Bibliograph

The wall, growing up behind the Iron Curtain, Peter Sís

Type

Label

The wall, growing up behind the Iron Curtain, Peter Sís

Language

eng

resource.biographical

autobiography

Illustrations

mapsillustrations

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The wall

Oclc number

70839815

Responsibility statement

Peter Sís

Sub title

growing up behind the Iron Curtain

Summary

I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side - the Communist side - of the Iron Curtain. Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sis shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sis learned about beat poetry, rock 'n' roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books, and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion. But this brief flowering had provided a glimpse of new possibilities - creativity could be discouraged but not easily killed

Target audience

juvenile

Classification