Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Episode 6

A wifi signal at the apartment has helped Andrei research the October group with whom he's become acquainted. He has also told Yulia how he feels about her.

In the summer of 2008 as the global financial crisis erupts, Andrei Kaplan moves from New York to Moscow to look after his ageing grandmother - a woman who survived the dark days of communism and witnessed Russia's violent capitalist transformation, during she lost her beloved dacha.

She welcomes Andrei into her home, even if she can't always remember who he is.

Andrei learns to navigate Putin's Moscow, still the city of his birth but with more expensive cars and coffee. He looks after his elderly but surprisingly sharp grandmother, finds a place to play hockey, a cafe to send emails from, and eventually some friends - including a beautiful young activist named Yulia.

In Episode 6, Andrei's luck is on the up, as he finds a wifi signal - and possibly a girlfriend.

Capturing with a miniaturist's brush the unfolding demands of family, fortune, personal ambition, ideology, and desire, A Terrible Country is a compelling novel about ageing, radical politics, Russia at a crossroads, and the difficulty - or impossibility - of actually changing one's life.

Written by Keith Gessen
Read by Trevor White
Abridged by Jill Waters and Isobel Creed
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for 成人快手 Radio 4

14 minutes

Last on

Mon 18 Mar 2019 22:45

Broadcasts

  • Mon 18 Mar 2019 12:04
  • Mon 18 Mar 2019 22:45