Off the Beaten Tracks: Stories by Russian Hitchhikers

by Irina Bogatyreva, Igor Savelyev, Tatiana Mazepina

"Today an unusually gifted generation is entering Russian literature. . . . Literature has not seen such an influx of energy in a long time."—Olga Slavnikova, director of the Debut Prize By and about Russian hitchhikers, these stories take the reader along the endless roads of central Russia, the Urals, the Altai, Siberia, and beyond. In energetic and vivid prose they depict all sorts of curious Russian exotic adventures in far-flung places, the complex psychological relationships that develop on the road, and these hitchhikers' inexplicable passion for tramping. "In via veritas" is their motto. The authors are all winners of the Debut Prize, and will present the book at BEA in 2012 in New York. Irina Bogatyreva lives in Moscow. She has won several prizes, including the Debut, for her novel AUTO-STOP . She has several published books to her credit. Tatiana Mazepina is the latest Debut Prize winner. She is a member of the Society of Free Travellers. She works as a journalist and writes on religious matters. Igor Savelyev lives in Ufa (Bashkiria) where he works as a crime reporter. He is the winner of the Debut Prize and several other prizes.

Genres: Contemporary, Russia, Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2012

Reviews

[Tracy Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 and 4 really. I like the vicarious travel around Russia, and the in the moment-ness of the stories, but the writers weren't so great at bringing the characters around them to life as well as I'd like, since they seemed like potentially interesting people. Probably just due to inexperience ??

Maybe the subject, hitchhiking, forced too much "in-the-moment". Still, glad I read it--the last writer was perhaps the bravest and most interesting. Imagine, a young girl putting herself on the road, all alone, in Arabic countries-not knowing the language, and winning everyone over--no trouble, or so she says.

Anyway, a quick, light read.

[Jonna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will just rate this book 1 star. Which isn't fair to all three of the writers, since they have different stories and write differently.
The first two parts; "The pale city" and "Off the beaten track" didn't catch me at all. I kept thinking if it was due to the dragging story or if it was the translation from Russian to English that didn't work. It was maybe a lot due to my own expectations too.
In those two stories I felt the story never ended and I kept forcing myself through it, hoping for a turn.
I always keep reading a book if I have started so I still respect the writer and the time they have put down in writing, correcting and translating the books.
The third part "Traveling to paradise" was a positive turn for me, I found it well written/translated and it had an interesting story that kept me wanting to read more! Maybe it was more relatable for me.
Anyway, I would have recommended them to put this story in the beginning and then the other two after.

[Sara Barton · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could I’d give this 3.5 stars. It’s hard to give just one rating since the three sections are by different authors. I enjoyed all three in their own right but admittedly struggled a bit to get through one section due to the writing style - there was some jumping around between places and timelines that had me going back in the section. That being said, even that section had its moments I truly enjoyed.

I hope to find more written by the third author - this particular section was easy to follow and rather interesting as a reader and person who is interested in culture while traveling. All three individuals whose stories were told have lived a life that is quite interesting and I do encourage readers to give this one a try!

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing stories, definitely well written and thoughtful. look forward to more from these three