The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

by Eugene Yelchin

Other authorsEugene Yelchin (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 2021

Status

Available

Call number

Y 922 YEL

Genres

Nonfiction

Collections

YOUTH COLLECTION, Youth-MiddleGrades, 92X Biography

Publication

Candlewick (2021), 208 pages

Description

"Drama, family secrets, and a KGB spy in his own kitchen! How will Yevgeny ever fulfill his parents' dream that he become a national hero when he doesn't even have his own room? He's not a star athlete or a legendary ballet dancer. In the tiny apartment he shares with his Baryshnikov-obsessed mother, poetry-loving father, continually outraged grandmother, and safely talented brother, all Yevgeny has is his little pencil, the underside of a massive table, and the doodles that could change everything. With equal amounts charm and solemnity, award-winning author and artist Eugene Yelchin recounts in hilarious detail his childhood in Cold War Russia as a young boy desperate to understand his place in his family."-- Provided by publisher.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Carolee888

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I was in Indiana during the Cold War. I remember the race to beat Russia and to win over its stars. like Mikhail Baryshnikov. Now, through the author's eyes as a little Russian Jew, I can see what it was like on his side.

Eugene Yelchin excels in

brilliant humor. writing and drawing. I am so impressed with this book that I want to loan to my son who lives in China (will have to wait until Co-vid eventually ends) and my best friend in California.

He relates about living with his father, mother, grandmother and older brother in a one-room apartment with a tiny bathroom. No bedroom, can you imagine? Just to sleep, his fatherspent the evening moving their furniture.The dining room table was big. Grandmother slept on the couch to one side of the table. His older brother slept on three chairs near the table. his parents as per his drawing may have slept on a day bed on the other side of the table. When he was six, the author slept on a cot that had springs that stretched the fabric tight like a trampoline. He had to be careful to be still and not bounce to the floor. After he was in the cot, his father pushed him under the table. The tablecloth gave him privacy that the others did not have.

This reminded me of when our family had relatives come to visit, and I slept on two chairs. It was comfortable, painful in fact.

We also get a peek into the lack of food available, the anti-Semitism that the family endured, and the government's pervasive indoctrination to follow the rules.

I love this and want to read anything more that I can find by the author, I think it is an overlooked masterpiece.

I received an Uncorrected proof of this book from the publishers as a win from LibraryThing. My thoughts and ideas in this review are entirely my own.

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LibraryThing member bluepigeon

One boy's hilarious and poignant adventures growing up in the USSR. Eugene Yelchin's middle-grade memoir is chock full of the greatest hits of life in the USSR from bones to furniture puzzles in communalkas to, of course, ballet and poetry. Young Yevgeny lives with his father, who loves poetry, his

mother who's obsessed with Baryshnikov, his grandmother, who has no filter, and his older brother, Victor, who is an ice skating star. At an early age, Yevgeny's parents emphasize the importance for "having talent," yet he isn't sure why talent is so important. He gets cryptic answers from his parents, and a confirmation from teachers that he has none. Only his brother seems to shed light on some of Yevgeny's more troublesome questions, since a KGB spy lives in their apartment and some subjects are out of bounds.

Yelchin tells stories big and small with a lot of humor and the illustrations are fantastic. Despite the general light hearted nature of the narrative, some horrible things happen, which range from some personal tragedies to bigger political issues. Baryshnikov finally defects and young Yevgeny's secret talent is discovered. But life's never just a party. With all its ups and downs, the memoir captures a joyful, yet hard life full of questions and some answers.

Recommended for those who like tomcats, Malevich, blue jeans, cubes and Mandelstam.

Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for an ARC of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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LibraryThing member eggsnhm

What an absolutely wonderful and poignant memoir. The Genius Under the Table is a delightful read. As a character and first-person narrator, Yevgeny is immediately engaging and fun--even when the subject matter of the realities of life behind the Iron Curtain turn bleak and dark. Always hopeful, he

tries to make his parents proud by excelling at *something* -- but sports aren't the answer, and becoming the next Baryishnikov just isn't happening. Eventually, he discovers his own talents while trying to figure out the boundaries of his society.

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LibraryThing member tloeffler

Eugene (Yevgeny) Yelchin was a child in Russia during the Cold War years. This memoir, although marketed to "Age 10 and Up," was fascinating for me (an older adult), and probably would be for anyone who lived through those years. I don't feel like I ever had a good idea of what life was like in

Russia. We all heard stories, but I don't think they resonated. This memoir, written as though he was still a child, really brought it home to me. I loved his illustrations! I would recommend this to anyone who has any memory of those years, or even to anyone who realizes that this was real life in Russia at that time. An excellent history lesson.

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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35

*I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

Tales of the Soviet Union often carry a bit of dark depression with them, but this one manages to include a certain degree of levity along with the persistent curiosity of a young narrator. Yevgeny is a young boy who needs to

find a talent, because in the Soviet Union, talented people are given extra privileges, like having their own apartments and cars and being able to travel abroad. And sometimes, these talented people defected by not coming home at all. This book managed to present a realistic picture of the Soviet world from the author's own experiences as a young child. I really appreciated the illustrations, which added to the narrative and helped to visualize the Yelchin's family life. This book is targeted at children, but it's certainly also worthwhile for adults interested in this topic.

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LibraryThing member Beammey

I enjoyed this book. It was well written and kept my interest. The illustrations were well done and it is appropriate for the age group. It's a good look at another culture from the past.

I would recommend it.

LibraryThing member kpolhuis

This was a good read. I already liked Yelchin's other work The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, so I had big expectations for the art work.. What I encountered had more of a Quentin Blake vibe but with an intriguing story, I'm hoping that Yelchin will write more about himself... I would like to

know what happens next!

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