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The Door Slammed in Ladispoli: Unknown Pages of the Soviet Immigration to America
The Door Slammed in Ladispoli tells about a dramatic but practically unknown events related to the Soviet immigration to America. The author describes how the political situation in the USSR led to hundreds of thousands of people running from the country, mainly to the USA. In 1988, the U.S. Government unexpectedly changing its immigration policy refused entry visas to thousands of Soviet refugees. The author participating in and witnessing those events, narrates about people's drama, their fight for fairness, and about numerous extreme situations, when humans' best and worst qualities become apparent. This book seemingly is the only account about the events that took place in the Italian refugee town Ladispoli.
196 pages, Print on Demand (Paperback)
First published January 15, 2009
About the author
Sol Tetelbaum
3 books46 followersSolomon (Sol) Tetelbaum, a Research Engineer in Nuclear Engineering, was born in the city of Odessa, Ukraine (formerly USSR) where He lived for over 50 years. After earning his PhD degree, he managed a research sector and became an associate professor. In 1989, he entered the USA under refugee status. His first book was published in 2007; his second book was published in 2009. Both books were written in English which he started to learn coming to the USA in 1989 when he was well over 50.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 13, 2009
There is no question that the author, Sol Tetelbaum, has a great deal of courage--the courage to pick up and leave one life behind to start another at age 53 and the courage to begin writing books in his second language at age 71. The book itself also deserves recognition for the valuable and largely unknown information it imparts about the former Soviet system, and to a lesser extent the American system. To Mr. Tetelbaum's credit he insists on using his genuine language (English with a Russian "accent"). This did add to the authenticity of Mr.Tetelbaum's voice. While I would hate to see this voice edited out of the story, some editing at a the more general level--the order in which events were told, eliminating unnecesary repetition and clearing up a few instances where the syntax lead to confusion--would have added to overall quality. Mr. Tetelbuam's writing was best when it revealed particular details of his experiences. Such descriptions as the effect the stress of his family's situation had on his dental health and his wife's first experience of a supermarket in Vienna brought life to the story. Although improvements could be made, I did find the story compelling and Mr. Tetelbaum and his family interesting. I will definitely be seeking out his first book, Family Matters and More, to learn more of their experience.
December 23, 2009
I have been very harsh on the review of the author’s first book.
The English in this book is much much better and that helps tremendously, although I still think that a bit of polishing could help the readers without removing anything of the Russian flavour.
I would strongly recommend reading the second book first.
In The Door Slammed in Ladispoli, we better understand the hurdles the author and his family had to go through. Therefore, the stories of the first book suddenly make much more sense. For a neophyte regarding Russian's reality … going on a car trip can be quite ordinary until we understand why it is not.
Leaving everything behind must be one of the hardest things in life and the author succeeds in making us understanding and felling the frustrations. In this book, we can sense much better the tone the author uses at time, such as frustration, irony, disgust, offense, pain and more.
What I retain from the book?
In Russia, even when a Jew was not a Jew, he was still a Jew with all the anti-Semitism persecutions that came with it.
The English in this book is much much better and that helps tremendously, although I still think that a bit of polishing could help the readers without removing anything of the Russian flavour.
I would strongly recommend reading the second book first.
In The Door Slammed in Ladispoli, we better understand the hurdles the author and his family had to go through. Therefore, the stories of the first book suddenly make much more sense. For a neophyte regarding Russian's reality … going on a car trip can be quite ordinary until we understand why it is not.
Leaving everything behind must be one of the hardest things in life and the author succeeds in making us understanding and felling the frustrations. In this book, we can sense much better the tone the author uses at time, such as frustration, irony, disgust, offense, pain and more.
What I retain from the book?
In Russia, even when a Jew was not a Jew, he was still a Jew with all the anti-Semitism persecutions that came with it.
April 2, 2009
A personal account of the emigration of a Soviet Jew. The author takes you through his thoughts and emotions as to making his decision to leave the USSR, the problems encountered in leaving, his awe of the "outside" world, and then, the core of the book, being stuck in Italy. He and his family left the USSR, went to Italy, and awaited their entrance to the US. His daughter and son-in-law were accepted, but he, and many others, began to get refusals. His family was split up, they could not return to the USSR; they were in limbo. The author describes the emotions and processes they went through in Italy and tells how he finally got acceptance. The author, even more than in his first book, gives us an insight to the USSR and also some insight to the INS. The story of what happened to the refugees has, to the author's knowledge, never been told.It is both an interesting and moving story.
Shelved as 'interesting-possibilities'
January 25, 2011Non-fiction concerning immigration from Russia and the impact of US policy changes that made it much more difficult. First person account.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews