Baltic Byline

by Mike Collier, Miks Koljers

Beacon is a journalist - but not a very successful one. Eking out a living as a foreign correspondent in the Baltic states, the pattern of his life is dictated by the visits of foreign dignitaries, the whims of local officials and occasional outbursts of civil unrest. Yet despite his lack of ambition and world-weary air, journalism sometimes becomes important, even to Beacon...

'Baltic Byline' follows the inglorious progress of Beacon, his rivals, his brother hacks and his cat through twelve short stories, each building upon the other until... something unexpected happens.

Imagine Graham Greene's seedy journalist Minty from 'England Made Me' crossed with Evelyn Waugh's 'Scoop' and recast in the form of Somerset Maugham's 'Ashenden' and you're on the right track for 'Baltic Byline'.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Yury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Для латвийских журналистов это маст рид. Я считаю, вы должны умирать от зависти.
Для остальных - дело вкуса. Мне понравилось.

Я всегда считал, что английский юмор - это когда я понимаю где смеяться, слегка похрюкиваю и читаю дальше. Примерно так я читаю, например, Дживса и Вустера. Ничего подобного. Английский юмор - это когда я сижу в кафе Верманского парка 2 августа, и ржу громче, чем группа десантников.

Наверное дело в том, что это английско-латвийский юмор. Это книга про Латвию. Она полна узнаваемых персонажей, типажей, и событий, и мест. Автор - английский журналист, который здесь много лет живёт. Как у Гоголя и Достоевского есть персонаж Петербург, так у Коллиера персонаж - Рига. Если бы не ее обаяние, и провинциальность, и абсурд, книги не было бы.

При этом Майк - один из нас. Ему у нас многое смешно. Но разве нам самим у нас не смешно? Для автора мы не забавные зверюшки, про которых он рассказывает англичанам. Наоборот, он готов нас защищать - и от невежественных европейских журналистов и политиков, и от наших собственных идиотов.

Немного неловко ставить пять звезд роману, который притворяется сборником анекдотов. Но во-первых он только притворяется. Это все же литература, со своими драмами и трагикомедиями. А во-вторых, я, как всегда, оцениваю не влияние на мировую культуру, а просто полученное мной удовольствие. А оно было на пятерку.

[Julia Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I believe that this book is a captivating read for a very specific, very niche audience, I also believe that that audience is me.

I loved every moment of it (except, perhaps, the very very last bit), and don't think that I have ever or will ever be able to relate to a book so deeply as this.

The familiar settings, the familiar politics, the familiar aspects of the main character's profession (he's an English-language journalist), and heck, even familiar characters (!) make this book so fun to read. Not to mention provide a delightful insight to what I'm sure the author has experienced himself, yet has had to disguise in fiction for the sake of plausible deniability ;)

Will you love it? Difficult to say. Did I love it? Absolutely.

[Liāna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Latvian, this was a delightfull read, funny, explains parts of journalism to a non journalist very nicely. I loved the description of Riga and of things happening at that time. I loved how the latvian characters weren’t these cold, weird and behind on things people but mostly the same as Beacon himself. Īsāk sakot, man patika🤙🏻

[Ron Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy well written memoirs, nonfictional, fictional, and hybrids ( although I think only the latter 2 varieties exist). “Baltic Byline,” subtitled “All the news that’s unfit to print, from the regions worst reliable foreign correspondent,” is a fictional memoir, although I suspect it could be a hybrid.

Plenty of wit, sarcasm, and fresh, creative humor characterize this book about Beacon, an English journalist living in Latvia. The somewhat lengthy chapters can stand alone as short stories, but are linked and intertwined by many curious commonalities. They work well as comprising the whole. The politics and culture of the modern Baltic region is vividly portrayed, as well as Beacon’s perceptions of the profession of journalism. Beacon once offered a toast: “To journalism! It’s a rotten job and no-one has to do it, but we do it anyway.”

Actually very funny, this collection of stories/chapters, presents a constant stream of quirky characters, most of whom are journalists, politicians, or other government officials. Some are Beacon's friends, some enemies, most are passing acquaintances, but all of them are brilliantly described and each stands out in his or her own weird way. Beacon, writing about himself in the third person, might be a mediocre journalist, but this book is wonderfully written and very nicely presented.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very possible that I loved this book because I lived in this place and felt/tasted/saw/smelled everything Collier describes. With the scathing wit of the outlier but the compassion of the transplant, Beacon the journalist reveals Riga, cobblestones and all. Well, more like the grey snow and dirt packed under the stones. It is also a study in the psyche of journalists, Eastern European idiosyncrasies, and irreverent comics on the facets of Latvian culture in the modern age. It's Latvia through the eyes of someone who lived there, not just visited. It's vicious, British hilarious, and possibly a very acquired taste. Very. Acquired.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Baltic Byline mostly for two reasons. It is full of archetypal characters, both native and foreign, that you do actually meet if you spend any time hanging around the political-cultural spheres in the Baltic States (I would not be surprised if I had actually met some of the people that inspired the author). I also liked its view - mostly cynical, sometimes poignant - of the craft of journalism through the eyes of its protagonist, Beacon. Beacon is a ex-pat burnout reporter in Latvia that I feel know/have met/maybe resemble a little bit myself. Each chapter is fairly self-contained, so I could read them quickly, and then start another when the mood struck me (the story about the inherent weirdness of "Vox Pop" features was one of my favorites).

[Linus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is cynical, hard-hitting, well-written and very funny. The protagonist, Beacon, is as peculiar as many of his observations, making the storyline quite entertaining, though some characters do get a little over-the-top in their actions, making for a bit too much caricature.

Draped in a witty, descriptive and lively language, it even had me laughing out loud a few times, and was overall a great pleasure to read.

[Martins Untals · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book, that in interesting format describes journalist profession as well events and mood in the Baltics and particularly Latvia from the outside point of view. Do read it.

[Reinis Rotkalis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch his language!!

[Sandra]

This was something quite different from what I nowadays read. It's a collection of short stories that are all set in the same world. My world. The one where every canteen really does serve the same dinner special.

As I was reading it and pondering what I was going to say about it when I finished it, it overturned my every opinion. I thought it was quite amusingly (ha) written but the "punchlines" at the end of each tale weren't that funny, and when I had settled on this opinion, the next one made me laugh out loud. I thought it was a thoroughly light read, but the last few stories grew completely sombre.

I enjoyed the way the stories were written and I enjoyed the mentions of local customs from a kind of foreigners perspective, even our custom of loving any foreign attention.