Entre rusos

by Colin Thubron

Uno de los grandes sueños de Colin Thubron era viajar libremente por el inmenso territorio de la hoy extinguida Unión Soviética. Así, aprendió ruso y entró en el país en un vetusto Morris Marina con el que recorrió más de quince mil kilómetros entre el Báltico y el Cáucaso. A su paso por los centros urbanos de Leningrado, Moscú o Kiev fue conociendo a personajes tan variopintos como aquellos que salían a su encuentro en las recóndidas aldeas de las blancas estepas del norte.

Genres: Travel, Russia, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Travelogue, Memoir

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Colin Thubron, CBE FRSL is a Man Booker nominated British travel writer and novelist.

In 2008, The Times ranked him 45th on their list of the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, as of 2010, President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was born in the USSR in 1984 and left post-Soviet Russia in 1995 for the US.

17 years later, I read this travelogue and had mixed feelings about it because although Thubron is a great descriptive writer, his interpretation of the Soviet Union of the 1980s is somewhat simplistic and firmly rooted in Cold War-era British biases.

The name, "Among the Russians" (likely chosen to move units on the shelves) is a misnomer since he spends half his time in the Soviet republics with Belorussians, Estonians, Latvians, Georgians, Armenians, and Ukrainians. The republics had a historically strained relationship with Russia and by 1991 they seceded and became independent countries. Each of Thubron's experiences in the republics was thus unique and he could have depicted a less monolithic USSR in his essays - Soviet Georgia and Soviet Estonia are dissimilar places and he could have spent more time discussing the tensions between the republics and Russia with his interview subjects during his travels.

Throughout the book, Thubron does not hide his disapproval for the Soviet system and almost enjoys portraying the misery of the common people while dismissing anyone who appears happy or satisfied as delusional or crooked. This black-and-white approach takes away from the complex subject that is the Soviet Union. He should go back to Putin's Russia and comment on the Russian society now that the Soviet overhang has been replaced with the parasitic traits of Western capitalism.

Towards the end of the book, Thubron gets more comfortable as he goes to Georgia, Armenia, and the Ukraine, and connects better with the characters along the way. One of them aptly captures the transience of travel: "you and I...like two people meeting in outer space." Thubron gets three stars, and a break from me, since he likely felt he ventured to outer space back in 1983.

QUOTE OF THE BOOK

"It seemed as if everything which people considered important - beliefs, systems, ideals - were fatally divisive, and that the miracle of human unity was performed instead by pop songs."

Don't underestimate the power of pop music, Colin

[Jan-Maat]

An OK travel book that in hindsight is less about the Russians and more a set of postcards of life in the late Soviet Union.

Thubron managed to travel individually as a one-man group. He drove a fair part of his journey and was able to stay at camp-sites, occasionally he took internal flights. What struck him was the size of the country, alien to anyone from Western Europe and the sameness of material life that gave the country a strong feeling of blandness and an irrepressible desire on the part of locals to buy his jeans or admire the interior of his Morris Minor.

Really this is more of historical interest now, not so much because of changes in Russian life so much as the country is much more open (potentially) to foreign visitors. Thubron was much more limited in the places that he was able to go and the routes that he was able to travel by than a contemporary traveller need be and perhaps that contributes to the melancholy tone of wandering around concrete tower blocks and dismal zoos full of masturbating monkeys, I think he almost liked Estonia, but maybe I am misremembering. He meets a Russian woman blissfully happy under the spiritual guidance of a Hindu sage (presumably via correspondence), Thubron doesn't much care for that either as it smacks of pure escapism!

[Деница Райкова]

Колин Таброн - "Сред руснаците", изд. "Вакон" 2017, прев. Маргарит Дамянов

Снощи започнах да чета "Сред руснаците" от Колин Таброн. Чела съм всички негови книги, които са издадени в България, без "Йерусалим", която чака ред.
Таброн е автор, когото открих случайно, а след това изчетох за късо време всичко, което намерих. Книгите му са определяни като пътеписи, но те са много повече от описание на местата, които посещава. А тези места са все интересни - Тибет, страните от "Пътя на коприната", Йерусалим, Сирия /една от последните му издадени у нас книги е "Огледалото на Дамаск"/, Сибир.Места, недостъпни за обикновения турист.
Споменавала съм преди, че начинът на писане на Таброн ме дразни. Поне за мен, стилът му не е точно това, което би нарекла "увлекателен". А и в повечето му книги долавях една снизходителност, пренебрежение, да не кажа презрение, към "местните".
Затова и доста се чудих за "Сред руснаците". Накрая реших да я прочета.
И... тя се оказа приятна изненада.
През 80-те години на 20 в. Таброн предприема пътуване из Съветския съюз. Беларус, Москва, Ленинград, Балтийско море Кавказ, Армения, на запад към Черно море, Киев. Не като част от група. Сам. И "натоварен" с всички насаждани представи и предразсъдъци относно руснаците.
Та, думата ми беше, че се изненадах. Защото дотук, след 45 прочетени страници, нито веднъж не усетих това дразнещо отношение, за което споменах по-горе. Напротив, долових съчувствие. Дори симпатия. И едно... не знам как да го нарека. Разбиране? Осъзнаване? Просветление? Може би по малко от всички тези неща, защото:
"Само ако бях начело на Политбюро, а ти да беше президент на Америка - усмихна се тъжно той, - веднага щяхме да подпишем вечен мир и щяхме заедно за гъби! /думи на един от хората, с които се запознава в Беларус./ И "просветлението" на Таброн:
"Никога повече не поставих знак на равенство между руската система и руския народ".
Имам да извървя още път с тази книга. И мисля, че ще бъде интересен... и поучителен.

.......................................................................................................................
Четири дни по-късно книгата е вече прочетена и, вместо да пиша нов отзив, допълвам вече написания. Допълвам го по един може би нетрадиционен начин, но така ми идва отвътре.
Първо да кажа, че когато чета, по принцип рядко вадя цитати. по-скоро се старая да запомням моментите, които са ме впечатлили, и почти винаги, сядайки да пиша за съответната книга, успявам да ги намеря отново.
И тук не преписвах. Но сега, когато затварям "Сред руснаците", между страниците й стърчат бели листчета, с които отбелязвах цитати, които исках да запомня. Цитати на разнородни теми - политика, обичаи, душевност, лични разбирания /на автора и на хората, с които се среща./
Да, именно: хората, с които се среща. Защото Таброн не е "традиционен" турист, дошъл да види само онова, което предлагат екскурзоводите и пътеводителите. Той пристига "въоръжен" с адреси - на приятели на свои приятели, на инакомислещи хора, на дисиденти. И наистина прави усилие да отхвърли собствените си предразсъдъци.
Още в първите страници има един такъв момент, в който един от неговите съебседници се опитва да го приобщи, разказвайки му за нещо явно типично руско - честно казано, бях изненадана, че на подобно нещо може да се гледа като на ритуал, но явно е възможно. А именно... ходенето за гъби.

"- Ходенето за гъби... Ще ми се да мога да ви го обясня - лицето на Володя се озари от онова смътно национално вълнение. - Ето какво е. Отиваш в гората и инстинктивно усещаш дали условията са подходящи за тях. Можеш да го почувстваш. Обзема те странна тръпка. Може би тревата е израснала с подходящата гъстота - или пък слънчевата светлина е точно колкото трябва. Можеш дори да ги помиришеш. Просто знаеш, че тук ще има гъби - изговаряше думата "гъби" със свещенически шепот, - и затова тръгваш напред към сенките - или може би в някоя тясна просека - и ето ги и тях, под брезите! - Протегна ръка насред крехката абстракция и откъсна нещо невидимо от въздуха. - Помирисвали ли сте някога гъба? Отровните имат горчива миризма - но ядливите - никога няма да забравите този аромат!"

Признавам, че това е един от любимите ми моменти в книгата. защото от предишните книги на Таброн се бях наситила на надменността му, на снизходителното му отношение към страните и народите, за които пише, на предразсъдъците му, които в тази книга и самият той не отрича. За мен това беше може би най-човешкият момент в тази книга, защото е един от малкото, в които няма противопоставяне на постижения и величие. Просто един обикновен руски /по-това време всъщност все още съветски/ човек говори просто и искрено за това, което обича. Което не е нито Партията или "системата", нито някакво измислено величие... а нещо, родено от природата. Може би е злорадо от моя страна, но си представих смущението на англичанина, дошъл с всичките си представи за "войнствения руснак".
Друг момент, който отбелязах, беше от главата, посветена на Армения, описание на нещо, което всъщност си е чисто жертвоприношение. И което един български читател вероятно би приел, без да се впечатли, но за англичанина е потресаващо:

" - Това се случва непрекъснато - каза Манук. - Сигурно искат дете или пък повече успех в бизнеса. Затова принасят в жертва овца.
За него всичко беше нормално и беше озадачен от въпросите ми. Нямаше нищо неразбираемо: сделка, сключена с Господ. А господ беше арменец".

Цитатите станаха много, но не мога да отмина и това, което ще публикувам по-долу. Не мога да го отмина най-вече защото за мен, както и за поколението между 1946-а и 1989-а то звучи ужасно познато, А за един англичанин то е било неразбираемо - и се питам дали всъщност въпросът не е там, че човек не може да проумее подобни неща, а че не иска, че отказва да ги проумее.

"Изглежда, според съветските власти авангардната книга или картина притежава ужасяващи разрушителни сили. Може би е така. Страхът от една абстрактна картина, която може да освободи разбирането за свят, който не е толкова прост, колкото изглежда, е всъщност страхът, че превъзходството може да се прехвърли от колективното към частното възприятие. И щом това пътуване започне, вече няма да има връщане към племенната невинност".

А аз бих добавила: и защото посланието, което една абстрактна картина или една "западна" песен предава, е по-кратко и поради това - по-ясно от това на една пропагандна книга или дори един лозунг. И защото идва момент, в който всичко в който и да е вид изкуство, което е дори с прашинка по-различно от налаганото - пък било то дори и само едно чуждоземски звучащо име - вече носи полъх на освободеност.
Стресна ме описанието на детските ясли и градини. Няма да го цитирам, тъй като е прекалено дълго, но ще отбележа все пак това - "... двугодишното момиченце... беше отглеждано при режим, който цели - според наръчника на съветския учител - "да формира убеден колективист".
На двегодишна възраст.
Преди да може да каже без запъване името си.
А най-страшното е, че това също е нещо, което не звучи непознато за българския читател.
Може би има значение и това, че четох тази книга почти веднага след "Чернобилска молитва" на Светлана Алексиевич. Може би. Но "Сред руснаците" ме потисна и натъжи. И все пак - прочетете я. "Сред руснаците" има надъхани, има и войнствени, но успокояващото е че все пак още има и от онези, които помнят простичките удоволствия... като например това да отидеш в гората за гъби.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this author sounds like he swallowed a thesaurus, but overall, this was a well-formed and kind of poetic travelogue. The title is misleading. He was actually not only traveling through the Russia in 1980, but also through the Soviet states of Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. Summary: Really great travelogue, but I didn't want to hear about his personal political opinions because it sounded like he'd just start in on people and it seemed pretty rude.

I took off one star because I didn't like his political proselytizing. Every time he talked to someone about politics, it sounded less like he was having a thoughtful political discussion about the differences between Soviet-era Communism and Western-style capitalism, and more like he was lecturing some naughty children. A British guy? Moralizing about another country's economic choices? During the Thatcher era? I don't think so. I realize his attitudes are mostly the product of his generation (Thurbron was born in 1936), and I'm not old enough to give two hoots about the Cold War, but he knew exactly where he was going and when and he had been there before, so his moralizing seems disingenuous, and I don't think he understood that some of what he had to say that was critical was kind of hurtful to the people he was saying it to. Like. Mind your own business, dude. Also, Thurbron is British. I love the Brits and all, but his country's track record is not the best. Seriously. If you don't like the government, why are you there?

Anyway. I digress. This is a really interesting look at the USSR in 1980. This is a part of the world that I don't think most Americans, even today, know much about, and it's interesting to read it because it's kind of like a time capsule from 30 years ago. So, it's overall very interesting, but rather dated.

Side note: I want to go to St. Petersburg. And Sochi. Like right now.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thubron has a way of writing that few others can match, let alone the average travel writer. His knowledge of his subject is so thorough it would make a guidebook blush, but he expresses it in the most accessible way you feel like you are learning the history of Russia without ever feeling you are getting a history lesson. His writing is as incredible as his journey: a trip through Breshnev's pre-Glasnost USSR in a British car. He gets drunk with dissidents and the agents that the KGB sets on his tail, and zig-zags across this once great country, from Ukraine up to the Baltics, and back down to the Caucuses. He spends so much time in the SSRs that it seems that "Among the Russians" is a misnomer. But despite the title, Thubron is acutely aware of the differences between Russians and the people of its republics. Being tall and speaking bad Russian he is often misidentified as an Estonian, an alter-ego he uses to his advantage.

[Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this book than it wound up delivering. Thubron drove a British Morris car across a huge area of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, staying in campgrounds and the occasional hotel, and meeting people. Stylistically Thubron's writing was hard for me to enjoy at times; it seemed so detached, and even his meetings with dissidents, arranged through mutual friends, come off (to me) as repetitive and uninteresting. Perhaps he's reflected the general malaise of the USSR a decade before its collapse, I can't say. If you want something more lively, try out Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar", which recounts a train journey across the USSR in the early 1970's.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

This opens up with some really beautiful writing, and we are treated to our fair share of that in here. Thubron undertook this journey back in the early 80s and so his version of Russia was in the shape of the Soviet Union and through the harsh lens of Communism 82. The Russia Thubron meets was very much a country in all sorts of trouble at home and abroad, the whole communist system was in steep decline, the Soviets were embroiled in a doomed, futile conflict in Afghanistan and the nation was led by a succession of decrepit and out of touch leaders who appeared to be running out of ideas.

“Sometimes I am grateful to have been born in Russia,’ she said. ‘If I’d lived in a better society I’d have believed myself free. I would never have discovered the reality inside me. But instead I was born into this hell, and was forced to discover my own peace. Perhaps, in the end, we’re lucky here…’”

He does a wonderful job of conjuring up vivid images of the vast and mysterious land’s rich and eventful history, tales of conquering armies, arbitrary and wide scale slaughter as well as the paranoia which always seems to hover somewhere in the background of almost every occasion or conversation.

Part Grimm’s fairy-tale, part Brutalist nightmare, you get the impression that Thubron doesn’t suffer fools gladly and you certainly can’t accuse him of sentimentality or of romanticising the people or places he comes across. Other times he confronts an unforgiving and unrelenting landscape which chewed up the armies of Napoleon and Hitler.

Thubron forever encounters locals desperate for Levis and cassette tapes of Western music or anything else vaguely Western to be sold for huge mark-up on the black market. We also get a feel for the huge diversity and vast cultural political shifts within each region (most of which would later go on to become independent nations).

The way he opens up chapters and his ability to set scenes furnishing with gorgeous language and beautiful detail is really to enjoy a writer at the height of his powers. At times the standard of writing in here is simply put as good as any I’ve read in the travel memoir genre.

“‘It’s coarse stuff,’ he said. ‘I don’t like the taste, I like the oblivion.”

Cold both in climate and atmosphere ghosts of Stalin’s tyranny and the Romanovs also occasionally surface too, whether in architectural or psychologically forms their impression is strong and never quite dissipates and is evident in many of the people and places he encounters. The man is clearly on familiar terms with his dictionary too, I learned all sorts of words, such as machicolation, ormolued, lorgnette and tepidarium after coming across them in here too. This is high-end travel writing and a great introduction to Thubron’s work.

[Jeff Bursey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine travel book, mixed with history and political/sociological evaluations, of the ussr in 1981-1982 (I'm guessing, as it came out in 1983). Recommended for its language and for seeing what situations Thubron gets into and who he meets.

His car is quite popular (it's an english make). In riga, he says, "latvians joke that these tourist ghettoes [i.e, a new hotel] are made of sixty per cent glass, thirty per cent ferro-concrete and ten per cent microphones." His own run-ins with professional informers and the KGB are just a couple of the incidents he relates. After reading a few books by him I wondered how he could put up with some of the things that he hears, and it's a pleasure to hear Thubron confess to losing his patience a couple of times.

His travels take in the baltic nations (as we now know them), and georgia and armenia, as well as cities along the black sea and in ukraine. Useful to contemplate his view of the people and places 40 years later.

[Vinayak Hegde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colin Thubron mostly drives (and sometimes takes flights) through Russian and the former Russian Republics that have since become independent (such as Georgia and Armenia in the Caucasus regions and Latvia and Estonia in the Baltics). This journey was done in the early 1980s so it is interesting to see and hear from him about how people lived and perceived Imperial Russia. The first part of the book, he has a fairly fixed western view of Russia, though as he travels more through Russia and the former SSRs (Soviet Socialist Republics), he does become more fellow (and less I should say stuff upper-lipped British). He also does not cover parts of Siberia and eastern reaches of the Russian state so the book is bit of a misnomer.

Overall it is an interesting travelogue on Russia of the 1980s before the 1991 breakup. I would have liked less of his Cold War Era political opinions and more of the perceptive human interactions that dominate the second half of the book. I feel he could have also delved on some of the history of the regions more and interwoven it more into the travelogue. A decent read.

[Chad Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn’t for me!! Didn’t feel I learned much about the people of these places and wasn’t a massive fan of architecture descriptions he went into. Can see why other people enjoyed!

[Erlen Gabriel Sales · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really quite well written, but profoundly xenophobic and condescending in a way that only a British man of the last 2 centuries can be. The authors complete lack of respect or seemingly of the least bit of open-mindedness come clearly into friction with the Soviet people he encounters. This book is at its best when not couching every other paragraph with vague allusions to Russian barbarism, eastern paganism and references to tartar mysticism. In some ways I'm glad to have read this: Thubron's text at times resembles more of a parody of itself, as if a Nabokovian charlatan was narrating it.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of a meandering trip through the European part of the then Soviet Union, from the Baltics to the Black Sea and down the Caucasus, in the days when the USSR was a power to reckon with... Mr Thubron draws some memorable characterisations of various people he encountered and compelling descriptions of this enormous swathe of territory including beaches, mountains, forests and extensive plains... A most nostalgic read!

[kallis.ema · Rating 3 out of 5]

"‘I was unhappy for years after the boy’s birth. I wanted to die.’ Her eyes shut, as if testing the idea, opened again. ‘I didnt find the world worth inhabiting at all. It was just a haze of people hunting for money, positions, things. And I thought: what’s the point? They were like children playing games.’ "

"You're made to feel you're letting down society, the system, the country. God!' he blazed incongruously, 'Who is the country, the system? The country is me too! Let me breathe!'"

[Paolo Zanelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the writing style heavy and pompous, making reading unnecessarily slow and difficult. Also, some of the views expressed vs Russians can be condescending at times. Not a great read for me

[Jackie Côtécobsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been really looking forward to this book, and reading Thubron. I had interviewed him years ago and he was lovely. But I really had trouble with his writing style - his choice of verbs is bewildering, and it's unusual that I come across so many words that I'm not familiar with in one paragraph. This is the first time I've read anything Russian-themed since the 2016 election, because I was so disgusted (I even stopped my Russian language course). When he stops being florid and describes the locations, it's enjoyable, and I found the Caucasus section to be riveting. So, a mixed bag.

[Vandita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect travel companion read when travelling in Russia. This travelogue by Colin Thubron is 'dated' in a way as it was written during his travels in the Soviet Union Russia (i.e. includes the countries which have now become independent e.g. Estonia, Lithuania and not just present day Russia) in early 1980s when the Union was under the Communist regime. Much has changed since then in Russia's place under the sun, its politics, its geographical boundaries, existential questions/ ideologies which its people search for but it is still perhaps the best travel book which goes to explain the ethos of the place and its people and helps us to understand the 'new Russia' which followed that era, better.
I loved the descriptive and evocative language that Thurbron uses and hence the book can be read as much as a piece of literature as a travelogue. You feel the pain, the shock, the fear, the freedom, the warmth - everything that Thubron feels during this trip across the massive country posing not as a writer but as a 'company director' (whatever that means!).
In my opinion, Thubron's book is unable to reach the 'great travelogue' level (rather than just 'a very good' one) due to one jarring note : that is the inherent, ingrained, ideological bias that Thubron has on Russian system of that time before stepping into the country which colours his every interaction, observation and conclusion. Unfortunately the book seems to be an expression of ratifying his strongly held views rather than an exploration of what the country may mean: the very essence of travelling ! The saving grace is that Thubron does give in and acknowledge that never will he confuse the 'state' with its 'people' after having witnessed time and time again the warmth and hospitality of Russian people. Highly recommended.

[Richard Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Thubron is a wonderful writer, although this is one of his earlier books and I don't think he had quite honed his writing style. At times he is a little over florid in descriptions.

It describes his travels around the soviet union in the early 1980s - a journey not possible now in the same way since the collapse of communism. The Russians of the title is a slight misnomer as he travels for some time amongst non-Russians such as Georgians, Armenians and Latvians who certainly don't consider themselves as Russian (and could be very upset if you called them this now).

It is more a historical view than a modern travel guide. The world has changed hugely in the 30+ years since this was written, but it is still interesting. Three things stand out - the roots of some of the current issues between Russia and its near neighbours, the sometimes impenetrable misunderstandings between Thubron and those he meets due to hugely different world viewpoints, and just the pleasure of reading a well written text. It is occasionally amusing, sometimes sad (although no where near as sad as his later writings on the ex-Soviet Union), always engaging.

As in his other books, Thubron does not always paint a picture of himself as the most engaging of people. If you need to love your author to enjoy a book, this might not work for you. And don't read this if your are looking for a modern relevant travel description as in many ways it is well out of date.

[Toby Tsoutseos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A journey at the end of an era

An amazing journey at the end of an era. The author tried to understand the Russian soul and observed with as much insight as possible people and the places he visited. I am not sure he met the representative people of Russia and that he finally understood them. Definitely he did not understand the religion and the art.
I was thoroughly impressed with the language of the text that in certain aspects it was very rich, almost poetic but sometimes convoluted and difficult to understand. Greatly enjoyed reading this book and I think it is a unique travel memoir.

[Kolyo · Rating 1 out of 5]

About me - born in 1988 in Bulgaria, close ally of the USSR until 1989. For the past 30 years Bulgaria became member of EU and a friend of the USA. I was raised by USSR cultivated parents. Afterwards I lived/studied/worked for 9 years in western Europe. So I believe I know a fair bit about the USSR and the western world and I can say that....

This book is a great example of propaganda! Apparently back in 1983, someone in the UK thought it is a smart idea to ask a writer to tell the world how horrible the USSR is. This could work only for blinded people though. In 2020, one could have a good laugh reading this book.

[Ismail Qureshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

AMONG THE RUSSIANS is a travelogue that narrates Colin Thubron's road travel through Russia and several other states of the USSR, a few years prior to its collapse.
He gives a detailed account of the geography, history, people, culture, religion, and government of Soviet Union.

AUTHOR'S JUDGMENT

The crux of his thesis is the utter failure of communism in providing an efficient and fair system of government.
He writes about a discourse with locals that denied anew the possibility of imposing selflessness on men by any system. He says:

"Their pile of accusations went to join the pyramid
already in my mind: rampaging bribery, ingrained
corruption. The self-accorded privileges of top
party members were a rankling sore - their
numberless grades of private shops, the select
schools, universities and bureaucratic posts into
which they inveigled their children; their permits
to travel abroad, their country dachas - even their
yachts."

RUTHLESS DISCIPLINE

The author felt that ruthless discipline and control by a totalitarian government aided by KGB had taken away all individuality and creativity of its people, and turned them into robots - a nation of sleep walkers.

Nikolai, a dissident professor of languages,
explained the cause of communist party's
intense desire for 'order'.

"It is fear," he said. Then added:
"If we had elections only ten percent would vote
for this government. Tension and combat are
built into the party's very heart. It can never relax
because the fear comes first from within.

So the age-old Russian nightmare of
encirclement - from China, Japan, NATO and
America - not only creates the Russian fear, but is
created by it.
War readiness is like a fever here: the aggression
of a dangerous and insecure child."

COMMUNISM A RELIGION

"Communism is a religion," Nicolai said.
"It has its own dogma, it's own prophet, and even
- ugh!- it's own embalmed saint. What else is that
Lenin mausoleum?
The analogies between christianity and
communism were almost unending. Like
mediaeval Christianity, communism precluded
any fundamental speculation; its faithful walked
in blinding eternity of gospel.
It was complete, dead.

CHRISTIANITY UNDER COMMUNISM

"Christianity had a hard time under the shadow of communism," Nicolai said. "Our leaders have always worried about the church and keep a close watch.
The churches are only full of old women."
"Where are their men?" the author asked.
"Drinking probably," Nicolai answered. "That is their form of oblivion. The old women take to God, the men take to drink. Unfortunately it is easier to find a bottle of vodka than a church in Moscow.
Some churches here look as if they're working but in fact they're shut.

THE JOY OF RUSSIA

As early as the ninth century, it is said, when the Russians were choosing, which religion to embrace, they repudiated teetotal Islam with horror.
"Drinking is the joy of Russia," declared their Prince, "we just cannot do without it."

The author then depicts the present situation:
"Drunkenness accounts for over half the motor
accidents and almost all the murders in the
country. It has accelerated infant mortality and
drastically reduced the life expectancy of men,
whom it lures from their work and leaves
crumpled in the doorways of every city in the
land."

SHOPPING QUEUES

Shopping is the housewife's weariest chore. She is condemned to tramp a labyrinth in search of even simple artefacts. On an average day (it's been computed) she spends two hours in queues.

Muscovite women, and men too, prowl the shops on the lookout for anything of quality, their string bags or briefcases ready to receive the sudden arrival of Yugoslav boots or Polish bras.

In a state-planned commercial economy, insensitive to consumer demands, availability is more important to the shopper than cost. So shopping becomes a nightmare game of musical chairs in which most of the players are left out.

EQUALITY OF SEXES

Equality of sexes is the Marxist dogma.
The author noticed on a building site, typically, the foreman and the crane-operator were men, and the labourers women.

HUNGER OF FOREIGN GOODS

Most people that author came across were interested in purchasing spare items from him. They were interested in things like jeans, books, pop music, and his car. They enjoyed inspecting his car, and some of them wanted to buy it.

MIRACLE OF HUMAN UNITY

The author enjoyed a moment of joy and peace on the dance floor of an Armenian motel. It was a mixed group of Armenians, Americans, British, East Germans, and Czechs. This is what he has to say about it.

"It seemed as if everything which people
cosidered important - beliefs, systems, ideals -
were fatally divisive, and that the miracle of
human
unity was performed instead by pop songs."

CNCLUSION

The travelogue portrays a comprehensive picture of USSR and its people, as existed in 1980.
It is a bleak picture, and the author failed to see even a tiny bit of good in Soviet Union or its people.

The portrayal may be largely accurate, but a certain amount of bias is indicated, especially as most of his information was obtained from dissidents.

The language of the narrative is mostly smooth and easy to follow. However, there are patches with unnecessary use of uncommon words.
Overall, it is an excellent read.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glorious book written by an American journalist living in Communist Russia. Although some of it might seem a little outdated now that communism has "fallen", in reality, many of the societal issues of the Russia remain the same. Funny, weird and disturbing - a phenomenal culture shock.

[Kate (lkatemm on Storygraph) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of stereotypes that get frustrating, but nevertheless a really interesting book that captures the zeitgeist of the USSR on the verge of dissolution. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

[Thorlakur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful account of an Englishman abroad, more precisely a car ride through Russia and its surrounding Soviet republics in 1982. Mr. Thubron is an excellent pen, sympathetic to his subjects, but yet critical of the absurdities of the Soviet system.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only skimmed this book. I don't like the author's "voice" and I never will, no matter what he and the New York Times have to say. So many better books about Russia out there. For me. I'm sure many of you will love this book.

[Румяна · Rating 1 out of 5]

За 1983г. може би е била актуална и евентуално интересна, ако си предубеден читател. С днешната дата от съдържанието лъха високомерие и нежелание на автора да е "сред руснаците". Изключително тромава и енциклопедично поднесена за пътепис.

[Clyde Birkholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was there at the right moment. Wish he would let the story tell itself instead of filtering it through his ego and overwrought vocabulary.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thubron’s travel writing is excellent, but what is most interesting about this read is the people he meets and relationships he fosters with them.

[Globe Trotter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book.

"I had been afraid of Russia ever since I could remember" was the opening sentence of the book. Indeed this summed up the whole book. Later even the author himself explained what this meant: "Why afraid? Because Russia, I began, dominated the last and hugest empire of earth. I invoked the invasion of Hungary in 1956, of Czechoslovakia in 1968, of Afghanistan in 1979. It was a country of evangelist ruthlessness, of nationalism disguised as ethics". Rarely has there been any introspection and comparison to the history of his own country ( UK ), and the amount of suffering caused and plunder by the British over the past 300 years.

This is a book typical of western writers, who travel to a country carrying their own sense of western superiority and entitlement. Instead of trying to understand and empathise the way of life, the choices the people and the government are making, the author views the foreign lands with the judgemental eyes of his own values. That is democracy, freedom, individualism. He does not understand there are other alternative ways that one can government ourselves, alternative ways of living, alternative ways of philosophy. In short this is a typical western author set in his views of right and wrong, good vs evil, a world view he can only see going back to the times of his own country, his psych deeply rooted in Christianity. That is a need to impose his views onto others, that his beliefs are good, and there can be no alternative. As always there is no awareness of the ancient civilisations before the times of his own kingdom, no acknowledgement of the changing world order. In the world of the author, it is static, unchanging with only one set of righteous values, and that is of his own.

Throughout his writings the choices of words are negative, disrespectful and deliberately written in a way to justify his own narrow minded preconception, and he went to look what he wanted to find.

One example of his writing is below:

"They had rarely seen a British car before, and often I glimpsed whole groups of them clustered in the glass checkpoints, staring at me like fish from an aquarium".

As usual there is that typical arrogance and entitlement, that feeling of superiority from western authors. I find such writings rather offensive. Instead I could have equally written the same passage, and to describe the scene in reverse: that the group of checkpoint guards crowd around this odd western guy who appears himself like a fish in his own fish tank car.

The author's sense of belonging was clearly exposed in a passage when he was in the Caucasus. He wrote: "The Mediterranean was breathing close now...All this brought on a voluptuous nostalgia. The shores of the Mediterranean! - or nearly. I was no longer quite alone. The history laden sea accompanied me. I felt vaguely homesick". Only then does the reader realise if you check on the map, he is separated from the Mediterranean by thousands of miles, including the Black Sea. The author obviously considers the Mediterranean his belonging, the western Europe....and he is British who does not even live remotely close to it. The sense of alienation and fear he felt in Russia is obvious, and at the same time reveals his deep sense of prejudice. Indeed when he was on the beach of Odessa he observed the out of shaped Ukrainians ("loose breasts turning crimson in the heat, flaccid hips and Buddha stomachs tapered to legs ass bruised and unshaped as old tree trunks"), "only a few of the young showed a Western slenderness". May I ask what is "Western slenderness"? Is this racist?

When he was being followed "between Lvov 22-65 and Lvov 78-65" by the authorities as he was driving towards the city of Lvov in Ukraine, he was "marvelling at the waste of manpower" in following him. This is at the end of book, and given all the sh*t he has written about their people and their country, no it is not a "waste of manpower". Quite the opposite the authorities should be tracking f*ckers like you who goes to their country and only to publish books writing bad things. This is very typical of the British ( and the BBC ). The Brits make fantastic documentaries, only to say very bad things about other places in the typical subtle British fashion.

[David Wilby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stick a proverbial pin in a map of China (I tried this) and you'll probably end up somewhere like a city, but do the same thing with Russia and you'll most likely land thousands of miles from anywhere. This is the scale of the task set in trying to portray the USSR, an empire which once covered a considerably greater proportion of the globe than even modern Russia.

In the mid-eighties, equipped with a stack of reporters' notebooks, Colin Thubron tours Russia behind the wheel of a clapped-out Morris Minor to find out what life behind the Iron Curtain was really like. What he finds is remarkable, yet how he tells it is more remarkable still. Adept at weaving microstories into the wider fabric of his travels, Thubron's account may not always be easy reading but it is coherent. We are made to feel like voyeurs on an Orwellian roadtrip, somehow overcast with the stubborn inviolability of the post-Brezhnev years. Doom and gloom is everywhere: from the backstreets of Moscow to the furthest corner of Estonia, it resounds in the pre-eminence of Leningrad and echoes through the forbidding mountains of the Caucasus.

The true subject here is Russia herself, yet drifting in and out of this immense stage-set are numerous misfits, lost souls and chance encounters on the road. The characters all seem emotionally damaged, fragile, or torn between blind-faith and embittered resignation as to the impending fate of the failing communist ideology. Thubron spends much of his time getting inhumanly paralytic with various locals on campsites. Presumably he has to wait until the next day to transcribe their monologues, but the result is like something from a radio phone-in: sobbing alcoholic husbands, estranged wives, distraught daughters pursued by babushkas.

I was impressed by this gritty storytelling and the writer's ability to get under the skin of Russia. If anything he is too scathing in his condemnation of the stock-phrases from an Intourist guide in the pay of the politburo, and in general I found myself wishing he would be less grumpy about everything. Still, after many miles and covert liaisons with dissidents, it is perhaps not surprising when his Morris Minor is eventually picked apart by the KGB in Kiev as Thubron completes this remarkable tour.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second Colin Thubron book, and I'm afraid it will be my last. I thought maybe the grim critical attitude that he displayed in his Amur River book was only a product of his writing it as an older man. It's harder for some people to look at the world with a smile when your body is getting old and creaky, and the world is run by people much younger than you, but now I see from reading this book written in the early 80s that Mr. Thubron was always a curmudgeon. He finds little to like in most of the places he goes or the people he meets in this book. I get that he wrote in the time of Andropov, when the country was going through the last post-Brezhnev years before the reforms under Gorbachev. It was certainly a time of disillusionment and cultural and economic stagnation, and in those days, many Russians were reluctant to open up to foreigners, so the ones who did were not typical people, but still he could have found much more of interest in both the people and places if he had had a better attitude about it. Instead, what we get in the people is a lot of variations on the theme of the classic "Sovok" or "Homo Sovieticus" personality. I don't doubt that there were really a lot of people who fit this mold, but I have known many Russians, and most of them are smart, interesting and colorful people, sometimes a little crazy, but that's not always a fault. And in describing the cities and the countryside, it's mostly gray poorly constructed high rise apartment blocks and flat farmland. I acknowledge that Russia has a lot of those, but so do we. There are plenty of other things of greater interest if you seek them out and focus on things you love. This guy has written multiple books about Russia. I really don't understand why he has kept cranking them out, given what little love he seems to have for the land and its people.