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mogreig's review against another edition
4.0
A great read. Fun as well as informative. Dashes of political amongst the travel and adventure.
glitteringimages's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.25
You know how every book about Russia gets a ridiculous cover design with a pseudo-cyrillic typeface? This one deserves it.
“Underground there was no horizon. Underground the people moved in halting steps, moved as one, moved four abreast to ride down, deep down beneath the city. The earth swallowed them, corralled them, unnamed them as the metallic shriek rose up to strike them dumb. No one talked above the whine of the motors. No one stood out. Once or twice the odd traveler dared to shout, leaning towards his fellows, his warm breath brushing their ears. Otherwise the mass - ten million souls every day - moved through the deafening noise, unable or unwilling to be heard.”
- Rory MacLean, apparently discovering the concept of a subway for the first time in Moscow.
There is some beautiful imagery and there are some genuinely informative interviews. There are also some small factual errors (see Louis Train’s review) that made me question if this was really the best source to fill in the gaps of my historical knowledge.
I’m confused by the smarmy tone MacLean takes throughout this political text (it is miscategorized as a travelogue), in contrast to how likable a person he must be to form such quick and unlikely friendships on his travels. He can interview subjects with sensitivity, but people (usually women) in the background are window dressing, described in demeaning terms. Anyone who disagrees with his politics (which I largely agree with!) is misled, deceiving themselves, simply doesn’t understand their own experiences..
Our glorious leaders vs. their wicked despot, etc.
“Underground there was no horizon. Underground the people moved in halting steps, moved as one, moved four abreast to ride down, deep down beneath the city. The earth swallowed them, corralled them, unnamed them as the metallic shriek rose up to strike them dumb. No one talked above the whine of the motors. No one stood out. Once or twice the odd traveler dared to shout, leaning towards his fellows, his warm breath brushing their ears. Otherwise the mass - ten million souls every day - moved through the deafening noise, unable or unwilling to be heard.”
- Rory MacLean, apparently discovering the concept of a subway for the first time in Moscow.
There is some beautiful imagery and there are some genuinely informative interviews. There are also some small factual errors (see Louis Train’s review) that made me question if this was really the best source to fill in the gaps of my historical knowledge.
I’m confused by the smarmy tone MacLean takes throughout this political text (it is miscategorized as a travelogue), in contrast to how likable a person he must be to form such quick and unlikely friendships on his travels. He can interview subjects with sensitivity, but people (usually women) in the background are window dressing, described in demeaning terms. Anyone who disagrees with his politics (which I largely agree with!) is misled, deceiving themselves, simply doesn’t understand their own experiences..
Our glorious leaders vs. their wicked despot, etc.
miffyhelen's review against another edition
4.0
Good lord, that was tough reading. In some ways it is essential but I really struggled to find any hope, each chapter sapping it away as you realise just what the rest of Europe is doing. I kept getting so angry at the way of the world. I'll never be reading this again but I am very glad I've read it.
cofetty's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the general message of the book regarding nationalism rearing its ugly head all over Europe. I agree with the author on the importance of the topic and the need to stop the hatred and love thy neighbour. I enjoyed the thread of plot woven throughout the book with MacLean crossing paths with the same characters over and over.
What I really dislike was the writing. Lengthy, boring and seemingly irrelevant descriptions made me think of my school papers where the word count was just a third of the required amount after I'd put in all the facts and I would proceed with filling the text with meaningless prose. I feel like the message of this book could have been compressed into half the volume and it would've made a more enjoyable read.
Also, Russians don't toast with na zdorovie. Consider using something else than Hollywood films for linguistic and cultural references in the future. Russians say za zdorovie which translates as "to your health". Na zdorovie is the Polish version, in Russian it means "you're welcome" as in a response to someone thanking you.
What I really dislike was the writing. Lengthy, boring and seemingly irrelevant descriptions made me think of my school papers where the word count was just a third of the required amount after I'd put in all the facts and I would proceed with filling the text with meaningless prose. I feel like the message of this book could have been compressed into half the volume and it would've made a more enjoyable read.
Also, Russians don't toast with na zdorovie. Consider using something else than Hollywood films for linguistic and cultural references in the future. Russians say za zdorovie which translates as "to your health". Na zdorovie is the Polish version, in Russian it means "you're welcome" as in a response to someone thanking you.
dominika_benmichael's review against another edition
2.0
This is my first book of the genre; I don't think it's for me. The insight into lives and thoughts of ordinary folks in other nations and situations is very interesting to read, but as a whole it feels both too detailed and not detailed enough with 6 months of travel distilled into ~10 very vivid experiences.
anekov's review against another edition
5.0
30 years after his initial journey from Berlin to Moscow, travel writer Rory MacLean once again visits the countries of the former Eastern bloc - from Russia all the way to Germany, through Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Belarus and Hungary. He explores the politics then and now, records the experiences and ways of life of old and new acquaintances, and gives a bleak outlook on the dream of European unity.
MacLean paints an increasingly nationalistic and xenophobic picture throughout Eastern Europe. More than once I wished he was exaggerating for the sake of the story but as a Hungarian his account sadly rings very true.
Very well written and highly recommendable!
MacLean paints an increasingly nationalistic and xenophobic picture throughout Eastern Europe. More than once I wished he was exaggerating for the sake of the story but as a Hungarian his account sadly rings very true.
Very well written and highly recommendable!
debo03's review against another edition
3.0
Nice narrative style, but at the expense of naming the sources, which would've been very helpful in a report that tries to take a stance for truth amongst right-wing media and hate speech. So as a travel report very exciting and gripping and stylistically appealing, but with a political agenda in mind (nevermind which one that actually is and whether you agree with it) not quite the execution I would've expected.
rosseroo's review
4.0
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Canadian travel writer/historian MacLean set out on a road trip through formerly inaccessible Eastern Europe, which he chronicled in his debut book, Stalin's Nose. Some thirty years later, he revisited those places to learn what has taken root in the intervening years. The first third of the book is devoted to Russia, before moving on to Estonia, Transnistria, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and finally Britain.
He's a travel writer with a good eye and ear for drawing the reader into the scene -- which is a bit of a double-edged sword in this instance, since the book is pretty depressing for anyone with humanist values. The hope raised by the end of the Iron Curtain has largely given way to one authoritarian populist kleptocracy after another, with corruption, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and fake news at the heart of it all.
Throughout the trip, he talks with some exceptional people (and some truly awful ones as well), and while there are glimmers of hope and humanity to be found, it's hard to see how such voices will prevail over the guns and money that dictate who makes the decisions that cause suffering. It's a very uncomfortable read in, and even though America is never really mentioned that I can recall, it's hard not to draw depressing parallels.
He's a travel writer with a good eye and ear for drawing the reader into the scene -- which is a bit of a double-edged sword in this instance, since the book is pretty depressing for anyone with humanist values. The hope raised by the end of the Iron Curtain has largely given way to one authoritarian populist kleptocracy after another, with corruption, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and fake news at the heart of it all.
Throughout the trip, he talks with some exceptional people (and some truly awful ones as well), and while there are glimmers of hope and humanity to be found, it's hard to see how such voices will prevail over the guns and money that dictate who makes the decisions that cause suffering. It's a very uncomfortable read in, and even though America is never really mentioned that I can recall, it's hard not to draw depressing parallels.
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