Translated by Jacob Blumenfeld and Sophie Lewis
2 stars
An interesting little book that presents political and economic ideas in a simplistic fashion. Through short, humorous stories, Adamczak introduces concepts such as capitalism, communism, work, the market, and crisis. Then she goes through different executions of what communism could look like, following each to their unraveling.
Despite the confusing title on the English translation, this book isn’t actually written for children. A kid could certainly read it but I wouldn’t say it’s a very complete introduction and there are definitely sections that went over my head as an “adult”.
I enjoyed the first part of the book. The stories were a fun way to learn about different concepts and I liked the odd humor. However, this reads like two separate books. After the stories, there is a lengthy epilogue that does not carry the same simplicity. It was quite dense and wordy, and did not really fit with the rest of the book. It felt as though more context was needed to flesh out the first half of the book, but the epilogue didn’t quite hit the mark.
The stories were fun and entertaining though. They did a pretty good job simplifying complex issues.
Definitely a unique read. An okay introduction to communism, told in an entertaining and often humorous way.