Travel to Russia

Among the Russians

Format: Paperback
Author: Colin Thubron
ReleaseDate: 01 January, 2001
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Rating:

Interesting for what it is...
I found the book a little long winded and dramatic in its descriptions, and a little quick to jump to far-reaching conclusions. The premise of this book is fascinating, and for what it is it's an interesting read. I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn that the well-trained "intourist" guides spout the party line (but - shockingly! - probably have opinions of their own), and that the average Soviet citizen wasn't thrilled with their government (is anyone?).

The best part of the book was towards the end where the author has some run-ins with the KGB. If only he had realized they were following him sooner, this could have been a great book!

Mr. Thubron's later work is much improved.

Detailed account of travels through a vast land
I was amazed at the amount of detail the author poured into his journeys across the Soviet Union. As an interested reader of the Soviet Union and Russian culture, I picked this book up two years after I read In Siberia. He was able to visit the Russian citizens, homesteads of famous icons of years back (Tolstoy among them) and see cathedrals we can only see in pictures. His writing style and demeanor may strike readers as distant and unattached but he went over there to observe and he did not observe this place through rose-colored lenses-he showed us what Russia was really like in 1980. If you strictly want to read about Russia, you may be disappointed when you read the material towards the end which is about Georgia and Armenia, but my ignorance of those former republics were replaced with notions that they might be more beautiful and more interesting than all of Western Russia. The whole way through you will be captivated, appalled and intrigued with his journey. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Russian culture.

A trip through the Soviet Union
Thubron then motors all the way to present day Azerbaijan and St. Written by someone who somehow managed to drive a clunker with UK plates through the Iron Curtain between West and East Germany and all the way to Moscow. Petersburg. It is a snapshot not of present day Russia but of 1980 Soviet Union.

The faint glimmers of hope that these people held on to and their continual amazement at the fact the author would explain the West was afraid of them are an excellent historical reference. Told that we are the threat to the Soviet Union a lot of the people were both in awe and afraid of the author.

The amazing fact that he camped his way around a closed country is a great read of how they perceived us as much as a straight travelogue.

Well recommended.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Russia travel books.

	In Siberia
	Beyond Siberia: Two Years in a Forgotten Place
	River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny