Among the Russians [Paperback]

Colin Thubron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2000

Here is a fresh perspective on the last tumultuous years of the Soviet Union and an exquisitely poetic travelogue.With a keen grasp of Russia's history, a deep appreciation for its architecture and iconography, and an inexhaustible enthusiasm for its people and its culture, Colin Thubron is the perfect guide to a country most of us will never get to know firsthand. Here, we can walk down western Russia's country roads, rest in its villages, and explore some of the most engaging cities in the world. Beautifully written and infinitely insightful, Among the Russians is vivid, compelling travel writing that will also appeal to readers of history and current events—and to anyone captivated by the shape and texture of one of the world's most enigmatic culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is no travel writer working today in English who possesses such a remarkable combination of the observant and the lyric gifts--the most poetic of us all."-- Jan Morris --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st Perennial ed edition (December 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060959290
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959296
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Travel > Asia > Russia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Glimpse into Life in Communist Russia in the 1980s, May 18, 2007

By 

vabookreader "Jeff Hotz" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among the Russians (Paperback)

Colin Thubron's _Among the Russians_ (1983) offers a compelling picture of the Soviet Union in 1980, at the moment of its serious, irrevocable decline. Thubron examines day-to-day life in Western Russia, Estonia, Belarus ("White Russia"), Ukraine, and Georgia, near the end of Leonid Brezhnev's premiership. He finds despair and cynicism, as well as an unshakeable sense of humor about life under communist rule.

Thubron's work is a travel narrative, an account of a car trip that he took alone in 1980 that was planned and approved by the Intotourist, the Soviet tourism board. Traveling as a "building company director," Thubron meets many people along the way. He talks with Russian and eastern bloc tourists at the campsites where he spends the night, locals in cities and towns, and dissidents whose addresses he has received from associates in Great Britain. Thubron also describes run-ins with police officials who are shocked to see a foreigner traveling alone by car in a British car. The first question he is asked while registering for his first overnight campsite stay is "Are you a group?," which Thubron describes as a "quintessential Russian question."

Intermingled with his descriptions of the landscape and important historical sites, Thubron recounts various escapades, stories of people offering to buy his clothes (especially his jeans), of the advances lonely women who see him as a way to escape to the West (or to have an escape for a day), of many vodka guzzling evenings, of officious Intourist tourist guides, and of the talk of dissidents who seem unconcerned that their homes are bugged. Thubron offers his own insights about lesser known sites, like the Josef Stalin museum in Gori, Georgia, Stalin's hometown. In an exciting passage near the end of the work, Thubron describes how security personel in two white Volgas tail him all the way to the Romanian border.

Throughout, Thubron expresses a Western sensibility and skepticism about the Soviet Union. His narrative mixes a blend of awe for the accomplishments of the Russian people and horror for what the Russians have endured and suffered. In fact, the book begins with an admission of his long-held fears about Russia, dating back to grade school when he first viewed in awe maps of the Soviet Union stretching across the globe.

Thubron's prose style is both poetic and urbane (with an impressive vocabulary); he recounts many unforgettable episodes. The book ends where it begins with Thubron marveling at the vastness of Russia, an impression that the reader will remember, too.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flower in the Crannied Wall, October 17, 2001

By 

Nadroj (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among the Russians (Paperback)

Ride around with Thubron in the last years of the crumbling Soviet Union. He takes you into the apartment buildings to find some of the most interesting -- and heartening -- testaments to human color ever encountered in travel writing.

There are some truly jaw-dropping observations made by our driver as he stumbles upon people who are dealing with oppression in ways that "westerners" have never had to imagine.
Through the vodka, through the endlessly repeating housing blocs, Thubron takes us to a deeper, more personal understanding of life under the Soviets. On the way, he introduces us to individuals (yes, strong individuals) that are not easy to forget.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed account of travels through a vast land, July 20, 2004

By 

J - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among the Russians (Paperback)

As an interested reader of the Soviet Union and Russian culture, I picked this book up two years after I read In Siberia. I was amazed at the amount of detail the author poured into his journeys across the Soviet Union. He was able to visit the Russian citizens, homesteads of famous icons of years back (Tolstoy among them) and see cathedrals we can only see in pictures. His writing style and demeanor may strike readers as distant and unattached but he went over there to observe and he did not observe this place through rose-colored lenses-he showed us what Russia was really like in 1980. If you strictly want to read about Russia, you may be disappointed when you read the material towards the end which is about Georgia and Armenia, but my ignorance of those former republics were replaced with notions that they might be more beautiful and more interesting than all of Western Russia. The whole way through you will be captivated, appalled and intrigued with his journey. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Russian culture.