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Journey Into Russia
Journey Into Russia is the extraordinary record of an extraordinary journey into the heartland -- and the hearts -- of the Russian people. Twenty years ago, master storyteller Laurens van der Post travelled thousands of miles across Russia meeting people from every ethnic, educational and occupational background. Wherever he went, he talked and listened, supplementing what he saw and heard with wide reading. The result is this unique book -- a vision, both informed and intuitive, of the people who inhabit more than eight million square miles of the earth. With the ideological warfare between the United States and Russia continuing to escalate, the need for Western understanding of the Russian psyche is more important today than ever before. Journey Into Russia is a beautifully written, highly original book that makes a powerful contribution to this understanding.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
13 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Laurens van der Post
78 books167 followersSir Laurens Jan van der Post was a 20th Century South African Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and conservationist.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 4, 2021
While titled Journey into Russia, this book is, in reality about the USSR. Van der Post gets to all the counties now independent from Russia - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan & Turkmenistan.
Published in 1964, the journey presumably took place in the few years prior.
Realistically, this should have been a fantastic book. An almost unprecedented access to these places, at that time, van der Post benefited from that brief period where relations between the USSR and America had thawed, and he was extended privileged access which was never repeated under Soviet rule. However, I really battled with this. If found it hard to read, it was dry and at times felt written to justify preconceived ideas - stories or conversations that help show the viewpoint. The narrative felt over-wordy and dense, and for me it was a struggle to carry on reading at times.
Some of the difficulty, I think, is that the author isn't able to get the reader very close to the individual people. He mentioned this in his preface - for their own interests the personal details of many people he talks with are not disclosed. This applies also to guides and interpreters, who accompany him on his whole journey.
Perhaps for me this was not a good time to read this, where maybe my concentration levels and ability to stick at this a bit more are not available. It may be a book I return to have another go at in the future.
For me 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Published in 1964, the journey presumably took place in the few years prior.
Realistically, this should have been a fantastic book. An almost unprecedented access to these places, at that time, van der Post benefited from that brief period where relations between the USSR and America had thawed, and he was extended privileged access which was never repeated under Soviet rule. However, I really battled with this. If found it hard to read, it was dry and at times felt written to justify preconceived ideas - stories or conversations that help show the viewpoint. The narrative felt over-wordy and dense, and for me it was a struggle to carry on reading at times.
Some of the difficulty, I think, is that the author isn't able to get the reader very close to the individual people. He mentioned this in his preface - for their own interests the personal details of many people he talks with are not disclosed. This applies also to guides and interpreters, who accompany him on his whole journey.
Perhaps for me this was not a good time to read this, where maybe my concentration levels and ability to stick at this a bit more are not available. It may be a book I return to have another go at in the future.
For me 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.
October 19, 2022
When Laurenz van der Post visited Russia in the early 1960s (1963? His book was published in 1964), the Cold War dominated international politics. Russia and the United States each saw the other in black and white terms and the fear of nuclear warfare was heightened by the US’ disastrous invasion of Cuba and the subsequent nuclear missile crisis.
His decision to travel to Russia in this political context must have been quite remarkable at the time. It certainly looks that way from today’s perspective, when relationships between Russia and the West are again at a disastrously low point after several decades of apparently easier times.
In his opening chapter, van der Post explains what impelled him to make his very long journey:
‘For years I had been in trouble with the image of Russia presented to us in the outside world. My own life has compelled me to travel much and the process has convinced me that one never really knows another country unless one knows it through the life of the individuals who compose it.’
His itinerary depended on Intourist-approved means of travel and destinations, so he had to make three separate journeys, over several months, to get closest to where he wanted to go. Always accompanied by guides and interpreters, he met leaders of communal farms and factories; writers, poets, artists, academics, scientists and students. He was mightily impressed with great public works like the dams and irrigation schemes of Siberia and the -Stans, remarking only lightly that the levels of the great inland lakes, the Aral Sea and Lake Baikal, were dropping.
His writing is vividly descriptive and his observations wide-ranging. He had read widely before he went to Russia and he draws on Russian literature as well as his own experience when he’s thinking about one of the great questions that preoccupy him throughout – who are the Russian people? How do they live? What is important to them?
He became acutely aware of the limitations imposed by people’s fear of saying things that might not meet official approval, or might be seen as criticisms of Russia – the state, people in power, policy, project performance against plans. People were unwilling to discuss politics in any way, even though the de-Stalinisation program was well underway and Khrushchev was seen to be moving towards the iron grip of Stalin’s rule.
One of his repeating themes is the preference of Russians for the communal rather than the individual, and he links this to the existence of a powerful central authority, which forces change from the top. ‘The Russians have always had such a figure whether called Tsar or Party Secretary,’ he writes. He embeds this in a contentious theory that Russian society resembles what he calls ‘primitive’ African societies, and I won’t expand on that here.
It’s a fascinating book to read, almost as a primary source document now, nearly 60 years after the author’s experience. I imagine it met with a varied reception when it was published and still would, though for very different reasons.
I'm going to keep the second hand copy I found a few months ago and will come back to it.
For more about Van der Post’s life and influence, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurens...
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/bo...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archiv...
His decision to travel to Russia in this political context must have been quite remarkable at the time. It certainly looks that way from today’s perspective, when relationships between Russia and the West are again at a disastrously low point after several decades of apparently easier times.
In his opening chapter, van der Post explains what impelled him to make his very long journey:
‘For years I had been in trouble with the image of Russia presented to us in the outside world. My own life has compelled me to travel much and the process has convinced me that one never really knows another country unless one knows it through the life of the individuals who compose it.’
His itinerary depended on Intourist-approved means of travel and destinations, so he had to make three separate journeys, over several months, to get closest to where he wanted to go. Always accompanied by guides and interpreters, he met leaders of communal farms and factories; writers, poets, artists, academics, scientists and students. He was mightily impressed with great public works like the dams and irrigation schemes of Siberia and the -Stans, remarking only lightly that the levels of the great inland lakes, the Aral Sea and Lake Baikal, were dropping.
His writing is vividly descriptive and his observations wide-ranging. He had read widely before he went to Russia and he draws on Russian literature as well as his own experience when he’s thinking about one of the great questions that preoccupy him throughout – who are the Russian people? How do they live? What is important to them?
He became acutely aware of the limitations imposed by people’s fear of saying things that might not meet official approval, or might be seen as criticisms of Russia – the state, people in power, policy, project performance against plans. People were unwilling to discuss politics in any way, even though the de-Stalinisation program was well underway and Khrushchev was seen to be moving towards the iron grip of Stalin’s rule.
One of his repeating themes is the preference of Russians for the communal rather than the individual, and he links this to the existence of a powerful central authority, which forces change from the top. ‘The Russians have always had such a figure whether called Tsar or Party Secretary,’ he writes. He embeds this in a contentious theory that Russian society resembles what he calls ‘primitive’ African societies, and I won’t expand on that here.
It’s a fascinating book to read, almost as a primary source document now, nearly 60 years after the author’s experience. I imagine it met with a varied reception when it was published and still would, though for very different reasons.
I'm going to keep the second hand copy I found a few months ago and will come back to it.
For more about Van der Post’s life and influence, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurens...
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/bo...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archiv...
January 3, 2020
Sometimes one has to read bad books. This is one of those. Unfortunately, however, it is from one of my favourite genres - travel. This book is a great mirror to the deep and unshakable anti-Soviet, Communist prejudice of the time and the power and persuasiveness of American exceptionalism. The author throughout his journey into the great lands of the Soviet Union has little purpose other than bashing their collectivism. He asserts continuously that in the Soviet world, the spirit of individualism is dead. He believes apparently that there is little passion or love for life in Russian culture and history itself. It is simply these thoughts that fill the book as it treks through Siberia, Caucasus, and even in the plateaus and mountains of Central Asia. I was left stunned by his absolute oblivion of the Timurid and Persianate civilisation in Samarkand and Bukhara. Thank god the book is over.
March 30, 2016
Laurens van der Post ‘Journey into Russia’
Last year I read John Steinbeck’s ‘A Russian Journal’ (with photos of Robert Capa) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A journey through Russia soon after World War two and at the brink of the cold war. Fifteen years later, beginning of the 1960’s, Laurens van de Post makes a similar journey at the height of that same cold war.
Both trips being stickily controlled by Russian officials and a lot of propaganda, both authors being independent enough to make it an interesting read even so, and even now, fifty and sixty years later.
In style of writing, in way of describing in way of presenting the facts Van der Post’s approach is often outdated. By far the most interesting part of his story is when he interviews others and tells us their story (or tells his own story through others) in any case it works much better and immediately becomes a more pleasant read, showing us the big tales of history in the small personal accounts of individual life’s.
In this review I would like to look into the chapters about Tbilisi (chapter 6) and about Kiev (chapter 12) a little further because I visited these cities several times over the last few years and hope to visit Tbilisi (in combination with Yerevan and the Caucasus) again this spring.
Tbilisi
Already in the 1960’s – and probably long before – a city with a Mediterranean mood with people walking up and down the pavement on long and warm summer evenings, talking, arguing, teasing, quarrelling eating and drinking, shall we call it enjoying life?
The Mediterranean atmosphere is also agreeably plain in the buildings and the city itself, especially in the old city, existing of houses with tiled roofs, terraces and balconies, an elegant city individually motivated and varied. Churches, synagogue and mosque standing next to each other for many centuries. In 2014 I even learned that Georgia is the only country were followers of the Sunni and Shi’a Islam pray together in the same mosque.
In the 1960’s sheep are grazing in the precincts of the Cathedral of Mtzkhet (capital of Georgia until the fifth century) in 2014 the Cathedral was not only restored but also in service again and even on week days very popular.
In the 1960’s the Stalin museum in Gori was already out of grace and favour. As it was still in 2014 only visited by a couple of tourists. In one of the vitrines in the museum I could admire the red wooden shoes given to Stalin by the Dutch communist party (CPN) Being critical about the Stalin period is still difficult. Only after asking they opened a special section of the museum (in the basement!) about the gulags and dark sides of that area, speaking about it or asking questions was still not done. Speaking about this in the streets, cafes and public transport was a lot easier. On the bus back to Tbilisi I had a very interesting discussion with journalist and law student Rashia about Stalin and the Montesquieu and if the teachings of enlightenment should be able to prevent a dictator like Stalin. With the best intentions at heart and sharing a coffee, sweets and fruit on the bus we soon agreed, forgetting all about a guy named Hitler. Ever since I wonder how the highest cultures (France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan) often also bring about the darkest nights for mankind.
Meanwhile Laurens van der Post is giving a ten page long expose about farming, food, wine and vodka leading us – at least me – nowhere I am afraid.
Nothing about the magnificent mountains of the Caucasus, the beautiful churches and museums of Tbilisi still more nothing about the art of Pirosmani, perhaps all closed, under restoration or still Degenerate art or Entartete Kunst at that time. Nothing about the friendly Mtatsmindapark ore the funicular (cable train) leading us there. Not even about the Anchishati church and its beautiful choir, ore the marionette theatre next door.
So better not visit Tbilisi on an organized (Intourist ;-) tour, but make a personal visit with a home stay to the friendly warm and lively city that it is now a days.
For some snapshots of Georgia/ Tbilisi https://plus.google.com/photos/110700...
For a short travel story about Georgia https://www.nederland-schrijft.nl/ver... only in Dutch I am afraid ;-)
Kiev
Reading the chapter about Kiev I realised how little and at the same time how much has changed in that city over the last fifty years. I will compare the experience of Laurens van der Post in 1964 with my own experience in 2014/15.
Kiev, once the capital of Russia, is ‘an attempt to do the impossible’ is Laurens van der Post’s conclusion, perhaps throughout its history, but most certainly today. Today we only have to look at the difficult economic, political, social and military problems the country faces to see how true this still is.
Then he describes the city exactly as I learned to know it. Nothing is small about this city, the streets in the centre are wide and generous often having lanes with lime, poplar, chestnut or locust trees and gardens in the middle. Some of that atmosphere I tried to capture in the photo series Kiev fronts. https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/10...
The space and fresh air Van der Post noticed are mostly taken over by cars nowadays. The government that can ban the cars out of the city centre and restore the fronts of the buildings, for sure creates one of the most beautiful town centres of Europe.
The great cathedral of Sophia, each wall, ceiling and pillar a vivid and crowded Byzantine mural, beautiful restored by the soviets. In the 1960’s crowded with ‘art and history lovers’(?) fifty years later the place is just as crowded but now by ‘worshippers and believers’ (?) or is there perhaps not so much difference between the two groups?
Then there is the Pecherskaya Monastery, with the eleventh century mosaics, the Andreyev church in Renaissance style still very well worth a visit – I had the pleasure of witnessing both a wedding and a baptising there - and giving Kiev an atmosphere few cities poses. Not to speak of the beautiful hills and views a long side the Dnieper.
On the east bank of the river Van der Post sees the beginning of its industrial development, in fact he sees this development throughout the Donbas – now the east of Ukraine – and believes the Russians can easily become the greatest single industrial power on earth. Less than fifty years later this development is completely stuck in an old and inefficient industry, a burden instead of a tribute to the country, and the Donbas ruined after years of (civil?) war.
In his enthusiasm about the Russian industry we also see Van der Post’s weak spot, not always able to value the information – or is it propaganda – he gets offered. Later when he visits Siberia he tells us without much hesitation that Siberia can easily provide for the world demand of coal, gas and minerals for at least the next two hundred years.
Van der Post notices how different Ukraine is within the USSR, with its own language, literature, art, music, to some extend the basis of the greater Russian culture, instead of the other way around. At the same time showing how difficult a process it will be – if ever possible – to divide the two.
In a few words he sketches the rivalry between Ukraine and Russia. The population of Ukraine suffered greatly under the Stalin regime, as a reaction to that large numbers welcoming the German armies in the 1940’s which again led to a harsh reaction by the Russians after 1945. Historical events that still play an important role as part of the background of the Russian backed civil (?) war in Ukraine today.
Laurens van der Post notices that nowhere in Ukraine (as in Russia) he sees war graves, only stereotyped ‘Eternal-Flame’ war-memorials. Showing the difference between anonymous deaths in their impersonal graves, who are impressive as a symbol, and the vast remainders of single, known and loved persons, how’s ghosts hunt us in our sleep.
Fortunately the victims of the Maidan protest movement and the resent war in the east of Ukraine are remembered with photos, names and dates of birth at the Maidan square in Kiev. An endless row of mostly young men, in their early twenties, still getting longer and longer every day.
Van der Post gives us a nice example of ‘soviet spirit’ – collective versus individual thinking when the writer Gorky asks his college Paustovsky to join in a writers collective. ‘As impossible as three people playing one violin’ is Paustovsky’s answer. Exit Gorky, ones the standard bearer of communism. In another review I use a similar example but then between Gorky and Chekhov. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Were in my opinion Chekhov and Paustovsky are still well read, the standard bearer of communism is except for some street names almost forgotten.
The last page of the chapter are about the widely spread benefits of a Dacha or country house and how deeply the Russian soul is connected to country life, nature, fishing and hunting. Nowadays we all know the photos of president Poetin posing on horseback or with guns and fishing rod ;-)
For some snapshots of Kiev https://plus.google.com/photos/110700...
In many ways an interesting read giving us a good image of what was possible – and what was not – when traveling through Russia at the height of the cold war.
Encore
As a Dutch guy I certainly don’t want you to skip the last chapter of this book, called ‘A tale of three cities’ three cities being Riga, Leningrad and Moscow. Perhaps the best chapter of the book.
In which Van der Post compares his view of the city of Riga with Vermeer’s painting ‘View of Delft’ (Gezicht op Delft) ‘as tranquil and translucent as any of Vermeer’s views of Delft’ Well as far as known Vermeer only painted one ‘View of Delft’ one of my favourites too and I love to check-out how Riga compares to this painting and vice versa how Vermeer’s painting resembles Riga.
Further on in this chapter Van der Post tries to describe the abyss between vision and behaviour of the Tsars of Russia whether old and of noble birth or communist dictators (or even nowadays autocrats like Poetin).
Van der Post: ‘Repeatedly one asks oneself how it was possible for so few people to have had so much at the expense of the many for so long? The answer seems all the more remote when one sees in the paintings of Rembrandt, which the Russian rules collected and cherished, a vision of life where beauty is not just an apprehension of the senses but a trumpet call to translate and transfigure art into human behaviour. Why did they not heed these and similar calls?
Leading me back to the still unanswered question where I started out with; ‘how the highest cultures (France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan) often also bring about the darkest nights for mankind’
I am afraid my quest for that answer will take a little more than the page of this book.
June 20, 2011
This is not an unusual account. Plenty of journalists traveled through Russia in the last turbulent years, but far less did it when it was still known as Soviet Union. And even less went to USSR in the Sixties.
Laurens van der Post did it. And this account is worth a reading although it takes several pages before getting into the right climax.
On the whole, van der Post's own experience from the Urals to Siberia passing through the Caucasus has a limit which is accidentally also its strength: it's a strongly controlled trip.
Mr van der Post had to cope with the Soviet authorities who decided where he was allowed to go, what he could see and whom could speak with him. And yet, despite the tons and tons of facts and figures regarding the impressive (and fake) achievements of the Russian industry and agriculture at that time, we have a lot of good and interesting pages about how life went on in places like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Siberia.
On the whole it's the times in which van der Post chose to be more spontaneous the best moments of this journey and not the ones in which he tried to draw political meanings or economic predictions. The work van der Post did in portraying the cities he visited trying to look beyond the red veil of Soviet efficiency is excellent while I'm a bit disappointed by the way he forgot to mention a couple of evil things regarding the way the Russian regime treated Ukraine.
But, well, I suppose it was not that easy getting first hand information that were reliable at that time and in those places.
A little note regarding Intourist. Van der Post is the first journalist I ever read that makes the guys working for this once infamous organization funny, curious and caring (with a few exceptions) while most of the times they were portrayed as little selfish tyrants by foreign travellers.
Laurens van der Post did it. And this account is worth a reading although it takes several pages before getting into the right climax.
On the whole, van der Post's own experience from the Urals to Siberia passing through the Caucasus has a limit which is accidentally also its strength: it's a strongly controlled trip.
Mr van der Post had to cope with the Soviet authorities who decided where he was allowed to go, what he could see and whom could speak with him. And yet, despite the tons and tons of facts and figures regarding the impressive (and fake) achievements of the Russian industry and agriculture at that time, we have a lot of good and interesting pages about how life went on in places like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Siberia.
On the whole it's the times in which van der Post chose to be more spontaneous the best moments of this journey and not the ones in which he tried to draw political meanings or economic predictions. The work van der Post did in portraying the cities he visited trying to look beyond the red veil of Soviet efficiency is excellent while I'm a bit disappointed by the way he forgot to mention a couple of evil things regarding the way the Russian regime treated Ukraine.
But, well, I suppose it was not that easy getting first hand information that were reliable at that time and in those places.
A little note regarding Intourist. Van der Post is the first journalist I ever read that makes the guys working for this once infamous organization funny, curious and caring (with a few exceptions) while most of the times they were portrayed as little selfish tyrants by foreign travellers.
February 2, 2020
I read this book in conjunction with The Golden Horde, which was written about thirty years later, and have written about them together in a blog post at Back in the USSR | Khanya.
July 9, 2021
Set in the early 1960s, Laurens Van der Post undertook one of the longest journeys through the former Soviet Union with the aim of understanding the heart of the Russian soul. A beautiful description of both the endless and varied landscape of Russia, its progressive mission and the people he met, he manages to bring you there. I was only sorry the journey had to come to an end.
August 2, 2015
Captivating
September 15, 2025
It is an interesting enough travelogue about a trip to the USSR (here mistakenly called "Russia." The country Van der Post travelled to at the time consisted of about fifteen different countries, all of them now independent. Russia was the largest one, and I suppose the communists had taken its name for their own use, in a way. Van der Post travelled to what is now Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and so on).
It is, unfortunately, a rather comical read for anyone with knowledge of real life in the USSR. Many of the things that confused the author could easily be explained by, you guessed it, fear and the constant presence of a KGB agent whenever a foreign person was involved. This begins on page three, where the author meets three Soviet writers at a conference in Germany. They seem never to separate for some reason. The author hints that they were fond of collectivism. In fact, it was strictly forbidden for Soviet people to separate from the group during foreign trips, because there was always a KGB agent who followed the group members, noting whom they spoke to and what they said. I believe two of the people present could have been actual writers. The third was most likely their "curator," as such agents were called. When the author asked them why Soviet literature seemed so cartoonish and full of communist slogans, the poor writers had no other choice but to confirm that Russian people did indeed speak and think in communist slogans in real life, and that Soviet literature was accurate in this regard. What else were they to say to a foreigner, who risked nothing by talking to them, when they, in return, risked their careers and any chance of ever visiting another conference if they answered incorrectly?
Van der Post is charmingly old-school and naive, but also condescending and colonial in this book. He went to the USSR in search of nativity and some fantastic collective hive mind, in search of an exotic communist people who reminded him of “primitive African tribes”. What he actually found were people trying to get by. He mistook survival for consent and pre-approved scripts and false enthusiasm for real words.
That being said, the book is interesting, because in a sense, it is kind of a thriller where a reader has to decipher the true meaning of the things that the author sees. Imagine a world of Orwell 1984, described by a well-meaning alien who risks nothing travelling there, and who is shown around with the help of the local authorities
It is, unfortunately, a rather comical read for anyone with knowledge of real life in the USSR. Many of the things that confused the author could easily be explained by, you guessed it, fear and the constant presence of a KGB agent whenever a foreign person was involved. This begins on page three, where the author meets three Soviet writers at a conference in Germany. They seem never to separate for some reason. The author hints that they were fond of collectivism. In fact, it was strictly forbidden for Soviet people to separate from the group during foreign trips, because there was always a KGB agent who followed the group members, noting whom they spoke to and what they said. I believe two of the people present could have been actual writers. The third was most likely their "curator," as such agents were called. When the author asked them why Soviet literature seemed so cartoonish and full of communist slogans, the poor writers had no other choice but to confirm that Russian people did indeed speak and think in communist slogans in real life, and that Soviet literature was accurate in this regard. What else were they to say to a foreigner, who risked nothing by talking to them, when they, in return, risked their careers and any chance of ever visiting another conference if they answered incorrectly?
Van der Post is charmingly old-school and naive, but also condescending and colonial in this book. He went to the USSR in search of nativity and some fantastic collective hive mind, in search of an exotic communist people who reminded him of “primitive African tribes”. What he actually found were people trying to get by. He mistook survival for consent and pre-approved scripts and false enthusiasm for real words.
That being said, the book is interesting, because in a sense, it is kind of a thriller where a reader has to decipher the true meaning of the things that the author sees. Imagine a world of Orwell 1984, described by a well-meaning alien who risks nothing travelling there, and who is shown around with the help of the local authorities
January 4, 2024
It seemed to me that though he travelled far and wide in the USSR, not just Russia as the book's title would suggest, the author seemed to have a pre-existing opinion which he attempted to shore up. Criticising the Soviets for putting 80,000 dead into a mass grave during WWII seemed petty, especially when he was complaining that there were no singular messages on the wreaths which would typically occur in the US for example. I venture to say that the US has never known death at that scale and hopefully never will. I think much of the book was centred on criticism of the collectivism of the time and is typical of other Cold War accounts.
We all want to find a way to fit the facts into our ideology, but I think his anti-communist fervour overpowered his travelogue intentions. He had previously written a very successful novel, Flamingo Feather in 1955, which was a novel about a Soviet plot to take over South Africa and this was reprinted right up till the collapse of the Soviet Union. His friendship with Maggie Thatcher was well known and he's Prince William's godfather! despite having impregnated a 14 year old who had been entrusted to his care by her parents while travelling by ship from South Africa to London. He abandoned her at the end of the journey but paid a yearly stipend, to keep it out of the news presumably, but she came forward after his death to confirm that he was in fact her father and revealing his having spent time with her occasionally over the years, once in tears. All of this is by the by in terms of the book, but interesting nonetheless.
So although I was interested in the far off parts of the USSR that few people have documented I can't say I 'enjoyed' the book in the sense of it being a fun read.
We all want to find a way to fit the facts into our ideology, but I think his anti-communist fervour overpowered his travelogue intentions. He had previously written a very successful novel, Flamingo Feather in 1955, which was a novel about a Soviet plot to take over South Africa and this was reprinted right up till the collapse of the Soviet Union. His friendship with Maggie Thatcher was well known and he's Prince William's godfather! despite having impregnated a 14 year old who had been entrusted to his care by her parents while travelling by ship from South Africa to London. He abandoned her at the end of the journey but paid a yearly stipend, to keep it out of the news presumably, but she came forward after his death to confirm that he was in fact her father and revealing his having spent time with her occasionally over the years, once in tears. All of this is by the by in terms of the book, but interesting nonetheless.
So although I was interested in the far off parts of the USSR that few people have documented I can't say I 'enjoyed' the book in the sense of it being a fun read.
November 23, 2020
Just a travelogue. The author is competent and a smart observer with great communication skills, though the subject of what's going on behind the iron curtain is really quite tedious, and he's not at his best. The restrictions that came with this trip clipped the author's wings, with limited chance for serendipity and seemingly spending too much time in cities and towns. I gave up half way through after getting fed up with his repetitive views on communism and limited comparison with what he knew, and 'the Russian character'. Of its time, and perhaps a good read for someone studying Russia of that period.
July 10, 2024
I didn’t even finish this got like half way thru it was just so annoying to read!! I was never not confused I ended up skimming thru it basically all the way coz even if I focus in I didn’t understand what was happening. He makes his sentacnes so try hard elequent and Boujee it’s so annoying it’s giving “biquivelling beguiling” lmao ykwim anyways I just hated how he freaking wrote it. I’m so into Russia and was excited coz I randomly picked this up 3 years ago at salvos but yeah idk maybe I’m just too young and stupid I just wish it was written differently like there’s no need for all this nonsense
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June 25, 2021A beautiful account of a difficult journey through Soviet Russia during the 1960s. A thoughtful reflection, showing the conflict between the vision of the state and the diversity of its people. There is much to learn from reading this book - as much as from what is not said as what is. If only we could have the same journey and perspective almost 60 years on.
April 26, 2024
Just finished this, what to say, maybe I'm reading it in the wrong decade, and after i visited Russia few times and lived there, so i met ppl and discovered some places, and its bit different then described in book, but times are different now no more Communism no more Soviet Union, and Russia is modern country... Anyway this book found me some decades too late
July 2, 2019
Totally fascinating and beautifully written. I have been to Russia recently a few times, but to hear it described as it was in the 1960s is a rare treat.
November 28, 2019
Well-written and interesting. I enjoyed the travelogue part of it, but slogged through the conjecture.
June 2, 2023
Interesting travel impression with insight on the Russian character & further view on the Khrushchev era.
Thoughts on the then industrial transition and it's impact on the Russian soul.
Thoughts on the then industrial transition and it's impact on the Russian soul.
December 24, 2009
This is the log of Van Der Post who traveled to Russia shortly after the Cold War. He notes in the beginning that as a Brit, he's heard so much anti-Russian sentiment that he wanted to travel and meet the people first before making his own conclusions.
So, this book is from the point of view of a foreigner.
It can get a little pretentious at times, but I feel was ultimately well-meaning. He tells stories of students he's met, discussions he had on planes and how oppressed he felt being in an extremely controlled environment. He is determined throughout the book to find the individual behind the people, and is constantly off-putted by the "oneness" everyone regards themselves with everyone else.
I found it to be insightful in its own way, mostly in the extent of culture-shock and maybe how Russians felt about Americans back then. It is not an exciting book, and I skipped many parts where he talks about economy but I think is well worth reading if you're interested in the subject.
There are probably better books about Russian culture though. Still, I found it enjoyable.
So, this book is from the point of view of a foreigner.
It can get a little pretentious at times, but I feel was ultimately well-meaning. He tells stories of students he's met, discussions he had on planes and how oppressed he felt being in an extremely controlled environment. He is determined throughout the book to find the individual behind the people, and is constantly off-putted by the "oneness" everyone regards themselves with everyone else.
I found it to be insightful in its own way, mostly in the extent of culture-shock and maybe how Russians felt about Americans back then. It is not an exciting book, and I skipped many parts where he talks about economy but I think is well worth reading if you're interested in the subject.
There are probably better books about Russian culture though. Still, I found it enjoyable.
June 7, 2011
Fantastic story of mid century Russia - made me want to travel there (but how to go back to the 40's ?)
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