Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld by Nicolai Lilin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an exciting tale of a youth living in the Transnistrian underworld. His society, a Siberian criminal society has its own strict laws. The tales of violence and crime are quite horrifying but there is a sense of justice in this honest criminal’s life. The rules seems to provide a cohesive society and it is interesting to see how the people of Bender survive, resisting the government and mainstream authorities. I particularly enjoyed the tale of the police raid at his grandfather’s house where the laws of not addressing the police directly were explained. The most horrific part of the book described his experiences in a youth detention centre where other boys were subjected to horrifying rape ordeals. The story runs swiftly and is narrated well. At the end as he strives to move away from the criminal underworld the way is paved for a new career in the army. I look forward to reading the follow-up book about Nicolai Lilin’s life as a sniper in the Chechen war.