Petitfils “d’Artagnan”

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Ah, who doesn’t know d’Artagnan?! Every boy should know him from childhood! I also saw my first Three Musketeers film when I was just a little kid — it was some foreign, black-and-white, almost silent movie. And shortly after that, they showed the Musketeers on TV again — I happily sat down to watch, and then — bam! — disappointment, it was a completely different movie. But one that I came to love for many, many years. It was D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers by Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich. And even though it probably strayed further from Dumas’ original novel than any other version, its swashbuckling adventures and brilliant songs did their job.

I dreamed of being the Gascon, I wanted to be like him. And in third grade, I confessed this to a classmate who sat next to me at the same desk — and she decided to mock me and loudly revealed my secret to the entire class!

A bit later, when I was around 13, one of my classmates asked if I had listened to Kino (movie). Of course, he meant the band Kino, but I took it as a joke, even laughed — but when I got home, I turned that joke into reality. I bought a reel of magnetic audio tape at a store, and the next time my favorite three-part film was on, I recorded it using a reel-to-reel tape recorder. That way I could enjoy the songs I loved, and even the movie itself (I knew it by heart, so the sound alone was enough for me) anytime I wanted. That was a huge leap forward in those days.

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Book: George Friedman “The Next 100 Years”

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Who among us hasn’t wanted to know the future? Who we’ll become, what discoveries await us… As children, probably almost everyone dreams of that. But over the years, that desire seems to fade into the background—at least, it did for me. The longer I live, the less I want to know what lies ahead. That knowledge often feels too frightening. I want to believe that everything will be okay, that my children and grandchildren won’t face the horrors previous generations endured, not to mention all the disasters that are constantly being fed to us from every direction.

Unfortunately, reality doesn’t care about what we want. And even now, we see things we never imagined we would.

It was at just such a moment that I came across a mention of George Friedman’s book The Next 100 Years, where he predicts how our civilization might live through the 21st century.

Here’s what the Russian publisher Eksmo writes about George Friedman on their website:

George Friedman is a political scientist from the United States, founder and head of the private intelligence company STRATFOR. The company specializes in gathering and analyzing data in the fields of geopolitics, national security, and economics. As the organization’s lead expert, Friedman works alongside a professional team of analysts to collect macroeconomic and political information from a wide range of sources and develop geopolitical strategies. His books are also devoted to these topics.

In other words, the author doesn’t make predictions out of thin air—he bases them on a deep understanding of geopolitical realities and the patterns that shape the development of civilizations. This is his professional field of expertise.

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Book: Dr. Sandi Mann “Why Do I Feel Like an Imposter?”

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I’m 45 years old. And I’ve achieved nothing.

Even though many people around me say I’m a successful and competent leader. But they just don’t get it—I’ve just been lucky.

…Those could have easily been my words. And to be honest, I’ve definitely had moments like that, especially during the harder times. But this is exactly how many people feel—and scientists have even come up with a name for it: imposter syndrome.

At some point, people start to believe that they don’t deserve the praise or reputation they’ve earned. In their own minds, their achievements feel like occasional flukes—definitely not the result of their own talent or hard work. And this feeling is only becoming more common. Studies show that up to 70% of people now experience imposter syndrome to some degree, including both adults and teenagers.

Technically, “imposter syndrome” isn’t classified as a mental disorder—it’s not considered an illness. And when the majority of people seem to be dealing with it, it’s hard to say whether it even counts as a deviation from the norm.

Sandi Mann’s book Why Do I Feel Like an Imposter? explores this exact phenomenon. And while the Russian edition’s subtitle promises to help you “stop downplaying your success and constantly proving your worth to yourself and others,” the truth is this book likely won’t solve the problem for those dealing with this mindset. The original subtitle is a bit different: “How to understand and cope with imposter syndrome”.

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Book: Eva Mozes Kor “The Twins of Auschwitz”

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Josef Mengele is one of the Nazis whose name is synonymous with the atrocities of the Hitler regime. He was not only personally responsible for sorting prisoners at Auschwitz but also conducted horrifying experiments in his camp clinic.

One of his “projects” was an attempt to understand the nature of twins. Because of this, twins had a slightly higher chance of survival—not being sent directly to their deaths—even if they were unfit for labor in the camp. However, Mengele never considered them human and subjected both adults and tiny children to monstrous experiments. To him, they were nothing more than test subjects.

Eva Mozes Kor was one such twin, destined to die so that Mengele could observe how it would affect her sister. But against all odds, Eva survived. After the war, she wrote her memoirs about her time in that hell.

Eva lived with her family in Transylvania when the war arrived. Her father wanted to escape to Palestine, where Jews were beginning to build their own state, but her mother couldn’t bring herself to leave everything behind and take the children into the unknown. Because of this, their once well-off family was among the first to experience the hatred and cruelty of their former neighbors. And when they finally decided to flee, it was already too late.

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Book: Alex Krol “The Theory of Castes and Roles”

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Alex (Alexey) Krol describes himself as an “entrepreneur, author, lecturer, and film producer.” Judging by his LinkedIn profile, he has had an impressive career, managing multiple companies before stepping back to take on roles at lower levels. Along the way, he also worked in game development.

Recently, he has been focusing more on writing and designing concepts, particularly in the fields of gaming and NFT mechanics.

However, I only learned about his professional journey after reading his book The Theory of Castes and Roles, which is what I want to talk about here. The book has received quite high ratings across various popular bookstores and review platforms. Moreover, several of my acquaintances spoke about it with great enthusiasm. While I take online reviews with a grain of salt (even though I write them myself), recommendations from people I know usually carry more weight—though, of course, tastes may differ.

The book itself is quite short and presents a theory developed by Alex Krol himself. The core idea is simple: in this world, resources are limited, and not everyone will have enough. You are either in the role of a “slave” (at the lowest level) or you secure a place among the powerful elite, with all the accompanying benefits—high salaries, yachts, villas, and so on. But between these two extremes, there are many intermediate positions that largely determine who you are and what you are worth.

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Book: Konstantin Borisov “How a Good Developer Can Avoid Becoming a Bad Manager”

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One of the best books I read last year was a relatively short but incredibly useful guide by Konstantin Borisov on conducting interviews—“To Hire or Not to Hire? Or How to Interview a Developer.” I now recommend it to everyone, whether they are conducting interviews themselves or preparing to be interviewed. It gives you a much clearer understanding of what a potential employer is like and whether they are worth considering.

But Konstantin Borisov also wrote another book—“How a Good Developer Can Avoid Becoming a Bad Manager.” The topic may not seem obvious at first, but it’s actually incredibly relevant. In the IT industry, it’s well known that top specialists often get promoted simply because they excel at their tasks. One day, you’re a great developer, the next, you’re mentoring a couple of interns. Before you know it, you’re made a lead developer, then given a team to manage, and suddenly—you’re a manager.

I went through a similar path myself, though for a long time, I tried to balance both roles. I loved mentoring specialists and building teams, but at the same time, I still wanted to be a hands-on developer. Eventually, I realized that trying to do both was making me worse at each, and I finally made the decision to fully transition into management.

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