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Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival
In the 1860s, the Russo-American Telegraph Company set out to telegraphically connect the United States and Europe using lines running through the Bering Straits and Siberia. The failed expedition marked one of the first explorations of the vast Siberian wilderness, and George Kennan’s tale of a seemingly endless land filled with wildlife and nomadic tribes is as entertaining today as it was 140 years ago. With biting humor and poignant insight, Kennan details his years fighting to survive a doomed mission. He depicts the quiet loneliness of the desolate landscape, the eerie glow of the sun at midnight, and the refusal to give in to one of the harshest places man has ever tried to conquer. His book is a testament to our planet’s beauty and danger, as well as to the tireless will of the human spirit.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1870
145 people are currently reading
967 people want to read
About the author
George Kennan
162 books16 followersGeorge Kennan was an American explorer noted for his travels in the Kamchatka and Caucasus regions of Russia.
Do not confuse with his great-nephew, diplomat and historian George Frost Kennan (1904-2005)
Do not confuse with his great-nephew, diplomat and historian George Frost Kennan (1904-2005)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
June 8, 2014
Another delight for the parsimonious, a great out-of-copyright ebook hidden in plain sight on the Internet, specifically, at Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.net, and the Internet Archive, among other places.
A long time ago in the pre-Internet age I wrote this title down in an old-school paper notebook I kept for the same reason I am on Goodreads today: to keep track of books I would like to read someday. I thought at the time that it seemed unlikely I would ever be once again close enough to a university library. Happily, in our improved networked world, one no longer has to be.
Given that, it seems churlish to complain, but complaining is one of life's simple pleasures which I cannot deny myself.
As far as I can tell, all electronic volumes are inexplicably bereft of illustrations. Some versions (like the version of this book, a beautiful bit of Javascripted art – derived from an original copy from the library of my alma mater Boston University no less – available at the Internet Archive above) make no mention of illustrations. The version (specifically marked “no images”) I downloaded on my old-school Kindle from the Gutenberg Project has tantalizing references to illustrations, which really leaves one wishing for more.
For example, you might be happily reading along and suddenly come upon this placeholder:
[Illustration: Chukchi Maiden Throttles Kodiak Bear with Her Bare Hands, Uses Bones to Construct Her Yurt.]
but sadly, there is no picture to demonstrate the technique for bear-throttling among youthful distaff Chukchis. Disappointment results.
OK, I made up the part about the bear above, but still there really are places where illustrations are referred to but not actually present, to the detriment of one's reading experience.
But the book is still a great pleasure. It has elements of both Jack London and Jerome K. Jerome. I can't quite decide if it reads like Jack London with a better sense of humor, or Jerome K. Jerome in an atypically adventurous mood. To decide for yourself, see the excerpts that some public spirited soul has extracted and published on Goodreads. They are well worth the detour.
My favorite passage was not included in the above, so I transcribe it here, fairly confident it will be the funniest thing you will read today:
[Background: Members of the Korak, an indigenous Siberian group, live in yurts which can be entered or exited solely by a hole in the chimney]
There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments in the book, and also some moments of genuine suspense, as when the hero and his party try to track down some members of their expedition across the frozen tundra. There are occasional moments when the narrative lags a bit, but hang in there and another funny bit, like the city bus, will be along in a few minutes.
There are some drawbacks to living in this age, but it is a fine thing to have a great book like this available for free, and not gathering dust in some corner of Mugar Library.
A long time ago in the pre-Internet age I wrote this title down in an old-school paper notebook I kept for the same reason I am on Goodreads today: to keep track of books I would like to read someday. I thought at the time that it seemed unlikely I would ever be once again close enough to a university library. Happily, in our improved networked world, one no longer has to be.
Given that, it seems churlish to complain, but complaining is one of life's simple pleasures which I cannot deny myself.
As far as I can tell, all electronic volumes are inexplicably bereft of illustrations. Some versions (like the version of this book, a beautiful bit of Javascripted art – derived from an original copy from the library of my alma mater Boston University no less – available at the Internet Archive above) make no mention of illustrations. The version (specifically marked “no images”) I downloaded on my old-school Kindle from the Gutenberg Project has tantalizing references to illustrations, which really leaves one wishing for more.
For example, you might be happily reading along and suddenly come upon this placeholder:
[Illustration: Chukchi Maiden Throttles Kodiak Bear with Her Bare Hands, Uses Bones to Construct Her Yurt.]
but sadly, there is no picture to demonstrate the technique for bear-throttling among youthful distaff Chukchis. Disappointment results.
OK, I made up the part about the bear above, but still there really are places where illustrations are referred to but not actually present, to the detriment of one's reading experience.
But the book is still a great pleasure. It has elements of both Jack London and Jerome K. Jerome. I can't quite decide if it reads like Jack London with a better sense of humor, or Jerome K. Jerome in an atypically adventurous mood. To decide for yourself, see the excerpts that some public spirited soul has extracted and published on Goodreads. They are well worth the detour.
My favorite passage was not included in the above, so I transcribe it here, fairly confident it will be the funniest thing you will read today:
[Background: Members of the Korak, an indigenous Siberian group, live in yurts which can be entered or exited solely by a hole in the chimney]
When the snow drifts up against the yurt, so as to give the dogs access to the chimney, they take a perfect delight in lying around the hole, peering down into the yurt, and snuffling the odours of boiling fish which rise from the huge kettle underneath. Not unfrequently they get into a grand comprehensive free fight for the best place of observation, and just as you are about to take your dinner of boiled salmon off the fire, down comes a struggling, yelping dog into the kettle, while his triumphant antagonist looks down the chimney hole with the complacency of gratified vengeance upon his unfortunate victim. A Korak takes the half-scalded dog by the back of the neck, pitches him over the edge of the yurt into a snow-drift, and returns with unruffled serenity to eat the fish-soup which has thus been irregularly flavoured with dog and thickened with hairs.
There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments in the book, and also some moments of genuine suspense, as when the hero and his party try to track down some members of their expedition across the frozen tundra. There are occasional moments when the narrative lags a bit, but hang in there and another funny bit, like the city bus, will be along in a few minutes.
There are some drawbacks to living in this age, but it is a fine thing to have a great book like this available for free, and not gathering dust in some corner of Mugar Library.
August 24, 2009
This is an amazing account of "extreme travel" on the Kamachatka peninsula and thereabouts in 1865-1867 written by George Kennan Sr. (a relative of the later George Kennan who was US Ambassador to Russia). He and his colleagues were employed by the Russo-American Telegraph Company to scout out a feasible route for an overland telegraph line to connect the US with Europe. It is hard to exaggerate how cut off these men were from the rest of the world and how much hardship and privation they endured. When the overland telegraph project was halted in 1867 (the year that an Atlantic cable had been successfully laid), for example, Kennan and his comrades first learned of this fact by reading a newspaper that had reached them after a delay of many months. That the telegraph company had spent roughly $3 million before abandoning the project is striking, but it pales before Kennan's account of the astounding human efforts that that sum (inadequately) represents. An engaging and funny narrator, he tells of landscapes, climates, and native peoples in a story that borders on the fantastic — but isn't. I especially enjoyed his accounts of northeastern Siberia's nomadic natives and of the enormous cultural gulf that separated Kennan's modern American world and worldview from theirs. Other highlights include his descriptions of nature and natural phenomena (e.g. blizzards, the aurora borealis) and of the astounding practical difficulties of travel by dogsled and reindeer against incredible odds. This book will appeal to any and all readers interested in adventure travel, Arctic Circle ethnography, and/or Siberian geography. Unfortunately, this reprint edition was made on the cheap and lacks the illustrations that Kennan himself had included in an earlier reprint. More serious (and quite aggravating) is the absence of a map -- an absolute necessity to understand where they were and what they were doing -- although some help can be had from Google satellite maps.
July 23, 2024
Read many years ago, I think at Larry McMurtry's recommendation. Just as good as the reviews here suggest, plus it's PD = free, though back in the day I found a copy at our university library.
Recommended for history and travel-writing fans. Kennan was a good writer, and some of his adventures were hair-raising. If I come across my hand-written journal notes, I'll post an update. No, he wasn't *that* Kennan. Right family, though....
The full review to read is David's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Not to be missed, if you have any interest in the book.
Recommended for history and travel-writing fans. Kennan was a good writer, and some of his adventures were hair-raising. If I come across my hand-written journal notes, I'll post an update. No, he wasn't *that* Kennan. Right family, though....
The full review to read is David's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Not to be missed, if you have any interest in the book.
Read
January 9, 2023What a great journey Mr. Kennan described in this wonderful volume. Owing to failures with the transatlantic telegraph cable, Western Union ventured to string a line from the US west coast to Russia, crossing the Bering Strait. Mr. Kennan joined the crew in 1865 voyaging to Kamchatka to conduct survey work and begin preparations for construction. This book covers the two years he spent in that region from 1865 to 1867. History students will know George F. Kennan, the author of the famous Long Telegram in 1946, as a distant cousin of this author.
I am naturally endeared to anyone who attempts to pierce poetic myths and lay bare reality. Mr. Kennan did so early in this tale, describing the unrelenting miseries of blue-water ocean travel.
I was amazed how Mr. Kennan and his colleagues not only survived brutal winter conditions, but actually travelled great distances to conduct work in weather that would send me into hibernation. I recall one Midwest February morning, possibly in 1978, when I glanced at the thermometer outside the kitchen window and saw the red needle pointed at minus thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. No school that day, nor the next if I remember correctly. Mr. Kennan was out and about often with temperatures at fifty degrees below zero or worse. He spent substantial time working with and living among indigenous cultures like the Chukchis, Koraks, Kamchadals, Chuances, Lamutkis, and Yukagirs. Though those peoples survived, their lives were unforgivably harsh. Many nomadic tribes lived off large reindeer herds in the winter season. The static tribes lived off dried fish. Famine was even known throughout this land on occasion as there were years when the rivers and streams had few migrating fish. Then there were the resettled Russians who somehow found a way to create a permanent livelihood in that inhospitable peninsula. In the brief summer season, the mosquitoes were most unbearable to man and animal alike, despite all precautions. A few bears made amusing appearances, too, in this tale. Never forget about bears in the wild.
Stories like this cannot be written today given development the world over. Unfortunately, this work has fallen into obscurity, which is a shame because Mr. Kennan was a very good writer. As for the telegraph linking North America and Russia, the concept was abandoned with the ultimate success of the transatlantic cable in 1866.
I am naturally endeared to anyone who attempts to pierce poetic myths and lay bare reality. Mr. Kennan did so early in this tale, describing the unrelenting miseries of blue-water ocean travel.
I wonder if any one has ever written down on paper his seasick reveries. There are “Evening Reveries,” “Reveries of a Bachelor,” and “Seaside Reveries” in abundance; but no one, so far as I know, has ever even attempted to do his seasick reveries literary justice. It is a strange oversight, and I would respectfully suggest to any aspiring writer who has the reverie faculty, that there is here an unworked field of boundless extent. One trip across the North Pacific in a small brig will furnish an inexhaustible supply of material.I was reminded of Boswell’s words from Samuel Johnson regarding this topic, likening life aboard a ship to imprisonment, with the added risk of being drowned. I felt honest, authentic reporting throughout this work.
I was amazed how Mr. Kennan and his colleagues not only survived brutal winter conditions, but actually travelled great distances to conduct work in weather that would send me into hibernation. I recall one Midwest February morning, possibly in 1978, when I glanced at the thermometer outside the kitchen window and saw the red needle pointed at minus thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. No school that day, nor the next if I remember correctly. Mr. Kennan was out and about often with temperatures at fifty degrees below zero or worse. He spent substantial time working with and living among indigenous cultures like the Chukchis, Koraks, Kamchadals, Chuances, Lamutkis, and Yukagirs. Though those peoples survived, their lives were unforgivably harsh. Many nomadic tribes lived off large reindeer herds in the winter season. The static tribes lived off dried fish. Famine was even known throughout this land on occasion as there were years when the rivers and streams had few migrating fish. Then there were the resettled Russians who somehow found a way to create a permanent livelihood in that inhospitable peninsula. In the brief summer season, the mosquitoes were most unbearable to man and animal alike, despite all precautions. A few bears made amusing appearances, too, in this tale. Never forget about bears in the wild.
Stories like this cannot be written today given development the world over. Unfortunately, this work has fallen into obscurity, which is a shame because Mr. Kennan was a very good writer. As for the telegraph linking North America and Russia, the concept was abandoned with the ultimate success of the transatlantic cable in 1866.
March 4, 2010
About 3 chapters into this book, I began planning my trip to Kamchatka. Kennan's description of the coast, the mountain ranges, the villages seated at the base of active volcanos, the wild rivers, and the tundra were so intoxicating that I felt I had to see them with my own eyes.
30 minutes of Google searching later, I realized that it would require flying Aeroflot (something I have no intention of ever doing), tickets would be insanely expensive, and once I got there the weather was likely to be either broiling hot (with mosquitos) or freezing cold, and the crumbling soviet hotel would take only cash.
I gave up the idea of the trip as a pipe dream, and that right there sums up the difference between Kennan and me. Kennan got on a whaling boat with a crew whose language he could not speak, not knowing exactly where in Kamchatka it was going to land, what the country would look like when he got there, what the weather would be like, whether the people would be friendly, or how in the world he was going to get around. And then he proceeded to spend the next three years chasing around the country, trying not to freeze or starve to death, all the while apparently making insightful entries in his diary which he would later turn into this book.
The story itself is intriguing and exciting, and relatively enlightened about presenting the native tribes he encounters. Yes, he generalizes about and worries about the heathaness of the people, but this is the 19th century – I don’t think it would be fair to judge him too harshly on this given his time and place in history. But oh, how I wish the book had a map. A pre-Soviet map with place names that matched the ones used in the book.
30 minutes of Google searching later, I realized that it would require flying Aeroflot (something I have no intention of ever doing), tickets would be insanely expensive, and once I got there the weather was likely to be either broiling hot (with mosquitos) or freezing cold, and the crumbling soviet hotel would take only cash.
I gave up the idea of the trip as a pipe dream, and that right there sums up the difference between Kennan and me. Kennan got on a whaling boat with a crew whose language he could not speak, not knowing exactly where in Kamchatka it was going to land, what the country would look like when he got there, what the weather would be like, whether the people would be friendly, or how in the world he was going to get around. And then he proceeded to spend the next three years chasing around the country, trying not to freeze or starve to death, all the while apparently making insightful entries in his diary which he would later turn into this book.
The story itself is intriguing and exciting, and relatively enlightened about presenting the native tribes he encounters. Yes, he generalizes about and worries about the heathaness of the people, but this is the 19th century – I don’t think it would be fair to judge him too harshly on this given his time and place in history. But oh, how I wish the book had a map. A pre-Soviet map with place names that matched the ones used in the book.
May 16, 2009
This book is the single most well written travelogue I have encountered, which means of course that it was written over 100 years ago when people knew how to write, for an audience that would only ever see what the author has seen through his own words.
Mark Twain called George Kennan the funniest writer of his time. George was more than funny. He was dead accurate, thorough, sensitive and respectful to the Siberian cultures through which he traveled on a surveying mission. His description on how Siberian yurts are entered and exited, and the effect that that simple act had on Siberian cuisine, is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
Mark Twain called George Kennan the funniest writer of his time. George was more than funny. He was dead accurate, thorough, sensitive and respectful to the Siberian cultures through which he traveled on a surveying mission. His description on how Siberian yurts are entered and exited, and the effect that that simple act had on Siberian cuisine, is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
February 25, 2010
Tent Life in Siberia is the story of an 1864 expedition to map out the route for a telegraph line across Siberia, connecting America with Europe. The story is told by George Kennon, who with three other Western Union employees, is assigned this seemingly impossible task. The narrative is lively and quite humorous, particularly in his descriptions of the nomadic tribe’s reactions to “modern” technology such as matches and binoculars. Kennon is eloquent in his descriptions of the vast uncharted wilderness and the deadly cold the party faces over the two-year span of the mission. Although the effort was ultimately canceled due to the laying of the first transatlantic cable, the story is full of near-death experiences, mutinous crews and heroic rescues. If you can find a map of Eastern Russia, it is fun to follow the journey across thousands of miles of trackless tundra. This is a good, old-fashioned real-life adventure story, best read by a roaring fire.
September 24, 2019
Account of the failed mission to start a telegraph service from Siberia to Alaska in the 1800's. DNF. Not my cup of tea...
March 31, 2008
This book is about a expedition to Siberia in 1860s by employees of an American telegraph company. It is one of the most engaging travel logs, I have read. Forget eat, pray, love - read this. His prose is current and readable. It seems like he is writing today and not during the civil war until the self-aggrandizing passages desribing the "heathen" the native communities (who keep him alive). The saving grace is that he keeps this theorizing to a minimum.
January 19, 2009
Had to constantly remind myself that this REALLY happened and that it wasn't a fictional story. Fun but a little confusing due to lack of a map and place-names that have since changed or been lost to the intervening 130 years.
September 13, 2020
Really glad I happened across a recommendation for this book. It's not one I would have picked up otherwise, but like everything else in this weird year, why not. It's hard to imagine there was a time when work like Kennan and his team did was necessary-would anyone sign up for that now? Also now I wonder whatever happened to the Wandering Koraks. This book has a wide appeal, for fans of naval yarns, Russian history, technological history (the telegraph!), memoir, survival, even Church history.
September 23, 2018
A gem. Written thirty years before any known human had set foot on the continent of Antarctica, the book describes vividly exploration in what was then the least-explored, least-described portion of the globe. Other goodreads reviewers have done my work of praising it as a narrative imbued with well-schooled wit and humor. It combines the stoicism of The Worst Journey in the World with the language of Dickens, J.K. Jerome and P.G. Wodehouse. Here's a passage (p. 222) to share with you in the review as I don't know how to put those quotations on the side. He writes of the "yourts" of the Koraks of Kamenoi
" The houses--if houses they could be called-- were about twenty feet in height, rudely constructed of drift-wood which had been thrown up by the sea and could be compared in shape to nothing but hour-glasses. They had no doors or windows of any kind, and could only be entered by climbing up a pole on the outside and sliding down another pole through the chimney -- a mode of entrance whose practicability depended entirely on the activity and intensity of the fire which burned underneath."
There are a few phrases to set off 2018 politically correct sensors such as an occasional "savage." Overall, Kennan is shows us he admires almost everyone his party met in a long year with the exception of one band of settled Koraks whom he disliked.
It's clear the Americans and their Russian colleague could not have lived to write without repeated help from the local people.
" The houses--if houses they could be called-- were about twenty feet in height, rudely constructed of drift-wood which had been thrown up by the sea and could be compared in shape to nothing but hour-glasses. They had no doors or windows of any kind, and could only be entered by climbing up a pole on the outside and sliding down another pole through the chimney -- a mode of entrance whose practicability depended entirely on the activity and intensity of the fire which burned underneath."
There are a few phrases to set off 2018 politically correct sensors such as an occasional "savage." Overall, Kennan is shows us he admires almost everyone his party met in a long year with the exception of one band of settled Koraks whom he disliked.
It's clear the Americans and their Russian colleague could not have lived to write without repeated help from the local people.
December 13, 2011
I picked up this travelog after reading Ian Frazier's "Travels In Siberia." Between 1865 and 1867 George Kennan explored Kamchatka and much of the area around the Okhotsk sea. He was surveying the area for the Russian-American Telegraph Company. After the failure of the first trans-atlantic telegraph cable, Western Union formed this company with the Russian Government in order to bring telegraphic communications between the US and Europe. Kennan documents his travels and travails. It is well written, insightful, and, quite often, very funny.
June 26, 2011
Who knew that, after the end of the Civil War, an attempt was made by a U. S. company to lay a telegraph line from Alaska through Siberia. A fascinating, well-written account of the author's participation in the expedition.
May 5, 2012
So interesting! This true story describes people, cultures, and places as they were about 150 years ago. Friendly writing style; the author has you laughing with him at his misadventures.
October 14, 2020
I don't remember what rabbit hole I went down that resulted in my downloading this free Kindle book, but I am so glad I did. It became a huge favorite with me and I enjoyed everything about it. The author is a great storyteller, finding just the right tone to relay his adventures with humor but without exaggeration or false modesty. He is respectful in his dealings with the various native tribes he encounters. He writes beautiful descriptions of the landscape without being over flowery, and his interest in the native flora and fauna, as well as in the customs and language of the people, is infections, and never falls into becoming too dry or scholarly.
But perhaps the most fun for me were all the literary references sprinkled throughout - I marked at least 50, and there were probably more. Kennan tells how in two years in Siberia nearly his only reading materials were a Bible and a collection of Shakespeare, and so there were plenty of allusions, similes, and quotations from those sources. But he must have been very well read, because there were also references from contemporary poets, Dickens, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Isaac Walton, Samuel Johnson, Caesar's Commentaries, Arabian Nights, Nathaniel Bowditch's Navigator, and even a mention of Ray's Arithmetic! And by far and away the most references came from Ancient Greek history, mythology, and The Iliad. All in all, it was a treat to read, both for the adventure story within, and the fun of realizing I had met a kindred spirit, knowing that we had mutual literary friends. Highly recommend.
But perhaps the most fun for me were all the literary references sprinkled throughout - I marked at least 50, and there were probably more. Kennan tells how in two years in Siberia nearly his only reading materials were a Bible and a collection of Shakespeare, and so there were plenty of allusions, similes, and quotations from those sources. But he must have been very well read, because there were also references from contemporary poets, Dickens, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Isaac Walton, Samuel Johnson, Caesar's Commentaries, Arabian Nights, Nathaniel Bowditch's Navigator, and even a mention of Ray's Arithmetic! And by far and away the most references came from Ancient Greek history, mythology, and The Iliad. All in all, it was a treat to read, both for the adventure story within, and the fun of realizing I had met a kindred spirit, knowing that we had mutual literary friends. Highly recommend.
November 9, 2017
Reading this interesting story mainly as research for my own current book project and to get a sense of what it was like to travel in extreme winter conditions in the 19th century prior to the invention of Snow mobiles and other such abortions. Quite an interesting story.
September 4, 2018
Fascinating and gripping read of a true life adventure written by the man who lived it.
November 18, 2017
One of a kind true account that will keep you laughing or smiling the whole time.
March 22, 2015
An account by Kennan of traveling through some of the far Eastern reaches of Siberia in the 1860s. Many travel narratives by Western writers of the 19th century, writing about some of the far-flung and little-known areas of the world, can be quite dry and dull; at their worst, some of them come across as having a very condescending sense of the superiority of their own culture. Kennan is hardly among the worst offenders, but does have some of that condescension in his writing. What sets his narrative apart, however, is his genuine- often self-deprecatory- sense of humor about the hardships he goes through in his travels. Take, for example, his comments about the sea voyage through the North Pacific, which brings him to Siberia:
"Ten days of real sea life have converted the 'bright uncertainty of future joys' into a dark and decided certainty of future misery, and left me to mourn the incompatibility of poetry and truth. Burton is a humbug, Tennyson a fraud, I'm a victim, and Byron and Procter are accessories before the fact. Never again will I pin my faith to poets. They may tell the truth nearly enough for poetical consistency, but their judgment is hopelessly perverted, and their imagination is too luxuriantly vivid for a truthful realistic delineation of sea life." ... "The impression of sublimity, however, which I had anticipated, was almost entirely lost in the sense of personal discomfort. A man who has just been pitched over a skylight by one of the ship's eccentric movements, or drenched to the skin by a burst of spray, is not in a state of mind to contemplate sublimity; and after going through a varied and exhaustive course of such treatment, any romantic notions which he may previously have entertained with regard to the ocean's beauty and sublimity are pretty much knocked and drowned out of him."
Shortly after leaving one middle-of-nowhere Siberian town with a companion named Dodd:
"We stopped for the night at the house of a Russian peasant who lived on the bank of the Gizhiga River, about fifteen versts east of the settlement. While we were drinking tea a special messenger arrived from the village, bringing two frozen blueberry pies as a parting token of regard from the Major, and a last souvenir of civilisation. Pretending to fear that something might happen to these delicacies if we should attempt to carry them with us, Dodd, as a precautionary measure, ate one of them up to the last blueberry; and rather than have him sacrifice himself to a mistaken idea of duty by trying to eat the other, I attended to its preservation myself and put it for ever beyond the reach of accidental contingencies."
All in all, it's an enjoyable, entertaining, and informative account.
"Ten days of real sea life have converted the 'bright uncertainty of future joys' into a dark and decided certainty of future misery, and left me to mourn the incompatibility of poetry and truth. Burton is a humbug, Tennyson a fraud, I'm a victim, and Byron and Procter are accessories before the fact. Never again will I pin my faith to poets. They may tell the truth nearly enough for poetical consistency, but their judgment is hopelessly perverted, and their imagination is too luxuriantly vivid for a truthful realistic delineation of sea life." ... "The impression of sublimity, however, which I had anticipated, was almost entirely lost in the sense of personal discomfort. A man who has just been pitched over a skylight by one of the ship's eccentric movements, or drenched to the skin by a burst of spray, is not in a state of mind to contemplate sublimity; and after going through a varied and exhaustive course of such treatment, any romantic notions which he may previously have entertained with regard to the ocean's beauty and sublimity are pretty much knocked and drowned out of him."
Shortly after leaving one middle-of-nowhere Siberian town with a companion named Dodd:
"We stopped for the night at the house of a Russian peasant who lived on the bank of the Gizhiga River, about fifteen versts east of the settlement. While we were drinking tea a special messenger arrived from the village, bringing two frozen blueberry pies as a parting token of regard from the Major, and a last souvenir of civilisation. Pretending to fear that something might happen to these delicacies if we should attempt to carry them with us, Dodd, as a precautionary measure, ate one of them up to the last blueberry; and rather than have him sacrifice himself to a mistaken idea of duty by trying to eat the other, I attended to its preservation myself and put it for ever beyond the reach of accidental contingencies."
All in all, it's an enjoyable, entertaining, and informative account.
May 20, 2020
A travelogue full of wit and indomitable spirit. The author undertakes an unpredictable and arduous journey. He literally goes out in uncharted territory because that's exactly what he has been hired to do by the Ruso American Telegraph Company - - map out this unexplored territory for the construction of a telegraph line from America to Eastern Europe.
This book is 150 years old so I was expecting usage of archiac words and difficult to interpret sentences since language does tend to change with time. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find out how easy to read this book is. The flow is simple and the narrative interesting, descriptive, witty and also occasionally humorous.
Although there are numerous passages full of wit and narrative charm yet, I can't help but fondly recall the trials and tribulations faced by a prospective bridegroom in order to win favour of his dream girl in the kamchatka tribe. After first conveying his intentions to the girls' father the poor chap has to slog it out by doing manual work and be at his (hopefully) future father in laws' beck and call for two or three years. If he passes this probationary period it's still not smooth sailing yet. He still has to get the final nod of approval from the girl wherein he has to run after the bride in a maze of a huge tent with smaller, six by nine feet tents. The ever so elusive bride runs from compartment to compartment and the poor chap gives chase and tries to catch her. In between all this he is heckled and physically hit in all places (including those not so public) by the girls' friends and family. If the girl likes him and he has it lucky she will wait for him in a smaller tent (within the main, big tent as described) - - this act of acquiescence will prompt the rest of the party to finally leave the poor chap alone. Phew!
The author is in love with nature and describes his natural surroundings with descriptions bordering on surreal. You really feel like going to all these places on your next trip.
Mr Kennan also goes on to write in detail about the everyday life and customs of the indigenous people of the lands that he meets. That may be very helpful both in an historical and sociological context. This book is more than just a travelogue. A hidden gem. The author has a pleasing personality. He is an easygoing, patient dude who doesn't complain much and even though there are passages where he sounds colonial but we have to give it to him-- this book was published in 1870 and those were times when some notions were preconceived/different to what they are now. There are passages where his praise for the natives is so effusive that his empathy and just pain goodwill is palpable. I'm glad I read this book.
This book is 150 years old so I was expecting usage of archiac words and difficult to interpret sentences since language does tend to change with time. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find out how easy to read this book is. The flow is simple and the narrative interesting, descriptive, witty and also occasionally humorous.
Although there are numerous passages full of wit and narrative charm yet, I can't help but fondly recall the trials and tribulations faced by a prospective bridegroom in order to win favour of his dream girl in the kamchatka tribe. After first conveying his intentions to the girls' father the poor chap has to slog it out by doing manual work and be at his (hopefully) future father in laws' beck and call for two or three years. If he passes this probationary period it's still not smooth sailing yet. He still has to get the final nod of approval from the girl wherein he has to run after the bride in a maze of a huge tent with smaller, six by nine feet tents. The ever so elusive bride runs from compartment to compartment and the poor chap gives chase and tries to catch her. In between all this he is heckled and physically hit in all places (including those not so public) by the girls' friends and family. If the girl likes him and he has it lucky she will wait for him in a smaller tent (within the main, big tent as described) - - this act of acquiescence will prompt the rest of the party to finally leave the poor chap alone. Phew!
The author is in love with nature and describes his natural surroundings with descriptions bordering on surreal. You really feel like going to all these places on your next trip.
Mr Kennan also goes on to write in detail about the everyday life and customs of the indigenous people of the lands that he meets. That may be very helpful both in an historical and sociological context. This book is more than just a travelogue. A hidden gem. The author has a pleasing personality. He is an easygoing, patient dude who doesn't complain much and even though there are passages where he sounds colonial but we have to give it to him-- this book was published in 1870 and those were times when some notions were preconceived/different to what they are now. There are passages where his praise for the natives is so effusive that his empathy and just pain goodwill is palpable. I'm glad I read this book.
December 10, 2015
The first efforts to lay a Trans-Atlantic phone cable didn’t work. So, go the other way around. Right? Build an overland cable to Europe via “Russian America,” as Alaska was then called, the Bering Straits, and Siberia. Sure thing. The Russian American Telegraph Company was formed and with Russian concessions in hand, its employees set sail from San Francisco on July 3, 1865, to identify possible routes, sites for warehouses, suitable mountain passes, possible opposition or assistance from local people, etc. Forty days of sea-sickness later, Kennan and his party landed on the Kamchatka Peninsula near the Anadyr River. Then they traveled throughout the peninsula and Siberia for two years. The story he tells of original encounters with various tribes–Koraks, Kamchatdals, Chookchees, Yookaghirs, Chooances, Yakoots and Gakouts–and with the land and the elements is fascinating. You would expect survival for weeks at temperatures of at least 40 below to provide plenty of details on just how you do that and of facing the consequences of not doing it. And there are. But there is much more. He gives complete pictures of all of the tribes–the main difference being whether they wander, married to their caribou herd’s need for new forage–or settle. His prose on the Northern Lights imagines scenes of operatic intensity. And he relates comic incidents with innocent delight, such as when he showed a local tribesman his telescope and watched as the man, believing the device physically delivered his neighbor up close, repeatedly reached out to touch him. Kennan’s 19th century writing style is both charming and frustrating at times. But this is one of those stories you just have to read to believe that it really did happen. It takes you to another time in another world entirely.
July 15, 2016
An Informative, Engaging and Entertaining Find
Apart from recognized classics that you can find among public domain Kindle freebies, ("Moby Dick", "Heart of Darkness", and so on), the search for treats can be a bit daunting. Much of what's available is musty and dated, as you might expect. But every now and then you turn up an unexpected or overlooked gem. That's what I found here.
Kennan's "Tent Life in Siberia", at first blush, looks to be a dated travel/adventure book from the dusty past. Well, it turns out that the book, which contains detailed and thorough ethnographies of the native peoples of Siberia, and which is still a valuable resource for modern researchers, is also a cheerful, whiz bang, and remarkably engaging adventure tale.
Kennan was hired in 1864 to survey a route across the Bering Strait and through Siberia for an overland telegraph line route. In the process he documented his travels and encounters. This book, published in 1870, was the result. It is full of all of the optimism, self-deprecating humor and grit you could ever want in such a book. There's a bit of Eric Newby knock-about adventuring, a touch of Haliburton, and a generous dose of that signature deadpan Bill Bryson wry observational humor.
To be forewarned, some of the ethnographic work is a bit heavy going. but, the first few chapters describing Kennan's preparations for and attitude toward the trip are just remarkably engaging. After that, if you are inclined to browse/skim, there are lots of interesting factoids and adventure bits. A serious student probably will have a copy of this book somewhere on his shelf. But for armchair travellers with even a passing interest in the region, or an interest in 19th century adventure writing, this book offers many pleasant rewards. A nice find.
Apart from recognized classics that you can find among public domain Kindle freebies, ("Moby Dick", "Heart of Darkness", and so on), the search for treats can be a bit daunting. Much of what's available is musty and dated, as you might expect. But every now and then you turn up an unexpected or overlooked gem. That's what I found here.
Kennan's "Tent Life in Siberia", at first blush, looks to be a dated travel/adventure book from the dusty past. Well, it turns out that the book, which contains detailed and thorough ethnographies of the native peoples of Siberia, and which is still a valuable resource for modern researchers, is also a cheerful, whiz bang, and remarkably engaging adventure tale.
Kennan was hired in 1864 to survey a route across the Bering Strait and through Siberia for an overland telegraph line route. In the process he documented his travels and encounters. This book, published in 1870, was the result. It is full of all of the optimism, self-deprecating humor and grit you could ever want in such a book. There's a bit of Eric Newby knock-about adventuring, a touch of Haliburton, and a generous dose of that signature deadpan Bill Bryson wry observational humor.
To be forewarned, some of the ethnographic work is a bit heavy going. but, the first few chapters describing Kennan's preparations for and attitude toward the trip are just remarkably engaging. After that, if you are inclined to browse/skim, there are lots of interesting factoids and adventure bits. A serious student probably will have a copy of this book somewhere on his shelf. But for armchair travellers with even a passing interest in the region, or an interest in 19th century adventure writing, this book offers many pleasant rewards. A nice find.
November 1, 2014
I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. At its heart this book is about a young man's adventures in an exotic and foreign land, but Mr. Kennan's self-deprecating humor and observations on Siberia make it an enjoyable and absorbing read.
The adventures are all suitably harrowing and thrilling. Some are the kind caused by young men making rash decisions, but in a land as hostile as Siberia, some adventures are simply unavoidable.
And Siberia is certainly an exotic place. The sea, land, and tremendous cold all shape life in beautiful and deadly ways rarely observed in modern civilization or more moderate climes.
But the author also provides a thorough review of the people in Siberia - how they live and think. He travels with tribesmen who not only cannot read or write, they cannot even conceive of what writing is. What a gap between worlds! The natives could not understand Mr. Kennan's world, but I'm guessing that an educated man of the 19th century, working to lay telegraph line around the globe, would almost certainly understand what an iPhone is.
Another fascinating anecdote shared by the author is the gap in time orientation between the different native tribes. Many natives are almost entirely dependent on the annual salmon run. But this run fails on a fairly routine basis. Yet the natives refuse to lay aside supplies for the future, and so end up starving themselves and their sled dogs to death, unless they seek help before they become too weak to travel. Meanwhile the reindeer herdsman may own 10s of thousands of reindeer, making them almost entirely independent.
So a very intersting read. Pick up a copy.
The adventures are all suitably harrowing and thrilling. Some are the kind caused by young men making rash decisions, but in a land as hostile as Siberia, some adventures are simply unavoidable.
And Siberia is certainly an exotic place. The sea, land, and tremendous cold all shape life in beautiful and deadly ways rarely observed in modern civilization or more moderate climes.
But the author also provides a thorough review of the people in Siberia - how they live and think. He travels with tribesmen who not only cannot read or write, they cannot even conceive of what writing is. What a gap between worlds! The natives could not understand Mr. Kennan's world, but I'm guessing that an educated man of the 19th century, working to lay telegraph line around the globe, would almost certainly understand what an iPhone is.
Another fascinating anecdote shared by the author is the gap in time orientation between the different native tribes. Many natives are almost entirely dependent on the annual salmon run. But this run fails on a fairly routine basis. Yet the natives refuse to lay aside supplies for the future, and so end up starving themselves and their sled dogs to death, unless they seek help before they become too weak to travel. Meanwhile the reindeer herdsman may own 10s of thousands of reindeer, making them almost entirely independent.
So a very intersting read. Pick up a copy.
January 3, 2020
Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival is a fascinating adventure memoir by American explorer George Kennan about his experience in Russia's isolated and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while working for Western Union Telegraph Company's in the end failed Western Union Telegraph Expedition to lay an electric telegraph line from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia.
What made this book so memorable to me was George Kennan's undisguised love for exploring, his undaunted enthusiasm for adventure in all its forms, his insightful descriptions of the wildlife and vanishing nomadic tribes, his lighthearted fortitude and resilience against the harshest conditions, his playful camaraderie with his travel fellows, his practical jokes, and his sense of humor throughout it all.
The death-defying jolly jaunt through the inhospitable Russian wilderness with the threat of starvation, frostbite, and suffering at every turn was just a pleasant bonus.
The only downside is having to tolerate his outdated white man superiority regarding women and native peoples.
What made this book so memorable to me was George Kennan's undisguised love for exploring, his undaunted enthusiasm for adventure in all its forms, his insightful descriptions of the wildlife and vanishing nomadic tribes, his lighthearted fortitude and resilience against the harshest conditions, his playful camaraderie with his travel fellows, his practical jokes, and his sense of humor throughout it all.
The death-defying jolly jaunt through the inhospitable Russian wilderness with the threat of starvation, frostbite, and suffering at every turn was just a pleasant bonus.
The only downside is having to tolerate his outdated white man superiority regarding women and native peoples.
March 6, 2016
Like everyone else apparently, I had to immediately research how to go visit Kamchatka after reading the first quarter of this book. It sounds amazing. And still sounds like a PITA to visit. Maybe I'll manage it someday.
Because of it's memoir format, this is a surprisingly easy read. The author even has a flippant sense of humor that belongs more in the memoirs of the 1920s. For the most part it flew right along! And you read about people most people haven't (and won't) ever hear of, many of whom have been wiped out altogether since then (from the sound of things).
Courtesy of my brother, I was able to watch Werner Herzog's "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" at the same time, which helped illustrate the harshness experienced by the author of Tent Life in Siberia. (Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is also a fascinating movie, if you disregard Herzog's condescending romanticization of the bitterly hard lives of the trappers and their families. It's absolutely worth watching.)
I recommend Tent Life in Siberia to anyone who likes travelogues at all, or to anyone interested in the indigenous peoples of Victorian era Siberia, or to anyone who just likes a bit of old-fashioned adventure.
Because of it's memoir format, this is a surprisingly easy read. The author even has a flippant sense of humor that belongs more in the memoirs of the 1920s. For the most part it flew right along! And you read about people most people haven't (and won't) ever hear of, many of whom have been wiped out altogether since then (from the sound of things).
Courtesy of my brother, I was able to watch Werner Herzog's "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" at the same time, which helped illustrate the harshness experienced by the author of Tent Life in Siberia. (Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is also a fascinating movie, if you disregard Herzog's condescending romanticization of the bitterly hard lives of the trappers and their families. It's absolutely worth watching.)
I recommend Tent Life in Siberia to anyone who likes travelogues at all, or to anyone interested in the indigenous peoples of Victorian era Siberia, or to anyone who just likes a bit of old-fashioned adventure.
September 1, 2014
I'm not sure when I put this on the list that it was the original 1870 (?) version. If so, I might not have gotten it, which would have been a shame, as it was fairly readable. There were some references I googled (and some I didn't), but they were mostly either to Greek myths or pop culture and didn't subtract from the story too much.
Very interesting, and much less bleak than most arctic books (although there was a bizarre aside that sounded ominous). Also in a different part of the world than the Canadian Arctic I usually read about, which was kind of interesting.
Since it was clearly a reissue it would have benefited from a map of where people went, a small glossary of the presumably Siberian words I never could figure out. (Torbassas were boots? Maybe?) A few notes from someone with knowledge would have been helpful. Also maybe a little actual sketch of the people involved and what happened after.
But that aside, it was entertaining, interesting, and extremely readable.
Very interesting, and much less bleak than most arctic books (although there was a bizarre aside that sounded ominous). Also in a different part of the world than the Canadian Arctic I usually read about, which was kind of interesting.
Since it was clearly a reissue it would have benefited from a map of where people went, a small glossary of the presumably Siberian words I never could figure out. (Torbassas were boots? Maybe?) A few notes from someone with knowledge would have been helpful. Also maybe a little actual sketch of the people involved and what happened after.
But that aside, it was entertaining, interesting, and extremely readable.
September 18, 2017
I read the eBook version of this. I started reading the PDF version, but it was rendered on my iPad missing occasional pages (although they showed up fine on my computer). I switched to the Kindle version, which is an uncorrected OCR scan. This, too, was somewhat unsatisfactory as I often had to decode the text. For example, "\/\/lien" might appear in the text and had to be translated to "when".
The story itself is fascinating. Kennan spends three years in extreme eastern Siberia and Kamchatka exploring a path for a telegraph line. He describes the various peoples he encountered, their habits and customs. He also does a great job relating the difficulties of travel in the region, relating many near-brushes with death.
Just when it looks like we might be heading to a second volume, he gets word of the success of the Atlantic cable and the project is shut down. That may sound like a spoiler, but the appeal of the book is not the history of the telegraph cable itself as it is his travels.
The story itself is fascinating. Kennan spends three years in extreme eastern Siberia and Kamchatka exploring a path for a telegraph line. He describes the various peoples he encountered, their habits and customs. He also does a great job relating the difficulties of travel in the region, relating many near-brushes with death.
Just when it looks like we might be heading to a second volume, he gets word of the success of the Atlantic cable and the project is shut down. That may sound like a spoiler, but the appeal of the book is not the history of the telegraph cable itself as it is his travels.
February 20, 2021
This book is amazing. If you have even the most passing interest in travel narratives, or the 19th Century Russian empire, or the ecology of northern climates, or epic tales of adventure, or voyages on the high seas, or dog sledding, or reindeer herding, or funny writing that will make you laugh out loud, or basically anything else, you should read this book. Unless you are of Siberian native descent, in which case you should definitely not read this book, because--while the narrator was probably progressive by the standards of his time--he was really, really racist, by the standards of ours. That's the bad thing about this otherwise terrific book. However, if you can feel comfortable taking the attitude of "autre temps, autre moeurs," then I definitely recommend this read.
November 6, 2010
I stumbled across a petite hard back edition of this from 1905 last year. I was initially attracted to it because I simply can't resist holding a tiny old book in my hands. But when I finally got around to peaking inside, I was intrigued. In 1986 (or somewhere around there) the author, as a product of mere chance, found himself on an expedition to the extremely remote and rugged Kamchatka Peninsula at the most far eastern reaches of Siberia. While George Keenan is certainly not the most brilliant story-teller of his time, he was surrounded by great material as he experienced life among the Kamchatka natives in a surreal landscape.
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