From Russia through Central Asia with two very different books

25th July 2022

From Russia through Central Asia with two very different books.

I don’t know about you, but my knowledge of the Russian influence on Central Asia, to wit “Sovietstan”, a union of countries under the iron grip of Russia (which fell apart in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union) is lamentable. So I thought by reading Exit Rostov by Henry Virgin, and Sovietistan by Erika Fatland, one after the other, I would perhaps gain a broader spectrum of insight.

Sovietistan by Erika Fatland, TR Kari Dickson

Erika Fatland chose to travel through the countries that used to form the furthest border of the Soviet Union and comprise Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They all have very different cultures and landscapes that were swept up under Russian rule for over a century.

She has such colourful encounters – one of the drivers she encounters laments the paperwork and and difficulty now in crossing boarders between the ‘Stans – prior to 1991 it proved pretty seamless, whereas now it is a chaotic mess.

Everywhere there is still terrific poverty and evidence of rudimentary (by Western standards) farming methods. Contrast that with shopping centres with classy items and restaurants featuring sushi and pasta, which she encounters within city confines. She passes through towns made of incredibly white marble and then through desert swathes, the sand twinkling with a terrific range of colours.

There is history and of course mention of Genghis Khan, and empires, turbulence and times of stability.

She says: “For me, one of the best indicators of how a country is doing is its bookshops. The selection of books on the shelves says more about the country’s inhabitants and politicians than all the exhibitions in all the national museums“. Mira’s  bookshop in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) offered a depressing insight for sure!

In a way this travelogue opens up a whole new world, with – naturally – a wealth of history. The book is readable and informative and definitely one to pick up if you are heading out the Stans.

SHORTLISTED FOR EDWARD STANFORD/LONELY PLANET DEBUT TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 2020

Exit Rostov by Henry Virgin

Exit Rostov by Henry Virgin is a very different book. It is fiction but it offers a sumptuous level of history and culture as the story bowls along. In essence, Frederick is searching for his friend Cazimir, who has gone missing, and he travels down from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don, where he takes up a position teaching English. This allows him the time to investigate the disappearance. Rostov-on-Don is in Southern Russia in Yaroslavl Oblast.

The construct of the book is interesting. It is a small format book measuring 17.5 x 11 x 3.5cm. It comprises an almalgam of different storytelling devices – at the heart is Frederick’s story, with snapshots from Caz’s diary entries, interspersed by gouache and watercolour sketches (reminiscent of the Expressionists), together with photos of locale to heighten the sense of place. All these are, I gather, executed by the author. There are detailed maps as he moves around the country and from place to place, and all serve to break up the narrative. it is quite a Brechtian experience, as the dialogue is often curt and short, an image will break the flow and then the shift of pace changes.

It is a very small but thick book, which is beautifully presented. However, I am not into spine cracking but in order to be able to read right into the heart of the page joins, you have to pull the book hard apart with a yank at every turn of the page. This takes constant effort throughout the reading process, which is a bit wearing on the biceps and thumb joints; it may be small but it sure is heavy to hold. The spine of the book is so resilient that the covers curve, but the spine remains resilient. Generally, this makes the experience overall feel like a dense encounter with words, and perhaps underlines why the majority of books are of a certain, uniform size. A great size, though, for popping in your pocket. Overall it’s good  and worth picking up if you want to get a good sense of Russia and its ways.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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