Once in Kazakhstan

by Keith Rosten

Kazakhstan became independent as the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. Author Keith Rosten was a Fulbright Lecturer in Kazakhstan soon after the country gained independence. In "Once in Kazakhstan," Rosten draws a sometimes humorous portrait of a critical period in the emergence of Kazakhstan. He interweaves the challenges and exhilaration of living in Kazakhstan with the historical backdrop of a country grappling with its independence. From horse heads in the Central Market, to guns on the ski slopes, to the first-ever parliamentary elections, Rosten takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the country. He leads the reader on a tour of the war monuments in Almaty and the mines of Karaganda. He vividly recounts the change in currency from the Soviet ruble to the tenge. He travels with a candidate for parliament to a rural village near Semipalatinsk and journeys to the Karakhan Mausoleum in Dzhambul.

Rosten uses his knowledge of Russian living and language to give the reader access to non-English sources on the history, politics, traditions, and spirit of Kazakhstan. The book contains photographs of the people, places, and monuments of the country. "Once in Kazakhstan" is an invaluable resource for anyone who is traveling to Kazakhstan.

Genres: Kazakhstan, Travel

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2005

Reviews

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book very much. People who are interested in what happen during USSR perestroika will gain knowledge of what it was like during those times for Kazakhstani, and what would it be like for a foreigner to live there. Mr. Rosten shares his personal experience during his living in Kazakhstan with objectiveness and humor. His observations show Kazakhstan’s way to “democracy”. Reading Ones in Kazakhstan brought a lot of Déjà vu of experiencing perestroika in Russia when I lived there.
This book was very well written. It has black and white photos along with descriptions of the photos. It was very interesting to see how people of Kazakhstan lived and looked like.

[Liz Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Equal parts travelogue and history book this is a quick and fascinating read. The author provides quite a bit of in-depth and insightful information about Kazakhstan from the early 90’s until their end with the hopes of its future. The only thing I would have liked more of is the author’s adventures versus less about politics or more of him as adventures while he learned about the politics to break it up a little.

[Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fucking Peace Corps, but I'll get there some day.