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The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage
An extraordinary odyssey through the fourteen countries that border Russia today.
From North Korea into China, through former Soviet states and breakaway republics in Asia and the Caucasus, crossing the Caspian and Black Seas, northwards to Europe, into the Arctic Circle and through the icy waters of the Northeast Passage, Erika Fatland travels alone and explores the rich, diverse and often dramatic histories and scarred landscapes of these bordering nations.
Along her twenty-thousand-kilometre journey, she meets survivors of interminable wars and indiscriminate deportations, and some communities still nostalgic for Soviet times. She drinks tea with a reindeer nomad in Mongolia and encounters displaced Ingushetians in Kazakhstan; she meets a history professor-turned-tank driver in Ukraine and tours the vestiges of Chernobyl. She hears an extraordinary story of endurance from one of the last survivors of the Minsk Ghetto, and learns that the area of Russia that borders Norway, her own country, is the most polluted place in the world. The Border is the log of an unmatchable journey, and offers vivid portraits of cultures and individuals living at the limits of this dominant land mass.
Shortlisted for the 2020 Edward Stanford/Lonely Planet Debut Travel Writer of the Year Award, Erika Fatland has established herself as a fearless, sharp observer and an outstanding interviewer at the forefront of narrative travel literature.
Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson
"The strength of Fatland's book lies in its ability to make history come alive through stories . . . Every chapter is captivating reading" Suddeutsche Zeitung
"Fatland masters the genre to perfection . . . A true delight" Aftenposten
From North Korea into China, through former Soviet states and breakaway republics in Asia and the Caucasus, crossing the Caspian and Black Seas, northwards to Europe, into the Arctic Circle and through the icy waters of the Northeast Passage, Erika Fatland travels alone and explores the rich, diverse and often dramatic histories and scarred landscapes of these bordering nations.
Along her twenty-thousand-kilometre journey, she meets survivors of interminable wars and indiscriminate deportations, and some communities still nostalgic for Soviet times. She drinks tea with a reindeer nomad in Mongolia and encounters displaced Ingushetians in Kazakhstan; she meets a history professor-turned-tank driver in Ukraine and tours the vestiges of Chernobyl. She hears an extraordinary story of endurance from one of the last survivors of the Minsk Ghetto, and learns that the area of Russia that borders Norway, her own country, is the most polluted place in the world. The Border is the log of an unmatchable journey, and offers vivid portraits of cultures and individuals living at the limits of this dominant land mass.
Shortlisted for the 2020 Edward Stanford/Lonely Planet Debut Travel Writer of the Year Award, Erika Fatland has established herself as a fearless, sharp observer and an outstanding interviewer at the forefront of narrative travel literature.
Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson
"The strength of Fatland's book lies in its ability to make history come alive through stories . . . Every chapter is captivating reading" Suddeutsche Zeitung
"Fatland masters the genre to perfection . . . A true delight" Aftenposten
625 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2017
609 people are currently reading
5148 people want to read
About the author
Erika Fatland
11 books674 followersErika Fatland is a Norwegian anthropologist and writer who has written multiple critically-acclaimed books, including Sovietistan and The Border. Fatland was born in Haugesund, Norway, in 1983, and studied at the University of Oslo and the University of Copenhagen.
Fatland is best known for her travel writing and has written several books: Her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been translated into 12 languages. This was followed by The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, an account of her travels around Russia's border, from North Korea to Norway. Both books have been translated into English by Kari Dickson, and both received critical acclaim from reviewers in the US and UK.
She wrote two earlier books: The Village of Angels (2011) about the Beslan massacre and The Year Without a Summer about the Utoya massacre. She has also written the children’s book The Parent War.
She has received numerous awards, among them the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for Nonfiction and the Wesselprisen (2016). She speaks eight languages including Norwegian, English, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Spanish. She lives in Oslo.
Fatland is best known for her travel writing and has written several books: Her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been translated into 12 languages. This was followed by The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, an account of her travels around Russia's border, from North Korea to Norway. Both books have been translated into English by Kari Dickson, and both received critical acclaim from reviewers in the US and UK.
She wrote two earlier books: The Village of Angels (2011) about the Beslan massacre and The Year Without a Summer about the Utoya massacre. She has also written the children’s book The Parent War.
She has received numerous awards, among them the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for Nonfiction and the Wesselprisen (2016). She speaks eight languages including Norwegian, English, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Spanish. She lives in Oslo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 452 reviews
March 19, 2022
I read this while on a brief holiday in the south of the South Island (of New Zealand), and found it hard to put down. I am not sure what I expected, but this was less academic and far more readable than I anticipated from a book slightly under 600 pages. It is obviously topical with the ongoing war in Ukraine, and having read the section of this book which deals with Ukraine - has been foreshadowed strongly.
For the largest part this is a travel book, which is likely where the enjoyment has ramped up for me. It explains the authors journey through the many counties and territories, and the things she sees, the people she talks to. The reason for her journey however, is to determine how sharing a border with Russia effects these countries and how their experiences compare. This of course is driven by the history each country has with Russia (or the Soviet Union), and therefore history is threaded through the narrative. For me as a reader Erika Fatland has got the mix exactly right - just enough history to support the analysis without the unessential coming through.
Coming from Norway, one of the fourteen countries which border Russia, Fatland has a direct connection with her topic, and speaking fluent Russian (as well as seven other languages!!) offers her a huge advantage over other non-Russian speaking travellers in many (but not all) of the borderlands. Trained as an anthropologist, she has written previous books, including her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - this is on my to-obtain list. The Border was published in 2017 (in Norwegian) and in English in 2020. To put this in context, Russia had annexed Crimea (2014) and Donetsk and Lugansk had announced themselves as People's Republics (only Russia recognises these breakaway states of the Ukraine).
Fatland is not afraid of mixing her timeline, throwing us into the final part of her journey first - a voyage along the Northern coastline of Russia - amusingly for me with an expedition company from New Zealand owned and operated by a friend, which does Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and Russian ship expeditions. By chance Fatland secures a place on the first Northeast Passage trip they run (although not right now!), which drew me into this book, having that personal connection.
She then jumps back to the first place she visits on her twenty-thousand-kilometre journey, North Korea, and takes us from the end of that countries travels to the beginning! Then, enough of this time-shifting, she plays out the remainder of her journey in a more time-linear fashion.
She has managed to interview many people in the course of her travels, many controversial or speaking out at risk to themselves, so we are told names and details are frequently altered to provide them protection. Most speak out against the oppression and corruption of their respective governments. In places, due to travel restrictions, Fatland is forced to take group tours (North Korea, Chernobyl, Baikonur Cosmodrome), and at times roughs it in very poor accommodation, it is largely for short periods of time. For the most part she stays in good, but modest accommodation, as you would want when travelling extensively over a period of three years!
More than anything, this book demonstrates the breadth of difference between those countries bordering Russia. From east to west they couldn't be more different, and while at times the change from country to country is gradual, sometimes it is not. This perhaps drives home how complex the running of the Soviet Union must have been - to deal with such diverse cultures and peoples and to attempt to homogenise them was an impossible task, as we have seen over the years with the inability to reconcile with the Muslim population in Chechnya and Ingushetia.
I didn't note specific memorable anecdotes while reading, as the whole book was just so well-flowing (which must be testament to the translation), so I haven't identified any quotes, and I see that this book has not yet hit the popularity on GR that it deserves - no quotes on here either.
I can certainly recommend this book - particularly for those with more interest in travel than history; or those who only want a short relevant history to accompany their travel; or those who want the overview to the question - how has bordering Russia effected life in adjacent countries? For those looking for academic or deep history, you may come away without enough information to satisfy.
5 stars.
For the largest part this is a travel book, which is likely where the enjoyment has ramped up for me. It explains the authors journey through the many counties and territories, and the things she sees, the people she talks to. The reason for her journey however, is to determine how sharing a border with Russia effects these countries and how their experiences compare. This of course is driven by the history each country has with Russia (or the Soviet Union), and therefore history is threaded through the narrative. For me as a reader Erika Fatland has got the mix exactly right - just enough history to support the analysis without the unessential coming through.
Coming from Norway, one of the fourteen countries which border Russia, Fatland has a direct connection with her topic, and speaking fluent Russian (as well as seven other languages!!) offers her a huge advantage over other non-Russian speaking travellers in many (but not all) of the borderlands. Trained as an anthropologist, she has written previous books, including her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - this is on my to-obtain list. The Border was published in 2017 (in Norwegian) and in English in 2020. To put this in context, Russia had annexed Crimea (2014) and Donetsk and Lugansk had announced themselves as People's Republics (only Russia recognises these breakaway states of the Ukraine).
Fatland is not afraid of mixing her timeline, throwing us into the final part of her journey first - a voyage along the Northern coastline of Russia - amusingly for me with an expedition company from New Zealand owned and operated by a friend, which does Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and Russian ship expeditions. By chance Fatland secures a place on the first Northeast Passage trip they run (although not right now!), which drew me into this book, having that personal connection.
She then jumps back to the first place she visits on her twenty-thousand-kilometre journey, North Korea, and takes us from the end of that countries travels to the beginning! Then, enough of this time-shifting, she plays out the remainder of her journey in a more time-linear fashion.
She has managed to interview many people in the course of her travels, many controversial or speaking out at risk to themselves, so we are told names and details are frequently altered to provide them protection. Most speak out against the oppression and corruption of their respective governments. In places, due to travel restrictions, Fatland is forced to take group tours (North Korea, Chernobyl, Baikonur Cosmodrome), and at times roughs it in very poor accommodation, it is largely for short periods of time. For the most part she stays in good, but modest accommodation, as you would want when travelling extensively over a period of three years!
More than anything, this book demonstrates the breadth of difference between those countries bordering Russia. From east to west they couldn't be more different, and while at times the change from country to country is gradual, sometimes it is not. This perhaps drives home how complex the running of the Soviet Union must have been - to deal with such diverse cultures and peoples and to attempt to homogenise them was an impossible task, as we have seen over the years with the inability to reconcile with the Muslim population in Chechnya and Ingushetia.
I didn't note specific memorable anecdotes while reading, as the whole book was just so well-flowing (which must be testament to the translation), so I haven't identified any quotes, and I see that this book has not yet hit the popularity on GR that it deserves - no quotes on here either.
I can certainly recommend this book - particularly for those with more interest in travel than history; or those who only want a short relevant history to accompany their travel; or those who want the overview to the question - how has bordering Russia effected life in adjacent countries? For those looking for academic or deep history, you may come away without enough information to satisfy.
5 stars.
September 23, 2025
The author does a good job at taking the reader along on her trip tracing the Russian border. She visit all the countries and regions that borders on modern day Russia, and through a good mix of travel writing and historical background show how they have influenced one another over time. The real highlight for me was her time in North Korea. The book gets repetitive towards the end and a bit too long, but then again, it was a long journey.
February 9, 2021
4.5. This was such an impressive undertaking, beautifully written and translated, and the best travel writing I've read in recent memory.
December 2, 2021
Jurnal de călătorie care străbate 14 țări, oceanul arctic și trei republici separatiste.Istorie, personalități, destine într-un conglomerat de limbi și culturi, o aventură a mileniului III prin ființa celui mai fascinant și monstruos, în același timp, imperiu, Rusia. Pentru că , deși traversează o mulțime de țări, mări și națiuni, cartea Erikăi Fatland este o cronică a istoriei ruse, spusă din punctul de vedere al vecinilor săi. Nimic academic, nicio sofisticare, doar o foarte bună poveste, cu multe personaje și multe aventuri. O carte care arată cum ar trebui privită și predată istoria.
November 30, 2020
In terms of distance crossed, countries covered and the style employed, this reminded me a lot of Paul Theroux at times. Fatland has a dry, informative and likeable style, and of course like her last book the crucial advantage she enjoys, which gives her book an added edge is that she is fluent in Russian, although as we find out that doesn’t always help.
We learn that “In 2016 a 12 year old boy and 2,300 reindeer died following an anthrax outbreak on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia.” Apparently the bacteria were stored in the permafrost and came back to life as it melted. She then reassures us that, “No-one knows what others viruses and bacteria may lie hidden in the melting permafrost.”
When in Mongolia she talks about the Autumn of 1937 when the arrests and executions started, more than 10’000 lamas were killed over a period of 18 months, as Stalin’s purges of Buddhist monks, they slaughtered the eldest and most educated first and put the younger ones were sent off to gulags for 10 to 20 years. Even today no exact numbers can be given on the amount of people killed, some experts believe it was 30’000 others believe it was many more.
Apparently no other city lies further from the sea than Urumqi, with the nearest coast being more than 2000 ks away. Xinjiang (Uighuristan) borders 8 countries, with an area of 1.66 million square kilometres, it’s bigger than Spain, France, Germany and the UK combined, and yet its population is only around 23 million.
There are a few surreal and memorable moments in here, like her trip to the town of Baikonur in Kazakhstan, where a one night stay including a permit, (but excluding travel costs) comes in at well over $1000. This exorbitant fee also bought her a lying, incompetent guide, a power cut and an exceptionally poorly maintained hotel room, which she is briefly locked inside. And instead of the trip to the Cosmodrome that she has paid to visit, she is dragged to a bowling alley instead where she has the pleasure of accompanying her hapless guide and his new girlfriend, and both of them proceed to get drunk and the guide fails to pick her up the next morning.
Fatland finds herself in many politically charged parts of the world, there is the interesting case of the town of Valka/Valga which straddles both Latvia and Estonia, then there are the more explosive regions like Nagorno-Karabakh. Even though 99% of the population voted for independence, for now and the foreseeable future it is consigned to “breakaway republic” status. We also come across “The youngest breakaway republic in the world” which is the Donetsk People’s Republic, which came into semi-being during the 2014 revolution. Then there’s Abkhazia, only four countries in the world have recognised its status, one of them being the tiny Pacific Island nation of Nauru “which was paid 50 million dollars by Russia for doing so.”
In many ways this is a book that reminds us to never under estimate how petty, corrupt, infantile and moronic world leaders can be. Judging by this book if the country of Russia was your actual neighbour neighbour, they would be the neighbours from hell. I had previously listed a number of likely scenarios they would be involved in if they were your actual neighbours, but then I realised how offensive that could be, so you'll just have to use your imagination instead.
There is quite a bit in here that I’ve read about before elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean others wouldn’t enjoy it. Again Fatland’s research and love for her subject comes through strongly in this book and this was an easy and enjoyable journey around the fringes of the largest country on the planet, which throws up some delightful and dark surprises.
January 30, 2022
Vă povesteam acum câteva zile despre cărțile Erikăi Fatland și felul iscusit și inteligent în care își construiește cărțile de călătorie: s-a specializat în zona fostei Uniuni Sovietice și, în ciuda vârstei, a călătorit în zone complicate, în zone de conflict, unde riscurile sunt enorme și oamenii nu-s atât de amabili încât să furnizeze informații esențiale. Prima carte a ei se ocupa de Sovietstan, cele cinci ”stanuri” foarte diferite desprinse după 1990 din URSS, pentru ca cea de-a doua sa carte pe care o citesc, cea de față, să ofere o panoramă foarte interesantă a granițelor Rusiei. Erika Fatland a călătorit în jurul Rusiei, de cele mai multe ori de partea cealalată a granițelor, pentru a surprinde oamenii, locurile și mai ales felul în care Rusia și URSS a influențat viața comunităților rămase dincolo de graniță și în apropierea acesteia. Și ajunge astfel, printre altele, în Coreea de Nord, în Alaska, în Donețk, în Laponia sau în Belarus. O călătorie incredibilă, bine documentată, plină de istorie și de antropologie, de geografie și de înțelegere a mentalităților, într-una dintre cele mai bune cărți de călătorie citite în ultimii ani.
April 27, 2021
A fascinating journey that was undertaken by Norwegian journalist Erika Fatland across lands bordering Russia and their historical and current relationships.
This rates 4.5 on my scale.
This rates 4.5 on my scale.
July 22, 2024
Sunki ir nemaloni knyga. Nepaisant subtilaus autorės humoro, daugumoje vietoje pereinančio į sarkazmą, iš tiesų linksmo nėra nieko. Visiškai. O knygos turinys kuo puikiausiai suprantamas iš viršelio – tik iš arčiau pažvelgus pamatysite, kad žodžio „siena“ raidėse slepiasi ginklai, o nekaltomis akytėmis žvelgiančios matrioškos burnytė – su grobuonies dantukais....
Ir iš tiesų - man niekada nepatiko kelionių knygos. Kartas nuo karto jas skaitau. Pirmoji, regis, buvo Jurgos Ivanauskaitės „Kelionė į Tibetą“. Bet jos kelionė bent jau buvo „ten ir atgal“, „ten“ palikus didelę dalį širdies....
Erikos Fatland kelionė buvo .... apie. Apie ruzziją, pasieniu, per valstybes, kurios, regis, niekada neišsivaduos iš šios blogos kaimynystės. Skaičiau neatsitraukdama, bet labai pavargau nuo jos. Norėjau, kad greičiau baigtųsi, kuo puikiausiai suvokdama, kad ši siena – be pabaigos.
Šioje knygoje yra visko – valstybių istorijų ir valstybinių santykių su ruzzija istorijų, istorinių asmenybių ir pokalbių su kelionėje sutiktais žmonėmis, o taip pat gamtos, architektūros ir tiesiog buities. Ir viską palietė ruzzijos ranka.
Trys citatos, gerai atskleidžiančios knygos turinį, kurios kartu yra ir kelionės išvados:
„Sovietinės imperijos griuvėsiuose visur rasi žmonių, galinčių papasakoti apie tuos dvokiančius, ankštus krovininius vagonus. Tiesiog perbraukite paviršiumi, ir jie pasirodys. Fizinių imperijos pėdsakų taip pat visur aptiksi, paprastai jie matomi net plika akimi: plačiapečių didvyrių skulptūros ir gūrantys, ateičiai paskubomis statyti betoniniai daugiabučiai; herojiškų būsimųjų piliečių paveikslais išpuo��tos metro stotys; amžinybę turėję stovėti betoniniai kultūros namai ir skersvėjų perpučiamos mokyklos. Kitais kartais pėdsakų reikia paieškoti atidžiau, jie labiau užslėpti, bet ir jų yra visur: KGB kalėjimai su kankinimų ir egzekucijų kameromis; pasiklausymo įranga su kilometrais laidų ir mikrofonų; jau seniausiai apleisti gulagai ir amžiams ten užmigusių žmonių kapai su vos įskaitomais, vėjų ir smėlio nugairintais užrašais; mylios surūdijusios spygliuotos vielos, nudrykstančios palei sienas, kurių jau nebėra. Tų sienų pėdsakų likę žmonių namuose. Išilgai ašies, besidriekiančios nuo Baltijos jūros iki pat Ramiojo vandenyno, stalčiuose ir spintų lentynose vis dar guli ištisos tonos išblukusių raudonų žvaigždžių, garbės medalių ir pionieriškų kaklaraiščių, pasidengusių lengvučiu pokomunistinių dulkių sluoksniu.“ (p. 409)
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„Per šiuos pastaruosius metus buvau sukorusi daugiau kaip dvidešimt tūkstančių kilometrų palei valstybinę Rusijos sieną. Šiaurės Korėjos vietinėmis oro linijomis, kinų greitaisiais traukiniais, kazachų lėtaisiais traukiniais, autobusais, mikroautobusais, arkliais, taksi, krovininiais laivais, baidare ir savo nuosavomis kojomis apkeliavau keturiolika šalių ir tris separatistines respublikas: Šiaurės Korėją, Kiniją, Mongoliją, Kazachstaną, Azerbaidžaną, Kalnų Karabachą, Sakartvelą, Abchaziją, Ukrainą, Donecko liaudies respubliką, Baltarusiją, Lietuvą, Lenkiją, Latviją, Estiją, Suomiją ir dabar galiausiai – Norvegiją. <...> Tarp visų mano aplankytų šalių nebuvo nei vienos, kurios nepaženklino kaimynystė su Rusija nepalikdama žaizdų ar randų. Itin mažos tautelės šimtmečių tėkmėje buvo traiškomos tarp girnų, draskomos didžiųjų valstybių karų, tremiamos iš savo pačių žemių. Tautos neturi atminties; tautos neturi sopančių žaizdų, kaip neturi ir randų, Tuos randus nešiojasi paskiri žmonės – vienas, kitas, trečias. Milijonai jų.“ (p. 489)
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„Buvęs KGB karininkas Vladimiras Putinas nesibaido jokių priemonių savo galiai ir įtakai įtvirtinti, o tarptautinių žaidimo taisyklių laikomasi tik tuo atveju, jei jos parankios Rusijai.“ (p. 485)
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Knyga buvo parašyta 2017 metais, tad atkreipkite dėmesį į 2022 m. parašytą pratarmę lietuviškam 2023 m. leidimui. „Gyventi Rusijos kaimynystėje niekad nebuvo saugu. Buvimas Rusijos kaimyne pirmiausia reikšdavo nenuspėjamumą, o šiuo momentu situacija nenuspėjama labiau nei bet kada.“ (p. 10)
Ir iš tiesų - man niekada nepatiko kelionių knygos. Kartas nuo karto jas skaitau. Pirmoji, regis, buvo Jurgos Ivanauskaitės „Kelionė į Tibetą“. Bet jos kelionė bent jau buvo „ten ir atgal“, „ten“ palikus didelę dalį širdies....
Erikos Fatland kelionė buvo .... apie. Apie ruzziją, pasieniu, per valstybes, kurios, regis, niekada neišsivaduos iš šios blogos kaimynystės. Skaičiau neatsitraukdama, bet labai pavargau nuo jos. Norėjau, kad greičiau baigtųsi, kuo puikiausiai suvokdama, kad ši siena – be pabaigos.
Šioje knygoje yra visko – valstybių istorijų ir valstybinių santykių su ruzzija istorijų, istorinių asmenybių ir pokalbių su kelionėje sutiktais žmonėmis, o taip pat gamtos, architektūros ir tiesiog buities. Ir viską palietė ruzzijos ranka.
Trys citatos, gerai atskleidžiančios knygos turinį, kurios kartu yra ir kelionės išvados:
„Sovietinės imperijos griuvėsiuose visur rasi žmonių, galinčių papasakoti apie tuos dvokiančius, ankštus krovininius vagonus. Tiesiog perbraukite paviršiumi, ir jie pasirodys. Fizinių imperijos pėdsakų taip pat visur aptiksi, paprastai jie matomi net plika akimi: plačiapečių didvyrių skulptūros ir gūrantys, ateičiai paskubomis statyti betoniniai daugiabučiai; herojiškų būsimųjų piliečių paveikslais išpuo��tos metro stotys; amžinybę turėję stovėti betoniniai kultūros namai ir skersvėjų perpučiamos mokyklos. Kitais kartais pėdsakų reikia paieškoti atidžiau, jie labiau užslėpti, bet ir jų yra visur: KGB kalėjimai su kankinimų ir egzekucijų kameromis; pasiklausymo įranga su kilometrais laidų ir mikrofonų; jau seniausiai apleisti gulagai ir amžiams ten užmigusių žmonių kapai su vos įskaitomais, vėjų ir smėlio nugairintais užrašais; mylios surūdijusios spygliuotos vielos, nudrykstančios palei sienas, kurių jau nebėra. Tų sienų pėdsakų likę žmonių namuose. Išilgai ašies, besidriekiančios nuo Baltijos jūros iki pat Ramiojo vandenyno, stalčiuose ir spintų lentynose vis dar guli ištisos tonos išblukusių raudonų žvaigždžių, garbės medalių ir pionieriškų kaklaraiščių, pasidengusių lengvučiu pokomunistinių dulkių sluoksniu.“ (p. 409)
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„Per šiuos pastaruosius metus buvau sukorusi daugiau kaip dvidešimt tūkstančių kilometrų palei valstybinę Rusijos sieną. Šiaurės Korėjos vietinėmis oro linijomis, kinų greitaisiais traukiniais, kazachų lėtaisiais traukiniais, autobusais, mikroautobusais, arkliais, taksi, krovininiais laivais, baidare ir savo nuosavomis kojomis apkeliavau keturiolika šalių ir tris separatistines respublikas: Šiaurės Korėją, Kiniją, Mongoliją, Kazachstaną, Azerbaidžaną, Kalnų Karabachą, Sakartvelą, Abchaziją, Ukrainą, Donecko liaudies respubliką, Baltarusiją, Lietuvą, Lenkiją, Latviją, Estiją, Suomiją ir dabar galiausiai – Norvegiją. <...> Tarp visų mano aplankytų šalių nebuvo nei vienos, kurios nepaženklino kaimynystė su Rusija nepalikdama žaizdų ar randų. Itin mažos tautelės šimtmečių tėkmėje buvo traiškomos tarp girnų, draskomos didžiųjų valstybių karų, tremiamos iš savo pačių žemių. Tautos neturi atminties; tautos neturi sopančių žaizdų, kaip neturi ir randų, Tuos randus nešiojasi paskiri žmonės – vienas, kitas, trečias. Milijonai jų.“ (p. 489)
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„Buvęs KGB karininkas Vladimiras Putinas nesibaido jokių priemonių savo galiai ir įtakai įtvirtinti, o tarptautinių žaidimo taisyklių laikomasi tik tuo atveju, jei jos parankios Rusijai.“ (p. 485)
*
Knyga buvo parašyta 2017 metais, tad atkreipkite dėmesį į 2022 m. parašytą pratarmę lietuviškam 2023 m. leidimui. „Gyventi Rusijos kaimynystėje niekad nebuvo saugu. Buvimas Rusijos kaimyne pirmiausia reikšdavo nenuspėjamumą, o šiuo momentu situacija nenuspėjama labiau nei bet kada.“ (p. 10)
October 22, 2022
Ерика Фатланд в продължение на 9 месеца през 2016-2017 г. предприема порядъчно епично пътуване през 14 държави и 3 отцепили се републики, за да опише пълен кръг от Мурманск до Финмарк около най-дългата граница в света - 60,000 км. - тази на Руската Федерация. Държавите са Северна Корея, Китай, Монголия, Казахстан, Азербайджан, Грузия, Украйна, Беларус, Литва, Полша, Латвия, Естония, Финландия и накрая, родната и Норвегия. Отцепилите се републики са Нагорни Карабах (оспорван от Азербайджан и Армения), Абхазия (формално принадлежаща към Грузия, но фактически отделена, изолирана, непризнати и изцяло зависима от Русия) и небезизвестният Донецк.
Когато през 1991 г. СССР рухва, той губи 20% от територията си и над половината си население, а от старата империя изплуват нови държави. “Безпроблемно” обявяват независимост тези със статут на съветски републики като балтийските държави, Украйна, Казахстан. Поне на хартия, те винаги са фигурирали като отделни държави в рамките на СССР. Асоциираните републики в СССР обаче не са били с такава привилегия, затова и Чечня никога не е допусната да постигне желаната независимост - примерът за другите все още принадлежащи в Руската Федерация републики би бил катастрофален. На трето, най ниско административно ниво са били съюзните области, обособени по етнически признак, но придадени под шапката на някоя съветска република. Те дори не са се считали за държавна структура, което съвсем не значи, че не искат такава. Но нито Нагорни Карабах, нито Абхазия, нито Южна Осетия го постигат. Точно обратното - превръщат се в изтерзани и печални заложници на враждебната държава-“майка”, която през различни интервали воюва с тях, и Русия, която ги “подкрепя”, но гражданите им нямат валидни паспорти за нито една друга държава в света, а икономиката им на практика не съществува, тъй като няма с кого да търгуват, освен с Русия. Останалият свят пък с царствено и цивилизовано равнодушие не ги забелязва - поне съдейки по липсата на каквото и да е внимание към драмата на хората там.
Руската граница е заредена с изобилие от отрезвяваща история, често неизвестна на спокойния американски и европейски читател, но изключително ключова. Както и от поредица тлеещи конфликти от 90-те години, взели или понякога все още вземащи много човешки жертви, но рядко отразявани в европейската преса. Донецк и Луганск са само най-пресният пример, уви, вече излезли от “тихата” фаза на тлеене.
Изключително любопитна е ролята на Русия в Далечния Изток и завладяването на Сибир, още от имперски времена, включително в уйгурски Синдзян и в Северна Корея. В Естония пък днес в националното си заслепение прегръщат с любов свастиките на Вафен СС, защото са…били срещу руснаците. Диктаторските режими в Централна Азия на свой ред зорко пазят пътя към култа на личността и налагат драконовска цензура и ограничения, опитвайки се да я съчетаят с успешна търговия с природни ресурси и зашеметяващи от архитектурна гледна точка небостъргачи.
Границата разделя, но и свързва. Границата често е едно доста имагинерно в глобализирания ни свят понятие, за наше щастие, но бързо може са добие зловеща конкретика под дулото на оръжието и нечии геостратегически халюцинации, и нека не се лъжем - те далеч не идват само от Изток.
Читателят ще открие в книгата нещо като политикоикономически пътепис, който на любителите на туристически справочници ще се стори ненужно тежък, на хардкор любителите на историята - твърде олекотен (все пак в книгата става дума и за родното място на Дядо Коледа и за оспорваната надпревара на скандинавците по тази тема). Тъй като не съм нито едно от двете, за мен беше източник на интересни факти и повод за много размисъл. А и идеята си я бива - интересно, какво би се получило, ако някой поиска да опише България от гледна точка на границите и със съседите и?
Някои от взетите от Ерика интервюта далеч не са безпристрастни. Но кога редовите местни жители са били? Други пък не са изцяло представителни. Снимките също са по-скоро маркери. Но границата е така здраво вкопана в текста, че никакви дребни липси нямат значение.
4,5⭐️
Когато през 1991 г. СССР рухва, той губи 20% от територията си и над половината си население, а от старата империя изплуват нови държави. “Безпроблемно” обявяват независимост тези със статут на съветски републики като балтийските държави, Украйна, Казахстан. Поне на хартия, те винаги са фигурирали като отделни държави в рамките на СССР. Асоциираните републики в СССР обаче не са били с такава привилегия, затова и Чечня никога не е допусната да постигне желаната независимост - примерът за другите все още принадлежащи в Руската Федерация републики би бил катастрофален. На трето, най ниско административно ниво са били съюзните области, обособени по етнически признак, но придадени под шапката на някоя съветска република. Те дори не са се считали за държавна структура, което съвсем не значи, че не искат такава. Но нито Нагорни Карабах, нито Абхазия, нито Южна Осетия го постигат. Точно обратното - превръщат се в изтерзани и печални заложници на враждебната държава-“майка”, която през различни интервали воюва с тях, и Русия, която ги “подкрепя”, но гражданите им нямат валидни паспорти за нито една друга държава в света, а икономиката им на практика не съществува, тъй като няма с кого да търгуват, освен с Русия. Останалият свят пък с царствено и цивилизовано равнодушие не ги забелязва - поне съдейки по липсата на каквото и да е внимание към драмата на хората там.
Руската граница е заредена с изобилие от отрезвяваща история, често неизвестна на спокойния американски и европейски читател, но изключително ключова. Както и от поредица тлеещи конфликти от 90-те години, взели или понякога все още вземащи много човешки жертви, но рядко отразявани в европейската преса. Донецк и Луганск са само най-пресният пример, уви, вече излезли от “тихата” фаза на тлеене.
Изключително любопитна е ролята на Русия в Далечния Изток и завладяването на Сибир, още от имперски времена, включително в уйгурски Синдзян и в Северна Корея. В Естония пък днес в националното си заслепение прегръщат с любов свастиките на Вафен СС, защото са…били срещу руснаците. Диктаторските режими в Централна Азия на свой ред зорко пазят пътя към култа на личността и налагат драконовска цензура и ограничения, опитвайки се да я съчетаят с успешна търговия с природни ресурси и зашеметяващи от архитектурна гледна точка небостъргачи.
Границата разделя, но и свързва. Границата често е едно доста имагинерно в глобализирания ни свят понятие, за наше щастие, но бързо може са добие зловеща конкретика под дулото на оръжието и нечии геостратегически халюцинации, и нека не се лъжем - те далеч не идват само от Изток.
Читателят ще открие в книгата нещо като политикоикономически пътепис, който на любителите на туристически справочници ще се стори ненужно тежък, на хардкор любителите на историята - твърде олекотен (все пак в книгата става дума и за родното място на Дядо Коледа и за оспорваната надпревара на скандинавците по тази тема). Тъй като не съм нито едно от двете, за мен беше източник на интересни факти и повод за много размисъл. А и идеята си я бива - интересно, какво би се получило, ако някой поиска да опише България от гледна точка на границите и със съседите и?
Някои от взетите от Ерика интервюта далеч не са безпристрастни. Но кога редовите местни жители са били? Други пък не са изцяло представителни. Снимките също са по-скоро маркери. Но границата е така здраво вкопана в текста, че никакви дребни липси нямат значение.
4,5⭐️
August 24, 2023
I loved reading about Ms. Fatland's travels through that part of the world that is not familiar to me, which is why I selected the book to read. Ms. Fatland is quite erudite. I appreciated her combining history with foreign relations and geopolitics along with her travelogue. I'd like to read her other works.
July 10, 2021
This is travel writing at its best, a blend of history, reportage and memoir. Though 550 pages, it can easily be enjoyed in small chunks, and maybe best like that, as some of the journey as an inevitable sameness.
Her earlier book, Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, was compelling, and also superb travel writing, but for me at least, visiting the 14 of Russia’s neighbours and 3 breakaway republics (as well as the North-east passage) is of (even) more interest.
What materialises is a hauntingly lyrical meditation to the eventualities of history, the utter arbitrariness of dividing lines and border posts, of namesakes long forgotten and again remembered, and of successful and unsuccessful wars; so much war, so many dead.
There are anecdotes aplenty, and her research is meticulous.
I’m excited by what project Fatland will embark on next. An anthropologist by trade, and speaking 8 languages fluently and at just 38 years old, the world may indeed be an oyster, but one with a large part of it quite familiar to her. She is prepared to ‘rough it’ but in a limited way, for a few days. This journey took three years and involved many thousands of euros of funding. Certain places, for example Dnipro in the Ukraine (Soviet Rocket City) and North Korea, were only accessible to her by expensive small-group organised tours. As much as I would like to read her delve into Siberia and Kamchatka, I’m not sure it’s her thing.
My stand-out book of 2021 so far concerns that area, Primorye, Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl.
Her earlier book, Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, was compelling, and also superb travel writing, but for me at least, visiting the 14 of Russia’s neighbours and 3 breakaway republics (as well as the North-east passage) is of (even) more interest.
What materialises is a hauntingly lyrical meditation to the eventualities of history, the utter arbitrariness of dividing lines and border posts, of namesakes long forgotten and again remembered, and of successful and unsuccessful wars; so much war, so many dead.
There are anecdotes aplenty, and her research is meticulous.
Nations have no collective memory; nations have no healed wounds. It is the individuals, millions of them, who carry the scars.
I’m excited by what project Fatland will embark on next. An anthropologist by trade, and speaking 8 languages fluently and at just 38 years old, the world may indeed be an oyster, but one with a large part of it quite familiar to her. She is prepared to ‘rough it’ but in a limited way, for a few days. This journey took three years and involved many thousands of euros of funding. Certain places, for example Dnipro in the Ukraine (Soviet Rocket City) and North Korea, were only accessible to her by expensive small-group organised tours. As much as I would like to read her delve into Siberia and Kamchatka, I’m not sure it’s her thing.
My stand-out book of 2021 so far concerns that area, Primorye, Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl.
January 8, 2020
Come tutti gli amici insonni sanno, nulla concilia di più il sospirato torpore di un tomo da 600 pagine e oltre. O di una pseudobiografia da ghostwriter di Giulia De Lellis, certo.
Fratello d’insonnia all’ascolto, folgorata sulla via di Gengis Khan permettetemi di consigliarvi calorosamente questa, di lettura ‘massiva’ (660 pagine tonde tonde & dense dense) ma intrigante assai: ‘La frontiera’ della scrittrice, antropologa e soprattutto viaggiatrice norvegese Erika Fatland. Ricevuto in dono a Natale, iniziato la notte - insonne, e che ve lo dico a fare - del 2 gennaio e divorato a morsi sino al 5 manco fosse un gigantesco Nutella biscuit, è la cronaca autobiografica di un viaggio ardimentoso da est a ovest lungo i confini smisurati della Russia, mosso da un ambizioso obiettivo: cogliere identità e anima di questo colosso della geopolitica mondiale attraverso gli occhi dei suoi...vicini di casa.
Il lungo itinerario della nostra Erika unisce perciò l’impenetrabile Corea del Nord alla progressista Norvegia (lo yin e lo yang tra i vicini di casa, ‘nsomma) passando per Mongolia, Kazakistan, Ucraina e Mar Caspio sino ad arrivare all’estremo nord lungo il gelido passaggio a nord-est. È una cronaca avvincente, perché ricca di u storici e politici, ma al contempo di narrativa di qualità ed una componente umana vivacissima.
In soldoni: non t’annoi, anzi, motivo per cui mi sento davvero di consigliare questa lettura a tutti: amanti non solo della notte, ma anche dei viaggi, della saggistica e della narrativa nonché forzati del divano che, come la qui scrivente, per forza di cose devono talora limitarsi a viaggiare più con la fantasia che con la carta d’imbarco.
PS. Incredibile, la Kamčatka non esiste solo a Risiko!
Fratello d’insonnia all’ascolto, folgorata sulla via di Gengis Khan permettetemi di consigliarvi calorosamente questa, di lettura ‘massiva’ (660 pagine tonde tonde & dense dense) ma intrigante assai: ‘La frontiera’ della scrittrice, antropologa e soprattutto viaggiatrice norvegese Erika Fatland. Ricevuto in dono a Natale, iniziato la notte - insonne, e che ve lo dico a fare - del 2 gennaio e divorato a morsi sino al 5 manco fosse un gigantesco Nutella biscuit, è la cronaca autobiografica di un viaggio ardimentoso da est a ovest lungo i confini smisurati della Russia, mosso da un ambizioso obiettivo: cogliere identità e anima di questo colosso della geopolitica mondiale attraverso gli occhi dei suoi...vicini di casa.
Il lungo itinerario della nostra Erika unisce perciò l’impenetrabile Corea del Nord alla progressista Norvegia (lo yin e lo yang tra i vicini di casa, ‘nsomma) passando per Mongolia, Kazakistan, Ucraina e Mar Caspio sino ad arrivare all’estremo nord lungo il gelido passaggio a nord-est. È una cronaca avvincente, perché ricca di u storici e politici, ma al contempo di narrativa di qualità ed una componente umana vivacissima.
In soldoni: non t’annoi, anzi, motivo per cui mi sento davvero di consigliare questa lettura a tutti: amanti non solo della notte, ma anche dei viaggi, della saggistica e della narrativa nonché forzati del divano che, come la qui scrivente, per forza di cose devono talora limitarsi a viaggiare più con la fantasia che con la carta d’imbarco.
PS. Incredibile, la Kamčatka non esiste solo a Risiko!
abandoned
May 23, 2024Read through page 170. Caveats on this one: I’m in a bit of a reading slump, especially with nonfiction, and also, the travel books I love are all either written by someone who has lived in the country for years and has deeper experience and context to provide, or the story of an intensely personal journey, related to the writer’s heritage or identity in some way. Whereas this is a run-of-the-mill travel book, an outsider briefly touring a bunch of countries and providing some potted history along the way. But I was not finding it particularly insightful—most of the travel portions are just mundane descriptions of transportation, accommodations and tourist sites—and while there are some fascinating tidbits, especially in the history, it’s also quite disjointed. Ultimately I found myself not wanting to pick it up, and barely over a quarter of the way through in an amount of time more than sufficient to finish if it had gripped me more.
March 25, 2021
En fantastisk reise rundt Russland sin lange grense. Mye historie på en lett-fattelig og engasjerende måte, samt dags-aktuelle hendelser. Erika er en fantastisk forteller og et menneske jeg gjerne ville hatt som veninne. Anbefales!
February 24, 2024
Knyga, kurią skaičiau beveik du mėnesius. Ir kaip simboliška, kad užbaigiau ją tą dieną, kai sueina 2 metai nuo rusų įsiveržimo į Ukrainą… 2022 m vasario 24 d. mano atmintyje įsirėžė visam gyvenimui. Pirmą kartą gyvenime jutau tokią baimę dėl savo, savo šeimos, savo vaiko ateitį. Momentais viskas, ką darau, atrodė beprasmiškai, kai bet koks susireikšminęs savo fantazijose gyvenantis “antžmogis” gali lengva ranka ateiti ir viską pasiimti.
Tą vasario 24 d daugybę kartų pergyvenau iš naujo, skaitydama apie šalis ir tautas, gyvenančias rusijos pasienyje. Visos jos turi vieną bendrą savybę - visos turi būti pasiruošusios karui, nes su tokia kaimyne niekada nežinai, kada turės būti paimti ginklai. Ar tautos tolimiausiame rytų Azijos pakraštyje, ar vakarų Europos pašonėje - visos jos vienaip ar kitaip nukentėjo nuo šios absurdo kupinos valstybės. Ar ši knyga padėjo suprasti šią šalį? Ne, nes nemanau kad bet koks sveiko proto žmogus gali suvokti joje ar aplinkinėse šalyse vykdomus veiksmus. Bet perskaičius knygą supratau, kad kažkokia beprotybė lydi rusiją nuo pat jos pradžios. Nes panašu, kad nebuvo jokio ilgesnio laikotarpio, kai ji būtų taikiai sugyvenusi su likusiu pasauliu, nekovojusi savo įsivaizduojamų ar net labai realių karų, ir nekonkuravusi visose įmanomose srityje. Absurdas ten, o ne šalis.
Ir laikau 🤞, kad savo ar ne savo noru man niekada nereikėtų joje atsidurti, o Lietuvos sienos šios kaimynės atžvilgiu niekada nepasikeistų.
Tą vasario 24 d daugybę kartų pergyvenau iš naujo, skaitydama apie šalis ir tautas, gyvenančias rusijos pasienyje. Visos jos turi vieną bendrą savybę - visos turi būti pasiruošusios karui, nes su tokia kaimyne niekada nežinai, kada turės būti paimti ginklai. Ar tautos tolimiausiame rytų Azijos pakraštyje, ar vakarų Europos pašonėje - visos jos vienaip ar kitaip nukentėjo nuo šios absurdo kupinos valstybės. Ar ši knyga padėjo suprasti šią šalį? Ne, nes nemanau kad bet koks sveiko proto žmogus gali suvokti joje ar aplinkinėse šalyse vykdomus veiksmus. Bet perskaičius knygą supratau, kad kažkokia beprotybė lydi rusiją nuo pat jos pradžios. Nes panašu, kad nebuvo jokio ilgesnio laikotarpio, kai ji būtų taikiai sugyvenusi su likusiu pasauliu, nekovojusi savo įsivaizduojamų ar net labai realių karų, ir nekonkuravusi visose įmanomose srityje. Absurdas ten, o ne šalis.
Ir laikau 🤞, kad savo ar ne savo noru man niekada nereikėtų joje atsidurti, o Lietuvos sienos šios kaimynės atžvilgiu niekada nepasikeistų.
July 28, 2020
Difetti: un po' troppo lungo, una prospettiva non esacerbatamente ma acclaratamente russofoba (forse per una norvegese è inevitabile), qualche noiosità e superficialità.
Pregi: ben scritto (facile ma non sciatto), gradevole alternanza di attualità e storia, grande interesse politico e umano.
Promosso a pieni voti
Pregi: ben scritto (facile ma non sciatto), gradevole alternanza di attualità e storia, grande interesse politico e umano.
Promosso a pieni voti
March 24, 2021
When a friend and fellow like-minded blogger gave this book a glowing review, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy, and it did not disappoint. Fatland’s memoir/travelogue has something for everyone: history, anthropology, socioeconomics, geography, you name it. Fatland documents her immense journey skirting Russia’s borders with such candor and provides excellent background on all of the locales she visits.
I’ve read a few books on North Korea, but I appreciated her judgement: “Never have I found it so hard to get under the surface of a place. We moved around the same city as them,* we walked the same streets, breathed the same polluted air, but we might as well have been visiting a zoo.” As she travels from east to west, then north, she encounters so many diverse cultures and talks to hundreds of people. “Every day, every waking hour, I had though about Russia. I had talked about Russia with everyone I met along the way, and asked about their relationship with Russia, what they thought about Russia, what it was like to have Russia as a neighbor. In the process, Russia had taken on almost mythic proportions.”
Fatland obviously achieves what she set out to do: educate her readers about what it’s like to live in close proximity to the most notoriously hostile nation on the planet. I was previously unaware of all of the conflict in the Caucasus and how unstable that region has always been. Fatland shows us how cities in European border countries were often damaged or destroyed during WWII. However, all these decades later, “…none of the [fourteen] countries I had travelled through were without wounds or scars left by their neighbor, Russia.” This is a perfect demonstration of the malleability of the empire’s vast borders and its effect on the people who inhabit those spaces. Though her journey was remarkable, the way Fatland presents it on these pages is even more so.
*Pyongyang inhabitants
I’ve read a few books on North Korea, but I appreciated her judgement: “Never have I found it so hard to get under the surface of a place. We moved around the same city as them,* we walked the same streets, breathed the same polluted air, but we might as well have been visiting a zoo.” As she travels from east to west, then north, she encounters so many diverse cultures and talks to hundreds of people. “Every day, every waking hour, I had though about Russia. I had talked about Russia with everyone I met along the way, and asked about their relationship with Russia, what they thought about Russia, what it was like to have Russia as a neighbor. In the process, Russia had taken on almost mythic proportions.”
Fatland obviously achieves what she set out to do: educate her readers about what it’s like to live in close proximity to the most notoriously hostile nation on the planet. I was previously unaware of all of the conflict in the Caucasus and how unstable that region has always been. Fatland shows us how cities in European border countries were often damaged or destroyed during WWII. However, all these decades later, “…none of the [fourteen] countries I had travelled through were without wounds or scars left by their neighbor, Russia.” This is a perfect demonstration of the malleability of the empire’s vast borders and its effect on the people who inhabit those spaces. Though her journey was remarkable, the way Fatland presents it on these pages is even more so.
*Pyongyang inhabitants
May 25, 2021
It's an okay and easy to read book. Her personal experiences are fun to read about, but there's not much particularly novel in the book. The mix of her own experiences, history and anthropology is cool, but the history sections are way too long, especially because they're just rehashing information you could read yourself on wikipedia. For example she spends 20 pages just talking about Mannerheim, which of course, touches upon the history of Finland and its relation to Russia, but it's too much, and this is coming from someone who loves reading history. In general I think Fatland tries to do too much at the same time, and while there are definetively interesting experiences and factoids in the book, it ends up way too long-winded and unstructured. This makes the overarching narrative about Russias geography I think she was trying to make particularly weak and shallow.
That being said it's probably a great read if you know very little about the history, geography and politics of Russia and its bordering states and want it explained in a (mostly) entertaining way.
That being said it's probably a great read if you know very little about the history, geography and politics of Russia and its bordering states and want it explained in a (mostly) entertaining way.
October 5, 2021
En spennende, lærerik og ikke minst svært imponerende bok! Første gang jeg hørte om boka, tenkte jeg at det var et genialt prosjekt, men jeg var veldig spent på hvordan det skulle løses i praksis uten å bli kjedelig. Det har Erika Fatland i stor grad fått til, og gjennom dette har jeg lært utrolig mye om Russland og alle dets 14 naboland (samt utbryterrepublikker). Hun formidler både deres nære og fjerne historie, men kanskje enda viktigere: hun fanger det menneskelige også. Kort oppsummert er dette en god blanding av reisebeskrivelse og fakta. Boka gir meg absolutt lyst til å ta videre fatt på Fatlands forfatterskap!
July 30, 2021
En enorm prestasjon å gjøre reisen rundt Russland til noe mer enn bare en oppramsing av fakta. På tide å plukke opp Duolingo og lære seg russisk igjen.
January 7, 2021
A fabulous book which I hope gains more readers in the months ahead. This travelogue reminds me much of Paul Theroux’s writings, and details a journey through the countries that border Russia, and how their history, politics and cultures have been influenced by their behemoth of a neighbour. So much new information for me as I am not well-read in continental European or central Asian history so it was fascinating, I couldn’t put it down.
December 29, 2020
3,5.
Storkosa meg + den fikk meg ut av en lesetørke, meeen noe med tempo/innhold plager meg. Hadde foretrukket mer dybde fra hvert land i stedet for hele reisen + hadde ønsket meg enda mer Personlig Historier og litt mindre historietimer. Kanskje Sovjetistan er enda mer meg?
Storkosa meg + den fikk meg ut av en lesetørke, meeen noe med tempo/innhold plager meg. Hadde foretrukket mer dybde fra hvert land i stedet for hele reisen + hadde ønsket meg enda mer Personlig Historier og litt mindre historietimer. Kanskje Sovjetistan er enda mer meg?
August 10, 2021
Mais um confinamento e mais uma viagem enorme pela mão da talentosa Erika Fatland. A fronteira da Rússia tem 60 mil quilómetros de distância, é a maior do mundo. Pelas suas linhas limítrofes existentes tantas histórias, paisagens, cidades, culturas e povos diferentes. Um livro maravilhoso.
June 17, 2018
veldig fin med kart og alt
October 31, 2024
4.5
First travelog I have ever read! It was immersive but still full of information. This will not be my last book by her.
Thank you for accompanying your journey for a bit.
First travelog I have ever read! It was immersive but still full of information. This will not be my last book by her.
Thank you for accompanying your journey for a bit.
July 4, 2024
A border is both very real and highly abstract. On a globe, countries are neatly defined, often in different colours, like pieces in a puzzle. In reality, the land mass is continuous: there are no borders in nature, just transitions. It is people who have divided the world up into different colours, separated by lines on the map. P40/41
With an area of 17 million square kilometres and a 60,000 kilometre border, a massive melting pot of countless ethnic groups and nationalities, disparate terrains and multiple histories, Russia doesn’t seem to subscribe to the cliche that ‘size doesn’t matter’.
Journeying for a mammoth 259 days, Norwegian writer, Erika Fatland, has authored an absolutely fascinating book, navigating the border around Russia, getting a sense of what it is like to live in a country that shares a border with this colossal neighbour. While she travelled what would be the longest border on the globe, she also created the longest ever book title to go with it: The Border: A Journey around Russia through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway and the Northeast Passage.
This was an absolute fascinating read. Fatland has a writing style that flows beautifully and in some sense reads like a travel narrative. Yet the book is so much more than a travel book. For me it was a profound insight into the psyche of the entire area of the world. Through interview, conversation, visiting far flung places and delving deeply into the histories of the regions, Fatland has created an insightful almanac of the impacts, influences and impositions of living and being so close to this monstrosity. The impacts are very real. One only has to look at how maps have changed over the last hundred years to see the impact on the shape of the countries making up this vast area. Fatland epitomises this when she writes:
“And none of the countries I had travelled through were without wounds or scars left by their neighbour, Russia. For centuries, the smaller countries and peoples, in particular, had been ground between the millstones of power, torn by wars between the major players, and pulled here and there. Nations have no collective memory; nations have no healed wounds. It is the individuals, millions of them, who carry the scars.” P580
One significant standout for me was an anecdotal interview with Dato Vanishvili, an ordinary Georgian man who woke up one day to discover that the Georgian border had been moved north of his land and that he was now in self proclaimed republic, South Ossetia. “All my life, I have lived in Georgia, and now suddenly I live in South Ossetia….. they do not accept my money… once a month I sneak over the fence to get my pension on the Georgian side…” P319
I can highly recommend this book to anyone who has a love for geography, an interest in geopolitics, and a penchant to understand the many peoples who live along this border and the histories that they are collectively bearing witness to. 5 stars.
With an area of 17 million square kilometres and a 60,000 kilometre border, a massive melting pot of countless ethnic groups and nationalities, disparate terrains and multiple histories, Russia doesn’t seem to subscribe to the cliche that ‘size doesn’t matter’.
Journeying for a mammoth 259 days, Norwegian writer, Erika Fatland, has authored an absolutely fascinating book, navigating the border around Russia, getting a sense of what it is like to live in a country that shares a border with this colossal neighbour. While she travelled what would be the longest border on the globe, she also created the longest ever book title to go with it: The Border: A Journey around Russia through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway and the Northeast Passage.
This was an absolute fascinating read. Fatland has a writing style that flows beautifully and in some sense reads like a travel narrative. Yet the book is so much more than a travel book. For me it was a profound insight into the psyche of the entire area of the world. Through interview, conversation, visiting far flung places and delving deeply into the histories of the regions, Fatland has created an insightful almanac of the impacts, influences and impositions of living and being so close to this monstrosity. The impacts are very real. One only has to look at how maps have changed over the last hundred years to see the impact on the shape of the countries making up this vast area. Fatland epitomises this when she writes:
“And none of the countries I had travelled through were without wounds or scars left by their neighbour, Russia. For centuries, the smaller countries and peoples, in particular, had been ground between the millstones of power, torn by wars between the major players, and pulled here and there. Nations have no collective memory; nations have no healed wounds. It is the individuals, millions of them, who carry the scars.” P580
One significant standout for me was an anecdotal interview with Dato Vanishvili, an ordinary Georgian man who woke up one day to discover that the Georgian border had been moved north of his land and that he was now in self proclaimed republic, South Ossetia. “All my life, I have lived in Georgia, and now suddenly I live in South Ossetia….. they do not accept my money… once a month I sneak over the fence to get my pension on the Georgian side…” P319
I can highly recommend this book to anyone who has a love for geography, an interest in geopolitics, and a penchant to understand the many peoples who live along this border and the histories that they are collectively bearing witness to. 5 stars.
January 31, 2025
Igjen eit godt verk av Fatland. Denne gongen er det russergrensa som står for tur, og kanskje er boki meir aktuell enn nokon gong. Ogso denne gong får ein eit innblikk i flotte skildringar av både land, politikk og folk. Fatland skriv engasjerande og godt, sjølv om det kanskje ikkje alltid når same nivå som tidlegare. Det sistnemde har kanskje ogso litt med interessa.
Kjekt er det uansett å få innblikk i nokso ukjende statar og “statar” langs Russlands grense.
Når det gjeld språket er det gjennomgåande godt, med unnatak av somme rare overkonservative bøyingsendingar, som får meg til å undra😅
Kjekt er det uansett å få innblikk i nokso ukjende statar og “statar” langs Russlands grense.
Når det gjeld språket er det gjennomgåande godt, med unnatak av somme rare overkonservative bøyingsendingar, som får meg til å undra😅
July 15, 2022
Anbefaler denne på det sterkeste! Og anbefaler å høre den som lydbok, da Erika Fatland har en unik fortellerevne (hun leser selv). I tillegg til å skildre møter med til tider svært interessante personer, evner hun å gjøre historie som ofte er langdryg og kjedelig, spennende og fascinerende. Reiseskildringene hennes gir også viktig innsikt i Ukraina-konflikten som man ikke nødvendigvis får andre steder. Virkelig verdt timene!
July 20, 2024
Libro muy recomendable. En esencia, es un libro de viajes. Pero claro, el viaje es por los países que hacen frontera con Rusia, 14, con lo que pasa por países complicados, herméticos, dictaduras… Es muy interesante como se mueve la autora por esos países y cómo va descubriendo diferentes realidades dentro de cada uno. Además, todo tiene un hilo conductor, a veces muy tenue, que es lo que les ha afectado a esos países ser frontera con un país como Rusia, tan agresivo como particular. Está frontera, tantas veces modificada a lo largo de las años, me resulta muy atractiva de recorrer, aunque ahora mismo tenga complicaciones.
April 17, 2021
Dette er en imponerende bok. Flatland har brukt nesten ett år på å reise gjennom Russlands 14 naboland, og da jeg leste den ble jeg pinlig klar over hvor lite jeg kan om disse landene og deres historie. Jeg har lært veldig mye nytt og interessant, men jeg synes den litterære kvaliteten varierer veldig. Boka er på sitt absolutt beste når Flatland beskriver møtene hun gjør underveis på reisen. De er fulle av varme og humor, og illustrerer godt kulturkrasj og medmenneskelighet. Dessverre synes jeg de historiske delene til tider blir veldig oppramsende, og jeg klarer ikke beholde konsentrasjonen gjennom disse passasjene. Hadde disse delene blitt strammet til mer, og lengden på boka vært kutta litt, tror jeg at jeg hadde likt den enda bedre.
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