Customer Reviews

Silverland: A Winter Journey Beyond the Urals

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I have read Dervla Murphy for years and enjoyed her usual open mindedness about people and places,

which did not include polemics. Perhaps it is her age (I am 10 years older) but she seems disenchanted

and possibly depressed by today's world. I do not like US politics, multinational corporations' callous use

of people and the environment, and the abuses of capitalism which are the bete noires throughout her

enjoyable vignettes of the people and experiences of her Siberian travels. But her opinions were not

necessary--one could draw their conclusions from her observations. Her historical background was

excellent and needed. I kept thinking that we of the WW 2 generation are very sad at how the world

has turned out and maybe her exposes were needed for younger readers, but they were superfluous

to my enjoyment.

If you are thinking of traveling through Siberia by slow train in winter, this book is a 'must pack.' Dervla Murphy's account of her second swing through parts of the Russian hinterlands is replete with useful traveler's details. And it is clear that she researched her topic: the pages of 'Silverland' are peppered with long excerpts from European travel accounts (going back even to Roman times).

The most engaging sections involve the author's interactions with various Siberians and her sometimes harrowing depictions of mishaps and hardships.

'Silverland' also documents the severe environmental damage still being done to a landscape so recently pristine--particularly around Lake Baikal--and the resultant damage to human beings who breathe foul air and drink polluted water.

Dervla Murphy strikes a somber note in this book. Her angst at the way the world is run is obvious and blatant. She is long on criticism and short on solutions, not that any reader would expect them. (Not that there are any.)

Having had a long acquaintance with Dervla Murphy's experiences as related in her many books, I can only thank her for her service and wish her well. Each book reveals as much about the author as the subject, and 'Silverland' is no exception.