Hope’s Book Moscow! Moscow!
A review of a travel narrative describing the Russian capital in Sov
Jan 1, 2007
It’s wonderful that Russia’s relatively easy to visit now, but wouldn’t it be interesting to visit it during socialist times, too? That’s where Christopher Hope’s book Moscow! Moscow! comes in. Written in the late 1980s when Gorbachev and perestroika were all the rage, it’s a great insight into Russia’s capital before everything started changing.
What You’ll Read About in Moscow! Moscow!
Hope is a South African writer who visited Moscow many times during the 1980s. He has an interesting perspective, since he sees parallels between socialism and perestroika and the recent history of South Africa. The book examines his visits to Moscow in a thematic way; with topics ranging from tourism to restaurants, shopping to marriage and traveling on the metros to going to school. Some of it depicts the Moscow we can no longer visit, including the queues for bread and the unquenchable thirst for virtually unavailable Western products.
Parts really are entertaining, especially his discussions of breakfast, and of his many attempts to eat at the renowned Praga restaurant. Unbelievably, they never let him in, resulting in his formulation of the “Praga principle” and its corollaries:
"A restaurant may be full, even when it is empty. … A restaurant may employ waiters to eat meals intended for the guests; some restaurants will not let you in. Others will not allow you to leave."
Sightseeing in Moscow! Moscow!
Hope attempted to join an Intourist tour, previously the only way to “go sightseeing” in Russia, yet never made it – but the friends and contacts he made during his many trips helped him see the main sights of Moscow. From the solemn procession through Lenin’s Mausoleum, to a visit to the Novedovichy Convent and Cemetery, his novel view of Red Square and his less than impressive shopping experience at the GUM department store, he covers Moscow with varying successes by foot, train, bus and taxi.
One acquaintance, waiter and entrepeneur-to-be Victor, told Hope: “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery hidden in an enigma”. While the political structures of Russia might have changed since Hope’s 1980s visits, Russia is definitely still a fascinating country that needs more than a short tourist trip to begin to understand. If you go, reading Hope’s book can give you a good image of what things used to be like, and describe plenty of sights that will become familiar to you on a trip to Moscow.
