Customer Reviews

Reeling In Russia: An American Angler In Russia

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

 

 

A great deal has been written about what was once the Soviet Union. Some predates the formation of what Ronald Reagan once called "the evil empire" and other parts cover the years since its dissolution. A couple of volumes--John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World and David Remnick's Lenin's Tomb--even appeared on the list of this century's one-hundred most important pieces of journalism. Maybe the number of books about this part of the world will eventually rival the biographies of Marilyn Monroe in total words. One of the latest entries in this literature, and certainly one of the best, is Fen Montaigne's Reeling in Russia. I have two friends now engaged in commerce in this part of the globe and each loudly proclaims this work the best representation of the lives of the Russian people. Some critics have compared Montaigne, for five years the Moscow correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer, to Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux. For me, though, the two writers who come to mind are James/Jan Morris and Jonathan Raban. Both of them qualify as "travel writers"; more than that, they uncannily capture the essence and the spirit of the people about whom they write. Montaigne has a literal "hook" around which he constructs his narrative. He fishes his way around the former Soviet Union. With fly rod in hand he travels from place to place, specific types of fish in exotic locales his quarry. Classifying this as a fishing book though is like categorizing Moby Dick as a story about a whale. Montaigne, neither a particularly accomplished fisherman nor an even mildly obsessed one, has a much bigger target. He wants to learn what has happened to the people among whom he lived and worked. And he also desires to find out about the types of Russians who inhabit some of the far stretches of a country he did not previously have the time or freedom to explore. From his very first adventure, near the Solovetsky Islands in northern Russia, Montaigne has his readers hooked. His impassioned and well-crafted prose connects us with types of Russians who seldom make it in front of cameras (or authors for that matter). We learn of their hopes and much more often about their frustrations. We follow him around the world's largest country, soaking up both important facts and fascinating trivia. Along the way, the author paints portraits of memorable individuals and the Russian people as a whole. There are no acceptable excuses to not buy and read this book. If you have no interest in fishing you have nothing to fear. If fishing makes your blood run as cold as that of these swimming creatures, both large and small, you will find else much in Reeling in Russia to keep you fully engaged. If you happen to actually like this sport you will have an extra bonus; you can imagine yourself in the flywaters in which Montaigne wades and learn about a fascinating people in the process.

George A. Singer

I do a fair amount of work in Russia, so I was interested in Reeling in Russia to deepen my understanding of this complex country. Essentially a travel diary, this book provides a very personal view of the author's fishing trip through Russia, remarkably made almost exclusively by land and water. Given his fluency in Russian and his laid-back--bordering on reckless--approach to travel planning, Montaigne's book provides a fascinating and truly unique view of Russia in 1996. This approach, however, is also the book's weakness. Montaigne's encounters are wonderful to read in and of themselves, but they rarely add up to more than snapshots of a point in time. Montaigne's journalistic background prevails as he recounts the here and now (actually the then and there in '96) without fleshing things out into a more enduring book. So if you're looking for an analysis or current history of Russia's transition out of the Soviet period, you will probably not be satisfied with this book. Otherwise, I do recommend Reeling in Russia for those seeking a tale of adventures crossing the chaos and desolation of 'early post-Soviet Russia', in meeting some of the human faces of this extraordinary culture, or simply for fans of this diary style of travel writing.

I could not put this book down! His descriptions of everyday Russians and their fight for survival was riveting. When he described sights, sounds and smells, I could see, hear and smell each one. I am going to re-read this one many times over. I've never been to Russia, but this book took me there!

I admit I read this book because it was about fly-fishing and traveling through Russia, a country I have never been to but have always been intrigued by. What I found in this book was a heart-rendering journey through a land ravaged by corruption, hunger and politics, tempered with humor and the determination of a people determined to survive. This is not just a travelogue on fly--fishing, it is a book that takes you through a country that few outsiders will ever see . At times gripping or sad, then funny or heartwarming, sometimes all at the same time! Whether you fly-fish or not, you won't want to put this book down!

Enjoyable reading for the adventure and most importantly for his descriptions of the people he encounters, and his understanding of the Russian people generally. Having spent a brief time (3 weeks) in Vladivostok, Russia, I was curious if any of my perceptions would be verified in this book. Indeed they were, and I gained even more insights into the people of this diverse country.I would never have had the courage to make the trip the author made alone, but I would have loved to go with him. Now I have made the trip through his book. I am grateful for the experience. Not being a fisherman, I can't comment on that aspect of the book. I'm just glad he didn't devout too much space to this aspect of the experience. I will give the book to my brother-in-law. (He's the fisherman)

Author managed to convince his wife, Russia and an editor that he was writing a book on fly fishing by going across the Russian steppe from West to East meeting with local fly fishermen and trading tips.
However finding out there was a grand total of about 150 fly fishermen across a nation of 200 million people he started to write about the actual experiences of meeting and finding these people and the conditions they lived in.
A great look at modern life in Russia, continually amazed that everyone operated under fog of an alcoholic haze that permeated everyone.

I am Russian citizen over 54 years young living and fishing on the Russian Far East (for Americans - Siberia).This the only English book I was able to read from cover to cover nonstop. Great and not a safe trip even for top Russian traveler. Not to much about fishing, but great story on Russian country side and Russian people. On one of my trip to the USA I give Fen phone call and left message on his answering machine to tell him how much I was impressed by his trip and book. He sent e-mail with appreciation back to me in Russia.
Surprisingly I found this book translated into Spanish :[...]
Highly recomend to people who want to know more about Russains in deep.

The author crosses 14 time zones searching for the perfect place to practice his fly fishing hobby. Traveling off the beaten path, he encounters and effectively describes life in post-Soviet Russia. Poverty, lethargy, crime, and an occaisional instance of hope for the future. An easy, sometimes humorous read.

This book is a travel journal that takes us through the far corners of rural Russia, from Murmansk to Kamchatka. Montaigne's fly-fishing hobby takes him well off the beaten path, to explore the wilds of the backwoods and streams. Along the way, of course, he must pass through small towns and stay with friends and acquaintances in tiny villages. Most of the text is a very vivid, journalistic description of conditions in small town Russia and Siberia today, almost 10 years after the fall of Communism. His analyses of conditions on the ground are comparable to those of other travel-journalists, such as Robert Kaplan. However, he visits places that are unknown for even people like Kaplan, since he avoids the big cities altogether. What struck me while reading this book was how much backwoods Russia is a poor, developing country, with no running water or functioning government services. This makes aspects of Montaigne's travel journal quite comparable to those of writers visiting Nepal or India. Yet, one rarely reads of travel adventures in a European Third World, making this book very unique.

All of the prose is not about people and their problems, however, since this is after all, a fishing trip. Montaigne does an admirable job of describing his efforts at fly fishing. Through reading this book, I began to get an inkling for the first time of what the sport of fly fishing is all about. I'm much more interested in culture and travel than fishing, but Montaigne's fishing episodes were written well enough to hold my interest. On the other hand, serious fly fishing enthusiasts may be looking for more about fish than this book provides.

This is not a fishing book. It is a serious study of modern day Russia, warts and all. It is an introspective study through a 7000 mile fishing journey of the Russian people and their attitudes to their govenrment, to their lives and to their destiny. It is a journey through the frightening past as well the terrifying unknown future. One should not read the newspapers these days without fully understanding the Russian people found in this book and the political paralysis that is their government..