Review
The historical context for
The Secret Speech is a
presentation by Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev of a paper entitled
The
Personality Cult and its Consequences, delivered
to the 20
th
Party Congress on February 24-25, 1956. The speech condemned Stalin, his
policies and the people who carried them out. It was called "The Secret Speech,"
because it was delivered behind closed doors and, in theory, no one outside the
room was to know of its contents (although it was widely – and probably deliberately –
leaked to the public). Smith's novel focuses on the wide-ranging consequences of
the speech.
Like its predecessor
Child 44, The Secret Speech
is top-notch historical fiction showcasing Smith's excellent grasp of 1950s Soviet politics. He is particularly good at illustrating the complexities
that...
Beyond the Book
Vory Tattoos
For a history of the vory - please see the main review.
The
vory developed a complex series of coded tattoos that are
still employed by the
vory today. The tattoos have a bluish color and are
blurred-looking due to the poor quality implements used to create them. Ink
inside the prisons is
usually created by burning the heel of a shoe and mixing the soot with urine and shampoo. The
tattoos often cause infection which, in the harsh gulag conditions of the past
and the usually appalling prison conditions of today, frequently
result in death.
The...
