{"product_id":"9781468951110","title":"Ears","description":"Ears, too many of them, catching any accidental voicing of free thought; the tragicomedy of spraying trees with green paint during the Leader’s visits... The deadly denial of the existence of certain \"imperialist\" diseases, three hours of TV broadcasts per day, food rationing, power cuts… Later on, the Romanian Revolution of 1989 replaced communism with democracy, stability with chaos, external threats with internal tensions, absolute power with total corruption, religion with greed… and one dread with many new fears. It is a personal journey of someone, who was a Transylvanian Hungarian ethnic child during Ceausescu’s dark 1970s, a teenager during the suffocating Romanian ‘80s, a student during the surreal ‘90s, and an emigrant during the more recent decades. His journey from a world that Kafka imagined, but Ceausescu created, to a society that is still fighting with its numerous ghosts reveals parallels between facets of a totalitarian society of the past and those of a rapidly Westernized society. The post-Revolution Romania is still struggling with the regime's echoes, with numerous paradigm shifts, and with corruption, which has permeated every aspect of daily life.  The powers of the author’s former homeland had tried to police every sentence and every action, in an attempt to protect the system against a faceless and ubiquitous enemy. His adopted home, too has obsessed about a different enemy, and has used many electronic ears and eyes in the name of creating a safer society.  There is also special attention given to the realities of ethnic minorities during the Ceausescu regime and their problems in the post-Revolution period.  This extensively revised and updated second edition contains numerous additions that take the reader through the changes witnessed in both societies since the book's first publication in 2008, now including the period leading up to the 25th anniversary year of the Romanian anti-communist Revolution.","brand":"Booktango","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47135526387952,"sku":"9781468951110","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781468951110_p0.jpg?v=1763697544","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781468951110","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}