Ralph Leighton and the Nobel Prize winning physicist, Richard Feynman, discovered Tuva as boy stamp collectors. As adults they became entranced, or shRalph Leighton and the Nobel Prize winning physicist, Richard Feynman, discovered Tuva as boy stamp collectors. As adults they became entranced, or shall we say obsessed, with this country. Unfortunately, by this time Tuva was no longer a country. It was part of the Soviet Union and the Cold War was at its height. This is the saga of the ten year attempt of the two friends to visit this unusual place.
The book shows the huge changes in research and communication of then (the late 1970s - the 1980s) and now. Leighton describes his trip to many libraries where he used card catalogs to find information. Aerial photos were ordered from the US government (photos with cloud cover were cheaper than photos taken on clear days). Friends sent him newspaper clippings and magazines with any mention of Tuva. Contact with Tuva and Tuvans required clever schemes. Embassies and consulates were visited. Translations were made using English to Russian and Russian to Tuvan dictionaries. When Gorbachev came to power a trip to Russia was possible, but Tuva was still a bridge to far.
Through Feynman’s status in the scientific community and reaching out to any name that could be found for a Tuvan or a Russian in a scientific, cultural or diplomatic position deemed helpful, the two friends built a network. Contacts and “pen pals” did not readily break the logjam but their clever diplomacy bore fruit when Leighton, as a volunteer, performed as an “international finder of traveling museum exhibitions” bringing a show of nomad artifacts to Los Angeles. (This is not Ralph’s first unusual venue, he alludes to training water polo teams, drumming and providing clown diving performances.) Confusing and confounding telegrams with the Russians (now owning their US "friends" a favor) followed.
There are (good and bad) twists and turns for an all around frustrating saga.
The actual trip is summarized in the end with a hint that there will be a book about it in the future. I don’t see that book, but Leighton went on to produce the film “Genghis Blues” about someone else’s trip.
In many ways this book is a paean to Richard Feynman who sounds like a wonderful person....more
While many of our politicians find it in their interest to deny climate change, residents, scientists, oilmen, shippers and even tour guides in the Ar
While many of our politicians find it in their interest to deny climate change, residents, scientists, oilmen, shippers and even tour guides in the Arctic Circle are living with it. Biologist and science/nature writer and editor, Alun Anderson, covers the issues related to warming in the Arctic Circle. While the book is 6 years old, it was an eye opener for me regarding the history, the ecology and the economics of the region.
I was totally unaware of the 1953 relocation of Canada’s Inuit (so Canada could maintain its Arctic claims) or Svalbard’s history of whales and international competition, or how the Yamal Nenet reindeer herders in Russia fared under communism and back to capitalism, nor of the many abandoned mining towns.
The plight of the polar bear is well publicized but, the warm water pouring into the Arctic is bringing in new predators. The changing the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific have wide implications such as abundant fish off the coast of Greenland and the difficulty of restoring cod fishing in the Canadian Maritimes.
The dawn of “ice free” summers brings more shipping, the possibility of more oil exploration and has led to the development of $1.2 billion combination tankers and ice cutters.
Development is moving faster than an institutional infrastructure. As of the writing of the book, and according to Wikipedia, which I checked today, the territorial claims of the 5 nations (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Russia and the US) have not been resolved, putting rights to shipping, oil exploration and a host of other governance questions in limbo.
This is a very informative book. It will be of interest to anyone interested in this region and the impact of climate change.
... added later...
Among the many things I learned.. (perhaps most people know this, but I didn't) a caribou is a reindeer. I was watching one of the Alaska reality shows where the men were desperate to hunt a caribou before winter set in. Interesting that the Alaskans have not developed herding like the Nenet. In today's world, the Nenet don't just take reindeer north for summer grazing... there are a meat packers there (along with the oil industry) so while they take some of the herd back south, the migration has some of the features of a cattle drive....more
Paolo Rumiz and his translator/companion/photographer Monika travel light. With only backpacks and one change of clothes they take trains and buses frPaolo Rumiz and his translator/companion/photographer Monika travel light. With only backpacks and one change of clothes they take trains and buses from northernmost Finland to the Ukraine. Their route is vertical but often zig zags crossing Russia’s western “border zone”/Europe’s frontier” several times.
Paolo and Monika enjoy most the places tourists visit least. They acquainted me with remote places such as Kirkenes (the place of the northernmost internet connection), Monchegorsk (“ the meringue city”), Karelia (the start/end of the arctic circle) and the Solovetskys (the monastery islands). Once they cross over to Estonia, Latvia, Kaliningrad, Poland and points further south they see the influence of the EU, the USA and an intense pace of life.
The descriptions are wonderful, from the processing of crabs with 6 foot claws in Kamchatka, to varied and often ominous border crossings (days long lines for Estonia-Russia) to the curfew for men (not women or boys) in Belarus cities to a shakedown in the Ukraine.
Throughout the trip they note synagogues and an historical Jewish presence, but few Jews. They learn that most who survived the war left in 1990’s when visas became easier to get.
Through conversations with locals (Paolo says you can't learn what is happening from diplomats in airports) you hear that not all are thrilled with the collapse of communism. Alya Andreyevna morns her job in a now vanished day care center and the team spirit of the past. She worries that the wooden houses of her town will be bulldozed to make room for cement buildings. Another woman longs for the order of the past and says there is too much drinking now. The market economy is bringing tourists to the arctic who shoot reindeer for only their antlers and businesspeople who exploit the once shared lands.
I liked the narratives about people with quotes from the everyday conversations. The best was that of Tatiana and Vitaly of Lovozero glimpsing their lives and showing the worry foreign house guests can cause. The portraits of places were good, but had me going to the internet for orientation (how big is this city? Where, exactly is this?).
Despite the depth and beauty of the prose, (kudos to writer and translator) I can’t give it 5 stars. The border-less map was not much of a help and Monika’s photography was frequently cited, but not one picture is included.
Beware the old boy network, not just the spies and crooks who connive themselves into top positions, but their unwitting enablers who accept them for Beware the old boy network, not just the spies and crooks who connive themselves into top positions, but their unwitting enablers who accept them for merely being, on the exterior “like” them. Author Ben MacIntyre shows how this network’s values of trust and loyalty made it incapable of policing itself.
Kim Philby may be the most successful counter-agent ever. He fooled the top spies in Britain and the US. He believed in communism as a youth and through Stalin's purges (inclusive of his handlers) and the growing dysfunction in the Soviet Union he never wavered. He never discussed politics and no one thought that he wouldn't think as they did since he had the right family background, accent, education and manners. He was exceptionally charming and “good” at parties.
MacIntyre shows how Philby’s instincts were spot on. He knew when to “hold them” “fold them” “walk away” and “run”.
Nicholas Elliot of MI6 and James Angleton of the CIA and the others who enabled him paid no consequences for their bad judgment. Those who paid were patriots who died in the undercover operations he betrayed, the agents who informed the west whose names he sent to the Soviets and the many living under the Stalinist rulers he strengthened. He shattered the life of his second wife and the consequences for their 5 children and his third wife are unknown. The impact his treachery had on Angleton did further damage to the CIA.
As a further note on the theme of the old boy network, Nicholas Elliot may be the consummate example. When another spy operation (done against the Prime Minister’s directive) goes sour Elliot says the only problem with it was the way PM Anthony Eden handled it. There is no post mortem, no consideration that Philby, guilty or not, who was by this time circumstantially linked to a mountain of disasters, could have been at fault. The “Afterword” is an interview of Elliot by John LeClarre which reeks of the attitude that enabled Philby.
This is an incredible story. There is a lot on the lifestyle of the British intelligence service of this era and the internal politics. There are photos of just about everyone you want to see. The few times I used the index it worked. While I cheated and went to Wikipedia to know the end of the story, as a testament to the author’s skill, I still stayed up last night to finish it....more
You would think with all that has been written about this family there would be nothing more to say, but as she did with Queen Victoria in A MagnificeYou would think with all that has been written about this family there would be nothing more to say, but as she did with Queen Victoria in A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy, author Helen Rappaport presents a whole new way to look at life as lived by royals.
The Romanov's burned most of their diaries and letters and other primary sources were lost in the Stalinist era. It appears that the author combed all that is known to survive. The result is that while none of the personalities is in focus, we do know something of Olga's and Tatiana's and the sources on Maria and Anastasia are not enough to bring them to life. If you were counting this book's words, there may be more on their mother, Alexandra, than on any of the sisters; but with the exception of background and descriptions, the narrative stays with the sisters' experience.
That the family lives in semi-seclusion may be the result of its desire to hide the hemophilia of the Tsarevich. It seems to be the natural tendency of the Empress. Alexandra is a stay at home mom and does not farm out the care of her children to others as in the norm in royal households; the Emperor is shown to be a very involved dad. This means the sisters have a rich family life, way beyond that common for royal daughters, but also a very sheltered existence.
The girls spend their time on lessons, music, walks and needlework. Meals are formal. There are ceremonies and the girls are permitted to go to a few balls. They enjoy trips to the Crimea and summers on their yacht. They play games like hide and seek into their late teens. The girls' "friends" seem to be those on detail in the palace or the yacht. World War I gives them real world experience as the older girls train as nurses and meet up close and personal, real people from all over Russian.
By all accounts, the girls are as sweet and adorable as their pictures. They are sincere in the beliefs in which they were raised. Olga and Tatiana have crushes on commoners. The information is sketchy, so we do not know how much about these experiences. Their father wants royal marriages, but is in no rush, and the girls seem to have some say.
There is some clarity on the Russian rules of succession. It does not seem difficult to name the daughters as eligible but the family seems so focused on Alexey they do not initiate any change. Despite Nicholas's love for his daughters, this seems to be a bridge he cannot cross forcing the family into extremes to protect their only official heir.
Two things about Alexandra were new to me. One is a plausible explanation as to why after insisting on maintaining her Lutheran faith she suddenly caved and became Orthodox (p. 18). Another is that before Rasputin there was Nizier-Anthelme Phillippe. Rappapport describes how both "holy men" fit in with the superstitions of the times and Alexandra's desperation.
In the last chapter, there was a report on what became of some of staff that attended the family in captivity.
Throughout, besides interesting points from the author's research, was new insight: the novelty of these four princesses and until WWI, the boredom of their lives and the lengths this family went to save their son and keep his illness a secret.
There are a good number of excellent photographs, including what I presume is a rare one of Olga pulling Alexey on sledge in Tobolsk. ...more
Nobel Prize winning John Steinbeck and his photographer friend visit Moscow, the Ukraine, (what was then) Stalingrad, and Georgia in 1947. They stick Nobel Prize winning John Steinbeck and his photographer friend visit Moscow, the Ukraine, (what was then) Stalingrad, and Georgia in 1947. They stick to their mission which is to find out about everyday people: “What do people wear there? What do they serve for dinner? Do they have parties? ….” They did not find out about how they make love or how they die (also in the mission). They are not interested in important people, politics or 5 year plans.
Destruction and the remnants of war are all around. In Moscow, there is an event where people congregate to inspect the military equipment the Germans left behind. In Stalingrad people are living in the rubble. They see German POWs at work rebuilding cities. Steinbeck notes the differences in cities that have been bombed or sieged in battle.
At a Ukraine collective farm, they eat a hearty breakfast and observe the team work in the fields. With so many men lost or wounded in war, the women shoulder this burden. It is hard to believe their cheerfulness as described by Steinbeck. There is simple entertainment in the evening and beautiful places to swim. Georgia has been relatively unscathed by the war and Georgians have adopted Ukrainian orphans.
They are feted as important guests everywhere. The meetings of writers’ groups sound deadly as 20 page manuscripts are read aloud ...and then the translation is read! There is a so much food and drinking, the authors are frequently sick/hung over. Steinbeck gets so he can’t handle vodka.
Airports are frustrating. The episode in leaving Georgia is only funny when the story is told... must have been awful to live through.
While Stalin’s portraits abound this seems to be an extreme bureaucracy and more than a police state. People speak to them freely and no one takes them aside to complain about the government. Outside of Moscow, besides being with their translator/guide/minder, there is no hint of their being watched. All the photos show well fed people, often well dressed and usually happy, but these were probably self-censored since Capa got all his photos back.
On the minus side, the prose, like most of the 1950’s travel literature, is stilted. For a short book, too much space is devoted to the strained relations between the writer and the photographer, and the two of them with their Russian minder. While the pictures are not labeled, they are placed appropriately. Sometimes it is hard to know what you are looking at. For instance the photo on p. 34 must be of Lenin Hills, but the vista hardly looks like Moscow which the Hills are said to overlook; the photo on p. 43 appears to be a fashion show or maybe a quality control examination of clothing. Other photos, such as the 4 portraits on 78-79 would be better in an art gallery than a travel book.
This book fills an important niche because so little exists on daily life in Russia just after the devastation of WW2. Like many plans, the idea originated in a bar by two artists with nothing to do, but unlike most bar-hatched ideas, this one was followed up on. ...more
What Peter Savodnik presents about Oswald in the Soviet Union is good, but, unfortunately, there not much of it. If you eliminate the intro part on hiWhat Peter Savodnik presents about Oswald in the Soviet Union is good, but, unfortunately, there not much of it. If you eliminate the intro part on his childhood and early youth, the author's ruminations on the assassination and the white pages between chapters of this 219 page book, we're down to 170 or so pages. Other chapters are like, but not as extreme as, the Epilogue which starts off on the subject (the KGB silencing the people of Minsk) but meanders into the Kennedy mystique and the author's view of the assassination, reducing its 14 pages to 2 or 3.
It isn't that resources are not available. Savodnik interviewed Ella German, perhaps the love of Oswald's life, and perhaps 2 pages are tied to that interview. Similarly an interview with Ernst Titovets yielded very little. Savodnik's uses his access to Oswald's writing and this enhances the book, but, given the dearth from other sources, you can't help but think there has to be more.
Pricilla McMillan's Marina and Lee provides as much and maybe more background on Minsk as Oswald experienced it (and her book is not about Russia, it's about the couple) suggesting there is a lot more to be known.
There are no photos. It seems a picture of Minsk, the factory where Oswald worked or even an exterior shot of his apartment should not be too difficult to obtain.
At the end, Savidnik concludes that Oswald alone killed Kennedy. The book shows him as a loner and shows how the KGB kept its distance, but nothing about this proves him to be acting alone.
While the book is easily readable, the sparse content makes it a disappointment. ...more
Over the last 5 days, I've just spent much of my free time tagging along with Tim Cope as he traveled by horse from Ulaanbaatar to Hungary. We rode inOver the last 5 days, I've just spent much of my free time tagging along with Tim Cope as he traveled by horse from Ulaanbaatar to Hungary. We rode in freezing and sweltering temperatures, slept yurts, mining camps, under the moon, hiding from the sun, on farms, offices and in the homes of kindly people. We learned horsemanship by doing, avoided bandits, nearly died of thirst (our horses too) and stared down bureaucrats. We met nomads, miners, poachers, oilmen, café owners, black market suppliers and people of little known of tribes and cultures. We drank a lot of vodka and had a romance. Like the author, I hated to see this trip end.
Tim Cope, began as no stranger to wilderness travel. He had bicycled across Russia and rowed a boat 2500 miles from Lake Baikal to the Arctic Circle. This trip was designed to cross the terrain covered by Genghis Khan's army from its Mongolian home to its farthest destination.
Cope is informative on how history has shaped the life the people met along the way, sometimes going back hundreds of years. For instance, the Klamak people, now working to preserve their culture as well as the over-hunted saiga, may have descended from members of Khan's army stranded in Russia. In Kazakhstan more recent history has resulted in a formerly migratory people living on the shells of the collective farms with broken and rusted machinery scattered all about. Kazakhs are still coping with Stalin's collectivization which was accompanied by an influx of Russians making the Kazakhs a minority in their own country. The nomadic way of life was shattered; the Kazakh language was banned. The Tatars, expelled from the Crimea by Stalin, have only been allowed to return since the 1980's and are attempting to rebuild their lives and culture.
Despite the oil boom and recent gold discoveries, there are economic struggles everywhere. Along with the forbidding landscape, and the danger of bandits, there is incredible hospitality in the country. While hospitality is harder to come by in cities Cope was housed for over a month and given help with his horses and visa application in Atyrau, an oil-boom town on the Kazakh-Russian border. At the trip's end in Hungary, Cope was greeted with great fanfare by horse loving people, many seeking connection with their nomadic heritage.
Each chapter covers a county and is introduced by a map, showing all the places on written about. The publisher is generous with color photographs (I wish they were larger). There is a good table of Steppe people and a glossary at the end.
Prior to this, I considered Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier to be my top travel-adventure read. Tim Cope's lovingly written "On the Trail of Genghis Khan" is my new gold-standard for travel-adventure literature. ...more
Through a discussion Louisa Adams' trip of 1815, Michael O'Brien draws a portrait of the life and character of Louisa Adams and the means, methods andThrough a discussion Louisa Adams' trip of 1815, Michael O'Brien draws a portrait of the life and character of Louisa Adams and the means, methods and costs of travel before the combustion engine and the tourist industry.
The initial chapter describes the pomp and pageantry of the Russian Court and the marginal American role in it. O'Brien moves on to the travel preparations and life on the post roads. The text is supplemented by illustrations of the towns, bridges, vehicles, buildings and a few portraits. There are interesting anecdotes about minor historical figures such as Elizabeth Chudleigh, Marquis Fillipo Paulicci, Queen Luise of Prussia and Claude Etienne Michel. There is a good map at the beginning with blow ups focusing on areas of interest. There is a good table of place names at the end and a good index. The supplemental parts of the book are well chosen and a big help to the reader.
The discussion and interpretation of Mrs. Adams' life and character, while good and worthwhile, seems to be forced into the narrative. For instance, "...coming within a mile of the town called by the locals 'Tschudelei'..." brings up the story of Elizabeth Chudleigh who like Mrs. Adams is English and has skeletons in her family closet. This segues into the narrative on Mrs. Adams' birth family. Similarly, the question as to why the threat of Napoleon's army does not deter Mrs. Adams from pushing ahead from Frankfurt to Paris (the answer appears to be family) prompts the discourse on the loss of her daughter, her stultifying marriage and her relations with her in-laws.
The book needs a more descriptive title. The "in winter" part suggests old age, but Louisa Adams is 40 and will live another 37 years. If you then assume "winter" and the travel sub-title refer to the trip through with long nights and snow, you're leaving out the biographical content which is equal to, or may be more meaningful than, the journey content.
I would rate this higher than 3 stars for O'Brien's insights into the Adams family and the re-creation of the trip if it weren't for the rambling nature of the text. Not only is the material on the Adams family sandwiched in, some people and place portraits, while they may be interesting (such as that of Elizabeth Chudleigh), are given a lot of space in proportion to their value to the main two narratives.
Those looking for a travelogue for early 19th century Russia might want to try The Empire of the Czar". While the author too often repeats his views on the Tzar, it gives the best portrait of Russia in this period that I'm aware of. ...more
It is marketed as a memoir and it has the ring of truth. It is not stranger than fiction, but it is strange. These events might have happened; maybe sIt is marketed as a memoir and it has the ring of truth. It is not stranger than fiction, but it is strange. These events might have happened; maybe some of them happened or they happened in a different way. There is the story the author is telling and then there is the portrait of the author.
If what he says is true, the author wears his self-absorption like a crown. He speaks of his insecurities, his fantasies, his enjoyment in manipulating Sophie and more. He does not see the intrusions he is making on the lives of others. Carrere seems to assume that everyone wants 15 minutes of fame (or at least wouldn't mind having it once the life is public), no matter what the fame is for.
The film which is central to this story exists, but does his "ticking time bomb" in Le Monde? Almost anything to do with Sophie, true or not, has a lot that is gratuitously prurient about it.
The people of Kotelnich, ashamed of their poverty, duck the camera. Sasha could lose his job over this (and maybe he did). The author has no stated purpose for making this film, several pages deal with looking for a story line. He seems only to want to film the sadness of these people's lives.
Despite my concern for the people brought into the public realm like this, I did read the whole book. So maybe there is something to the cruel premise (or so it seems) of the memoir. I stayed with it, even through the humiliation of Sophie (he says he loves her but she will never be able to discuss art and literature with his sophisticated friends, after all, she has a job and cannot be as creative as they are) and the ploys he uses to film the sad people of Kotelnich.
It's a side issue, but I was disappointed that Carrere, when he re-connected with Anya, didn't follow up on her statement that the Hungarian POW (who started the Kotelnich adventure) worked in the town and was known by many people. (It's no surprise he didn't care.)
In the end, Carrere dedicates this book to his mother. If the book is true (also, maybe if it isn't - or maybe partially true) in regards to his grandfather, is this the book she would want (particularly with its conclusions about her father) as a gift from her son?
If you like a sophisticated, sexy, paradoxical narrative, this book is for you. If you don't concern yourself over its veracity (or its potential effects on Sophie, his mother or the people of Kotelnich), it will be a fun, if at times shocking, romp. I read it over a 24 hour period and you may too. ...more
Ian Frazer chronicles his 5 trips to Siberia in engaging prose. He integrates the travelogue with interesting material from his extensive reading. WhiIan Frazer chronicles his 5 trips to Siberia in engaging prose. He integrates the travelogue with interesting material from his extensive reading. While I presume much of this was created as short pieces, it has the feel that it was written as a complete work. While most of the pages turn themselves, the best parts are those of the 2001 and 2005 (2006?) trips.
I usually put down books that don't get me "there" in 20 pages. Frazer's writing was so good, I stayed with him through the first 150 pages even though there was very little on his Siberian travels at this point. Instead, there was good history and background on Siberia, a description of how he prepared for his trips and a description of his time in Alaska.
The 2001 trip is a tale of 3 guys, a lot of vodka and even more mosquitoes. Besides the recount of people and places there are some amazing car and driver stories. The descriptions of the trash/litter (you can literally find the part you need for your broken down car in these piles of trash), the weddings on the road and travel in an auto transport rail car (and night in the train yard in the box car) are amazing. The trip home, in the aftermath of 9/11 is as movingly told as it must have been lived.
The fourth trip has some narrative highlights, such as travel on ice roads, "tourist accommodations" and a climax (if a travel book has such a thing) of a trip to a former prison camp. This trip has some verbatim interviews with people who have interesting things to say. Supposedly Frazer has more tapes from these trips, and their transcripts, along with an intro of the person and place would make excellent book on its own.
The fifth trip in 2009 is short but interesting by way of comparison to past experiences. A great piece of prose is the comparison of the 2009 Aeroflot flight to those of the (recent) past.
I was struck by the number of museums in Siberia (even tiny towns have them) and the ingenuity of the Russian people. Frazer encounters fully handmade structures, built without even a factory made nail. Guide/colleague/driver Sergei Lunev can fix a car without tools.
The book's weakness is its photos. The photo of Georgette Mossbacher doesn't belong, most readers will know what Lenin looked like, and the Decembrists waste a page. A few visuals begging to be seen are those of Siberians (i.e. the Even children in traditional garb or a road wedding bride or museum guides with artifacts), accommodations (or campsites), roads (particularly crossing a puddle on an ice road) or the vehicular rail transport. The line drawings, with few exceptions, are too generic to add to the narrative. One exception on p. 377 fully defines the point Fraser is making about the surprising amount of ornate detail found in the town of Severobaikalsk. All graphics are forgiven due to the excellent map that shows all the cities discussed in the book.
I found this through the 2010 NY Times top 100 book list and it surely is. The writing and the integration of research are superb. ...more
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