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A review by bradwadd
The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz
5.0
Five main sections:
1. An introduction to the Soviet East and 'the Method' (aka Murti Bing, aka History, aka DiaMat, aka Dialectical Materialism) vs. the modern Western society, whose flaws the East were trying to solve.
2. 'Ketman' (the self-deception people are forced to impose on themselves to adjust to totalitarian society),
3. the four types of writers (Alpha the Moralist, Beta the disappointed lover, Gamma the Slave of History, Delta the Troubador),
4. 'Man, the Enemy', a deepdive into totalitarian life under the unceasing military/idoeological control and terror tactics of the Central authorities.
5. The Baltics, how their experiences summarise those of other peripheral states in the Soviet bloc, and how nationalist and religious sentiments are supressed or used as tools.
1. An introduction to the Soviet East and 'the Method' (aka Murti Bing, aka History, aka DiaMat, aka Dialectical Materialism) vs. the modern Western society, whose flaws the East were trying to solve.
2. 'Ketman' (the self-deception people are forced to impose on themselves to adjust to totalitarian society),
3. the four types of writers (Alpha the Moralist, Beta the disappointed lover, Gamma the Slave of History, Delta the Troubador),
4. 'Man, the Enemy', a deepdive into totalitarian life under the unceasing military/idoeological control and terror tactics of the Central authorities.
5. The Baltics, how their experiences summarise those of other peripheral states in the Soviet bloc, and how nationalist and religious sentiments are supressed or used as tools.