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A Russian Journal (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) Paperback – Illustrated, December 1, 1999

by John Steinbeck (Author), Robert Capa (Photographer), Susan Shillinglaw (Introduction)
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Steinbeck and Capa’s account of their journey through Cold War Russia is a classic piece of reportage and travel writing.

A Penguin Classic

Just after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travelers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad – now Volgograd – but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. Hailed by the New York Times as "superb" when it first appeared in 1948, A Russian Journal is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable memoir and unique historical document.

What they saw and movingly recorded in words and on film was what Steinbeck called "the great other side there … the private life of the Russian people." Unlike other Western reporting about Russia at the time, A Russian Journal is free of ideological obsessions. Rather, Steinbeck and Capa recorded the grim realities of factory workers, government clerks, and peasants, as they emerged from the rubble of World War II—represented here in Capa’s stirring photographs alongside Steinbeck’s masterful prose.Through it all, we are given intimate glimpses of two artists at the height of their powers, answering their need to document human struggle. This edition features an introduction by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.

 

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Classics
  4. Publication date
    December 1, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    7.72 x 5 x 0.57 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0141180196
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0141180199
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After the Iron Curtain was established following World War II, Steinbeck, along with photographer Bob Capa, ventured into the Soviet Union on behalf of the New York Herald Tribune. This 1948 volume collects the full run of his reports with numerous pictures.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Illustrated edition (December 1, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141180196
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141180199
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 5 x 0.57 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck

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John Steinbeck (1902-1968), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, achieved popular success in 1935 when he published Tortilla Flat. He went on to write more than twenty-five novels, including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.

Photo by JohnSteinbeck.JPG: US Government derivative work: Homonihilis (JohnSteinbeck.JPG) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
194 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

E. Redd
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Journal. Fantastic Book!
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2011
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A must read! I recommend to everyone. The Russian Journal is historical, humorous, insightful, charming, alarming, thought-provoking and inspires gratitude for those of us who are fortunate enough to have never experienced the devastation that the Russians and Ukrainians lived through and worked through. Steinbeck's observations of the "peoples'" daily lives proves that friends, family and community, though will very little to no means, are willing and able to help each other and remain positive about the future - even when literally rebuilding their cities brick by brick.

A Russian Journal showcases Steinbeck's many talents; writing, observation, humor, perseverance, empathy, communication with both the reader and the people he encountered, etc. Through all the obstacles one would expect to encounter (and many one could never expect or believe) in post-war Soviet Russia he was able to present the real Russian people after the brutal war. Steinbeck is so likeable. His relationship with Robert Capa is comical. I was thrilled to read Capa's perspective as well. What a duo they were! Capa's photos are magnificent. I have the paperback and was able to see what he saw. That was, I believe, his major goal. Reviewers have written that the hardcover is best. I'll have to get it.
The Russian Journal reads like a journal in that you're getting a very personal experience. Great, great, great book. Don't forget the introduction. It's remarkable.
8 people found this helpful
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Michael Vanhille
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
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Worth reading if you are a Steinbeck fan, history buff, or have an interest in the old Soviet Union.
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James Hastings
5.0 out of 5 stars Good reading
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023
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I’m catching up on reading all (or most) of his novels. Enjoyable.
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Ann Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic you might not have read
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2023
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It's a unique travel log. Sparingly written. But worth the read.. It was written and the travel happened in the 1960's. Interesting look into the common Russian.
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Rusty
3.0 out of 5 stars A nice read. I did not know this book existed
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2015
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A nice read. I did not know this book existed.
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Loves the View
4.0 out of 5 stars People in the USSR - a 1947 Snap Shot
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2014
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Nobel & Pulitzer Prize winning John Steinbeck and his photographer friend visit Moscow, the Ukraine, (what was then) Stalingrad, and Georgia in 1947. They stick to their mission which is to find out about everyday people: "What do people wear there? What do they serve for dinner? Do they have parties? ...." They did not find out about how they make love or how they die (also in the mission). They are not interested in important people, politics or 5 year plans.

Destruction and the remnants of war are all around. In Moscow, there is even an event where people congregate to inspect the military equipment the Germans left behind. In Stalingrad people are living in the rubble. German POWs help to rebuild the cities. Steinbeck notes the differences in cities that have been bombed or sieged in battle.

At a Ukraine collective farm, they eat a hearty breakfast and observe the team work in the fields. With so many men lost or wounded in war, the women shoulder this burden. It is hard to believe their cheerfulness as described by Steinbeck. There is simple entertainment in the evening and there are beautiful places to swim. Georgia had been relatively unscathed by the war, and some Georgians adopted Ukrainian orphans.

They are feted as important guests everywhere. The meetings of writers' groups sound deadly and 20 page manuscripts are read aloud (and then the translation is read). There is a so much food and drinking, the authors are frequently sick/hung over. Steinbeck gets so he can't handle vodka.

Airports are frustrating. The episode in leaving Georgia is only funny when the story is told.

While Stalin's portraits abound this seems to be an extreme bureaucracy and more than a police state. People speak to them freely and no one takes them aside to complain about the government. Outside of Moscow, besides being with their translator/guide/minder, there is no hint of their being watched. All the photos show well fed people and often well dressed and usually happy, but these were probably self-censored since Capa got all his photos back.

On the minus side, the prose, like most of the 1950's travel literature, is stilted. For a short book, too much space is devoted to the strained relations between the writer and the photographer, and the two of them with their Russian minder. While the pictures are not labeled, they are placed appropriately. Sometimes it is hard to know what you are looking at. For instance the photo on p. 34 must be of Lenin Hills, but the vista hardly looks like Moscow which the Hills are said to overlook; the photo on p. 43 appears to be a fashion show or maybe a quality control examination of clothing. Other photos, such as the 4 portraits on 78-79 would be better in an art gallery than a travel book.

This book fills an important niche because so little exists on daily life in Russia just after the devastation of WW2. Like many plans, the idea originated in a bar by two artists with nothing to do, but unlike most bar-hatched ideas, this one was followed up on.
5 people found this helpful
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namdrol
5.0 out of 5 stars A Look into the Past
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2023
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Interesting look back to a transitional time. Post WWII. Cold War begins, not full blown.

Nuclear age just beginning. Horrific wartime death and destruction being reclaimed to enter a future, both promising and filled with new, more deadly dangers.

The semi archaic language of a generation most passed. A look at another world populated by people different but also like the writer and photographer. Promise for peace unfulfilled? Read it and decide for yourself.
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Don J. Gagnon
5.0 out of 5 stars Words and Images
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
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Steinbeck’s “A Russian Journal,” first published in April 1948, like “The Log from the Sea of Cortez,” originally published three years later, in 1951, was a collaborative effort. Whereas the former was a collaboration between a writer and a photographer, the latter was that of journalist and scientist. Although an eyewitness account of journalist Steinbeck’s and photographer Capa’s travels through Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia at the cusp of the Cold War, “A Russian Journal” is a work of art and literature, beautifully written and wonderfully documented with images of historical significance and everyday life. It was educational, fun, and inspiring. Especially, I enjoyed comparing Capa’s photos and Steinbeck’s descriptions of the photos. All of the real people in the book were described with such skill by Steinbeck, that they seemed like well developed characters from a novel. Wherever Steinbeck journeyed, he captured the spirit of the times and the spirit of place brilliantly. After I finished reading the book, I felt like I had been to all the places and met all the people.
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Juliana
3.0 out of 5 stars Não é tão interessante
Reviewed in Brazil on March 28, 2024
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John Steinbeck escreveu livros que levaram ele a ganhar um prêmio Nível; porém, este livro apenas conta de uma viagem dele na União Soviética em agosto/ setembro 1947. Assim, como uma conta de viagem, é legal mais não se compara com um romance. Eu comprei por razões muito particulares.
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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Sempre attuale
Reviewed in Italy on October 12, 2022
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Il viaggio compiuto dallo scrittore in tre delle Repubbliche Socialiste Sovietiche, raccontato con la massima semplicità, quasi banale: forse il lettore statunitense dell'immediato dopoguerra si aspettava che i Russi avessero tre teste o camminassero a testa in giù, invece erano povera normalissima gente intenta a ricostruire dopo lo sfacelo del fronte orientale. Per questo è degno di nota soprattutto il capitolo sui contadini dell'Ucraina: stessa distruzione di adesso, stessa voglia di rimanere nella propria terra e vivere dei suoi frutti; forse più speranza nell'industria e nel progresso rispetto ai nostri tempi.
Occhio perché questa è un'edizione economica, per cui la carta è quasi da elenco telefonico e contiene solo una mezza dozzina (e sgranata) delle foto di Robert Capa.
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Soki
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in France on August 21, 2015
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Great book and very interesting read, not too long and straight to the point. Would recommend. Great great great great
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Tomking
5.0 out of 5 stars Ausgezeichnete Reiselektüre
Reviewed in Germany on May 7, 2014
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Phantastisch gute Beschreibung einer Reise durch die alte Sowjetunion über Moskau die Ukraine nach Georgien. Gerade wieder sehr aktuell, weil Georgien (2007) und die Ukraine (2013) Opfer des Putinschen Großmachstreben sind. Leider ohne die hervorragenden Fotos von Cappa. Sehr empfehlenswert.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Love the story
Reviewed in Canada on January 23, 2020
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Bad printing quality
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