From Behind the Red Line: An American Hockey Player in Russia
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.16 (516 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0025485016 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In his one-year diary, Hartje tells the extraordinary story of his life as a Soviet athlete--with a front row seat at the dramatic events about to take place in the USSR.. Until 1990, when recent Harvard graduate Tod Hartje found himself in training to be part of the Kiev Sokol squad, no native American had ever been allowed to play with a Soviet hockey team
A Customer said Great Read. This is a fabulous book for hockey fans of all ages and even for non-hockey fans just interested in some Soviet history. The book details what it was like for a Harvard-educated young man to find himself in the midst of the Cold War. It is fascinating to learn about how the Soviets trained and the difficult environment that they lived in. The book truly makes one appreciate living here as we see how difficult it was for the author to live in the Soviet Union. The book is easy to read and very funny in places. I highly recommend it.. great concept At the time Winnipeg Jets GM (and lover of all things Russian so much so he drafted with blinders on and no longer has an NHL job) Mike Smith sent a a US college hockey draft pick to the USSR to hone his game.A great idea is theory and one that makes for a fantastic look at a society at a turning point in history (1990) for the USSR. Even so ultimately this book is really all that came of it as Tod Hartje's hockey career went nowhere really as a pro.I did love that Harvard grad Hartje was able to survive the season and plopping him in Kiev gave him further insights into Russian/Ukrainian hockey and everyday culture. The analysis of the
Having done no background reading or language study, Hartje suffered culture shock and was surprised to find that conditions at the Sokol camp were a far cry from the cossetting jocks receive at home. . His teammates and their families, on their part, took to him with affection, however, and by season's end Hartje is able to reciprocate: "Country crazy. In 1990, just out of Harvard and drafted by the Canadian Winnipeg Jets hockey team, he was given the opportunity to spend a season in Ukraine with Sokol Kiev on an exchange program, the first North American to play on a pro hockey team there. From Publishers Weekly One expects that a more adult Hartje will come to regret this memoir, for although he has a unique tale to relate, most of it is told with whining self-absorption and condescens