Customer Reviews

Miles of Experience

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My Mom got this book and was reading it. I liked the picture on the cover, and looked for more pictures. And then Mom asked if I would like to read something about Russia. I was born there, but I don't remember much about it. I started reading just because Mom asked for it, but then I kinda liked it, and read 2 more stories. It is not like anything I read before, almost like fiction, but I still liked it.

I got this book days before 2002 ended, and I have to say, it got my vote for Best Book I've Read This Year. I am a sucker for memoir-based fiction and memoir, especially travel memoir. But Mr. Zubry's deceptively simple style and ability to zing you with "the moral of the story" had me hooked instantly.

The first tale in the book sets up an idyllic scene in ageless Araby. It's Saudi Arabia, but to the generations of simple shopkeepers, life has not changed appreciably in centuries. A father, a shopkeeper in a line of shopkeepers going back to hazy memory has a precious single son. Will his son, who now goes to school 4 hours a day by goverment mandate, be a shopkeeper like him? Or will he aspire to more? He is full of promise, a good boy. The shop comes into some luck--a wealthy group of travelers come to town and patronize the shop. The family is happy to serve their needs while they are in town. But as the story unfolds in Zubry's fable-like tone, you dimly wonder if you aren't being set up for a nasty blow. Oh, you bet you are. But it still comes as a surprise, and I had to read the story twice to grasp the impact as well as the way the author had told the tale.

The other stories are of Zubry's childhood growing up in the Soviet Union, his dreams, his artistic drive, and his travels as he works on projects in Saudia Arabia and in Washington State. Pieces of pure fiction are also to be found--are they stories someone told him or works of pure imagination? I don't know, but each story retains Zubry's unique ability to tell a tale in the simplest words with imagery and deep emotion. They feel "true" --they may be true, but whether or not they actually occurred, they have that element of poetic truth that makes fiction worth reading not only for entertainment but for learning about life.

I highly recommend this book--it should appeal to a wide range of readers due to the variety of the content, the limpid style, and the irresistible pleasure of being told a good tale. Bravo, Mr. Zubry! Write more, please, some more!

I am an avid reader, usually a book per week, and this book is the best I've read in the past year, maybe longer.
Spoiled by centuries proven Chechov, Tolstoy, O'Henry and a few others I was sceptical at first, but as I start reading it I loved it. It is brilliantly imagined, whimsical, funny and thoughtful.
Congratulations To the author!
Congratulations to the readers!

The stranger, the outsider, can see things the native born is not even aware of, for he is not immersed in the culture. He is not taken in by the self-deceptions of the locals. Author Boris Zubry is the ultimate outsider, the wanderer who has transcended many cultures, who sees everything with the simplicity of a child. Perhaps for this reason, he is a master storyteller, a spellbinding raconteur. He is the man you would love to invite over for dinner, and you would listen to him talk for hours. Because he sees what you have missed. And yet, seeing everything as an outsider, he becomes involved in spite of himself. He clearly cares for people, and so, a compassionate warmth pervades his story-telling.

In Miles of Experience he tells stories from his travels. Some are short stories, some essays, some travelogues, some are told as personal experiences, some have an aura of legend. They all convey an intense realism. You don't know if you are reading fiction or actual events, and it doesn't matter. And each little piece has its own dark hook, the twist, sometimes horrifying, that makes it unforgettable. These little pieces will stay with you long after you read them.

Unfortunately--alas--this wonderful book is plagued by poor editing--misspellings, wrong words, grammatical lapses. A good proofreader could have caught most of these; hopefully in a future edition they will be corrected. In the meantime, get the book and read it. I promise you will love it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

I received my copy of Miles of Experience back in August, and read it immediately in two short sittings. A few weeks later the book - still on my desk - caught my sight again. Despite of time shortage, I re-read a couple of novels, with even more intensity, revealing hidden tints of words and details that stirred my memories and feelings. That was amazingly pleasant!

The author of this book is a cosmopolitan, who worked and lived in many countries of the world. He immigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States back in 1978, when he was but a young man, and that strongly influences his work. He used the pages of this book to think, to analyze, to share his thoughts, and to take us to different places, and back in time. I felt traveling with Boris Zubry when I was reading this book. It is a common belief that any artistic work represents the author, his intelligence and his life experiences. It may be true; it should be true. "Miles of Experience" is partly biographical and that makes it even more interesting. Now we can see the author's experiences from his point of view, understanding his inner world and his thoughts better and much deeper. There is no "Political correctness" in this book. Mr. Zubry's thoughts are not guarded in any form. It is a work of a pure cosmopolitan, the citizen of the world. Not all stories are easy to digest. It was for me very painful to read of a Jewish pogrom. It was especially difficult for a reader, who originally came from the Soviet Union. It did happen. I still remember the rotten all the way through Soviet system. But his child's memories are still light and bright. The Saudi Arabian stories, where the author is the author and the observer, are extremely sharp and informative. The author writes about life before and after the war, about difficulties of immigration and the survival in America with its customs and contradictions. All that is done in a lay-back form of short stories, where you can feel the irony and the human pain. Almost all stories have a tragic end and it is not because author does not see another way out. He wants to tell us that we cannot be thoughtless and careless and should not always swim downstream. I could not put the book down, thinking, understanding, crying. Boris Zubry was not just describing the object of his study, he was expressing his relation, understanding and the opinions of the subject. Talent is not just in writing clearly, but in telling the story in your own unique way as well. This book definitely can be characterized by its own style, that makes any author's fantasy true. This book provokes many personal associations and reactions, which could be sometimes different from the authors', but, nevertheless, they make you think of life. The stories are not in any chronological order and that creates an effect of a kaleidoscope. I believe that tells us that author has much more to say and we should only wait for his new books and new successes.

+

I know Boris Zubry. I have never met him, I have never spoken to him, yet I know him. How can this be? Because Mr. Zubry virtually extends his hand in warm greetings from the pages of his wonderful book, MILES OF EXPERIENCE.

Zubry writes in a soothing, conversational style--as if he had pulled up a chair next to you in front of the fireplace to engage in a friendly chat. I heard his Russian accent as I read his stories, stories about his childhood in the former Soviet Union, stories about distant lands and distant cultures, stories about persecution, corruption, intolerance. Most of his stories do not have happy endings, yet the reader still treasures them--still treasures the author for presenting them in such a warm, humanistic manner.

By far, my favorite story (although I enjoyed them all) was "Russian Dedication." Zubry provides a hilarious, yet biting, account of a construction project gone awry to demonstrate the hopeless inefficiency and corruption of the former Soviet Republic. It is more than apparent the author has a genuine love for his homeland and its people, but cared nothing for the Communist government. In fact, Zubry renounced his Soviet citizenship in 1978 and became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Russia's loss is America's gain.

MILES OF EXPERIENCE is highly recommended. As I mentioned earlier, you will get to know Boris Zubry through the pages of this book, and you'll be proud and honored to consider him a friend.

In "Wild Strawberries", one of my favorite stories in this collection, Mr. Zubry states that he always wanted to be a painter, but felt he lacked the talent. In a very real sense, he is a painter, as he writes in a way that gives one a clear visual image of the locale and people who are a part of his stories; stories that come from a life of much travel, and a razor sharp view of the many twists and turns that living a life fearlessly, and open to its many risks, can provide.

He writes in a relaxed, conversational style, as if he was sitting at your kitchen table over a cup of coffee. Though this type of book is not my normal reading fare, I found it to be fascinating, and for the most part, very moving.
One of the most affecting of these tales is "Jewish Blood", about a young man of Jewish descent who is part of Hitler's invasion of Poland; it is poignant and tragic, and very memorable.
Unfortunately, the editor did a poor job of proofreading, and some of the stories are replete with typos, though it does not take away from the impact of the work, and hopefully, future editions will find this corrected.
Mr. Zubry starts each story with a poem, and even the acknowledgments are delightful and in rhyme; the volume is further enhanced by the simple yet extremely appealing illustrations of Zhanna Safro.
Another thing that makes me appreciate this book is Mr. Zubry's feeling for animals. Especially cats ! A man who likes cats has to have a little spot in his heart that is solid gold.

The people of this country, the U.S. of A., have such
limited understanding of what it is really like to be
a Bedouin farmer, or child; wretched people who sit
atop the world's largest oil deposits, but will likely
never share in the profits from U.S. oil companies --
though they may well suffer the throes of a U.S.-led
war for control of that oil, in Iraq at least.

Many of the characters in Boris Zubry's "Miles of
Experience" lack intelligence, but not honor; they go
about their mundane lives, minding their humble
establishments, raising their date palms, with
centuries of tradition to drive them. What know they
of Britney Spears, Austin Powers or the internet?
American readers could take a minute and get to know
these simple Muslims, to see the common bonds we
share.

"Miles of Experience" -- a collection of stories, some
fiction, some memoir -- plods occasionally, with dense
paragraphs and mostly paraphrased dialogue, but also
manages to induce a sort of trance over the reader.
"Ali," the first and best of the collection, has an
almost Phillip Glass-like repetition, lulling the
reader until the final tear-inducing end.

It's a view unto the other side of the world.

Mr. Zubry has offered for readers a thought-provoking collection of essays and stories. They are told with a sharply-etched and compelling point of view. Readers of "Land of Sinbad the Sailor" will learn more about Saudi Arabia than in most textbooks--and they will come away with an understanding of the Mideast's problems that is real and heartfelt. Highly recommended.