Deep In the Woods Solzhenitsyn, a new book, and the new Russia.
Letter from Moscow Deep In the Woods Solzhenitsyn, a new book, and the new Russia. By David Remnick July 30, 2001 Save this story Solzhenitsyn offers a fresh interpretation of the shared history of Russians and Jews. Illustration by David Levine Not long ago, during the White Nights, I took a walk from the gates of the Kremlin, past the underground shopping mall on Manezh Square, and up Tverskaya Street, the ground zero of Russian neo-capitalism. There was a time when it was no simple matter to get, say, a bowl of borscht on this street. Now it’s entirely possible to order (as one strolls at random) a macchiato at Coffee Bean, a calzone at Sbarro, a Cadillac sedan, a ten-thousand-dollar ball gown, VCRs, DVDs, and, should you still desire it, a bowl of borscht. Every year brings a new accretion of commercialism to Tverskaya—more stores, more restaurants, more hotels. Depending on the state of things, there are even some Muscovites who can buy as well as look. Suddenly, there was ...