In modernity, everyone becomes a spiritual Jew, says Slezkine. The most prestigious professions are the traditional Jewish ones. Entrepreneur, doctor, lawyer, content creator who produces words. Everybody has a list of dietary restrictions from here to the Moon.
The concept of a soul falls out of fashion and loses importance, says Slezkine, so instead of hankering after the purity of the soul, modern people become obsessed with the purity of the food. Instead of going to confession, they take dietary supplements with religious fervor. To achieve eternal life, people look to technology instead of to the church.
I read so fast in Russian that I already read 100 pages of this 600-page book since this morning and in the midst of making breakfast, packing lunches, drop-off, grading and an hour-long taping. If I read more in Russian, I’d be really well-read because I can do a book a day easily.
Clarissa's Blog 
Have you read his another book? It sounded interesting, but unfortunately wasn’t in the library:
Слёзкин Юрий – Дом правительства. Сага о русской революции
Жанр:Документальная литература
Издательский дом: АСТ : CORPUS
Год издания: 2019
Аннотация:
Дом правительства, ныне более известный как Дом на набережной, был эпицентром реальной жизни – и реальной смерти – социалистической империи. Собрав огромный массив данных о его обитателях, историк Юрий Слёзкин создал необыкновенно живое эпическое полотно: из частных биографий старых большевиков, из их семейных перипетий, радостей и горестей, привычек, привязанностей и внутренних противоречий складывается цельный портрет русской революции и ее судьба: рождение, жизненный путь и естественное окончание.
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I keep planning to but haven’t yet. My sabbatical is finally coming, so I’ll be doing ton of reading.
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\\ My sabbatical is finally coming, so I’ll be doing ton of reading.
Would love love love reading your reviews of such books.
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It’s unavoidable and it’s starting already as I’m neck-deep in Slezkine. I’m looking for a new project after Neoliberal Love (which is still with the dawdling publisher), so there will be a long exploratory period.
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This is Slezkine writing about the House of Government book. You are right, this is fascinating.
“There were many things about that building that I found striking. One was the high proportion of Jewish residents (including Lenin’s bodyguard, Lenin’s embalmer, and some of Stalin’s relatives). Another was the degree to which the Jewish residents were more consistently Communist than their neighbors. Polish, Latvian, and Georgian Party officials seemed to assume that proletarian internationalism was compatible with their native tongues, songs, and foods. The Jewish ones equated socialism with rootless cosmopolitanism and made a point of not speaking Yiddish at home or passing on anything they thought of as Jewish to their children. I decided to begin by writing a separate chapter about the Jewish contingent within the Bolshevik elite.”
Shit, shit, shit. The busiest time in the year, and I have to go and find a new fascinating author.
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The House of Government book costs in Russian Israeli Internet book shop 109 dollars (I converted from shekels), while The Jewish Century costs “only” 62 dollars. And this after discount on both books, and w/o cost of delivery. 😦
W/o discount both books would cost 228 dollars, plus the cost of delivery.
An English website promises to send both books for 264 shekels (~85 dollars), plus around 40 shekels for delivery, so if I order, guess it’ll be in English.
https://www.bookdelivery.com/books/search/?q=slezkine
An Israeli teacher’s salary is less than 4500 dollars after taxes.
Will try to ask whether those books may be ordered by the local library. They’ve already ordered and received the last tome of Akunin re Russian history, so I have some hope.
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Have you tried Google Books? That’s where I got this book. Дом правительства is at $6 right now.
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I read and listen to them in the Play Book app. It has a much better auto reader than the Kindle.
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