Travels in Siberia

A writer with self-professed "Russia Love", Ian Frazier thoroughly documents (complete with background history and any other vignette he finds interesting) his five trips to Siberia - the last in 2009. Luckily for Frazier, I'm a history and interesting fact lover, and so I didn't mind his literary departures from strict travelogue.For those who love to travel and love to read books about travel, this is a gem. Especially since I doubt I will ever travel to Siberia. After reading Frazier's book, I honestly don't think I'd ever want to. As a North Dakota native, Siberia reminds me of the uglier step-sister of my state. They look alike - they are both endless expanses of plains (although Siberia does have forests), the "mountains" are really just a few hills, it's filled with mosquitoes in the summertime and it's very, very cold in the winter. The people seem nice in both places, but the culture is so very different. Bribes are commonplace in Russia, and efficiency is non-existent. In fact, Frazier's description of Siberian towns reminds me of walking into the late 20th century with a liberal sprinkling of garbage for decoration.Like North Dakota, eastern Russia is sitting on some huge natural resources. It's oil deposits make it currently the largest oil producer in the world. The last chapter of Travels in Siberia is a fascinating look at how oil production and Vladimir Putin's nationalizing the companies in this industry have made him and Russia a super economic power. Given that these comments were four years old, I just had to do a little research to see how this has changed in light of America's surge in oil production due to fracking. It seems, not surprisingly, that centralized decision making is going to leave Russia's energy-based economy in the dust. They don't modernize, they don't invest, and as of today, their exports are shrinking by double digit percentages. Frazier's story of Russian negotiating tactics (ie, hanging the company representative upside down out of a flying helicopter to get them to sign an agreement favorable to Russia), leaves to me believe that few outside companies will be willing to help Russia come into the 21st century of oil production. That, and the threat of Putin stealing intellectual and real property. It's no wonder the the United States is predicted to be the leader in oil production within the next four years. Travels in Siberia  is a fascinating book about an area of the world we seldom hear about.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. I am learning Russian and took my own first trip to the country this year; there is so much to learn and discover about Russia and I appreciated Frazier's interesting, concise and occasionally humorous lessons on the country's history, culture and geography. Indeed, I found myself laughing out loud at several passages - a valued experience during a good read for me!Nonetheless, as much as I appreciate seeing an author's sense of humor and personality shine through a narrative like this, I found parts of Frazier's discourse to be simply grating and tinged with a familiarly uncomfortable, unmistakable East Coast self-importance. As many times as Frazier may call himself a Midwesterner in the text, his worldview is clearly that of an affluent New Yorker. This is perfectly evidenced by his reference to his guide/trip organizer/translator/mechanic throughout Siberia as his `driver'. It took a native Russian teacher later to point out to him that he should call the talented person who shepherded him (and his expensive fishing rods) across thousands of miles of Siberia his `colleague' instead (also worth pointing out that in addition to this man's guide credentials, he's the head of the robotics lab at St. Petersburg State University, hardly a `driver' qualification).Frazier goes on to display a latent sexism in a passage about the beauty of post-soviet-era Russian women. He marvels at the `beautiful women walking everywhere' in Krasnoyarsk, recalling a negative Cold War American stereotype of Russian female appearance and questioning its origins. In his quest to figure out how Russian women apparently became beautiful, he examines historical male perceptions of Russian women (including that of John Quincy Adams), questions a Russian male friend and then finally agrees with the theory of an American male economist that compares Russian female beauty to a commodity crop. Not once does he ask Russian female friends about this apparent phenomenon; had he taken this simple and evident approach, he might have heard numerous, more logical explanations, including the simple reason of the sudden availability of Western fashions after the fall of Communism.In general, and as other reviewers on Amazon have pointed out, Frazier's attitude and approach keeps him tied to a high-way or zipped up in a one-man tent for good portion of his travels. As his Russian `drivers' go into towns and villages in the evening and get to know the local people and culture, letting the flow of the journey lead them to new experiences and friends, the author remains a somewhat hesitant observer. His obstinate request to see a Siberian prison causes an obvious cultural disconnect and tension between himself and the Russian guides; once again baring his East Coast mind-set, he seems to believe that the simple act of paying them to show him a prison should override their evident discomfort with exploring this aspect of Russian history.On the whole, I liked this book. My repeated bouts of irritation with the author's personality, however, chip two stars off of my rating.

The baseball-cap author Ian Frazier should get over his own problems of comparing and putting everything down he sees in Russia. His book Travels in Siberia has well-researched history, which we can copy and get everywhere. When it comes to his actual trip to Siberia, I stopped reading at Page 200. Too self-indulgent, too bitchy for my taste. Instead of looking with fresh eyes, like George Kennan or the author of The Tiger, he just whines about his own discomfort with a satellite phone etcetera in the wilderness, while handing out red-neck presents like the US Statue of Liberty on a keychain. Really? Could not think of a more useful present to the locals?Don't buy this book. It's overrated by the five stars his friends gave him. This author should stay home in Ohio and mind his manicured garden. Siberia is for real explorers, like Alexander von Humboldt, not for an American like Ian Frazier who cannot overcome his own American prejudice to really see what's there beyond the surface.

I read this after a recent, much shorter trip to Kamchatka & Easter Siberia. It is a delightful exploration of a vast unknown world. The book Tiger & the amazon film, Last Roar of the Tiger, are also excellent peaks into this world. Like Frazier, I also have a tendency to that strange ailment of "Russia love". One wonders if the bizarre western antagonism to Russia represents a counterphobic response to the allure of this vast land & its people & culture .

For many of us in Europe, the very word "Siberia" has a meaning far beyond a geographical location. Endless forest, exile,salt mines,a prison without walls, wolves, bitter winter, take your pick... How many of us ever have a mental picture of Siberia bathed in sunshine?The author has made a valiant attempt at tackling some of the images mentioned above, sometimes challenging, sometimes seemingly confirming our preconceived ideas of the land and its people.The book resembles a building site of half fulfilled ideas,two dimensional character portraits, and broken plot lines.It is as if the concept of Siberia itself, the sheer scale of it, has overwhelmed both the Author and editor from reducing the mass of material and experiences gathered to a manageable size.There are probably two good books in here trying to get out, one on the history and development of Siberia, and one an account of the personal travel experiences of the Author. Sadly the Author has failed to successfully weld the two genres together and the reader is left with a disjointed book less than the sum of its parts. Try "In Siberia" by Colin Thubron instead,a far more satisfying read.

Me encanta leer libros de viajes y sentir la evocación de viajar por lugares remotos como si estuvieras alli. El autor sabe trasladar la pasión que siente por los lugares que recorre y ello ayuda mucho a reforzar tu atracción y encanto por esos lugares. Encantador. Espero poder visitar dentro de poco algunos de esos lugares y libros como este serán una buena compañía añadida para los ratos de lectura.

I'd give this book to my favourite people, in hardcover even, because I enjoyed it so much. Informative, insightful and entertaining, it leaves one with a better understanding of Russia, and, one hopes, of the Russian people. As a hard-core travel-in-uttermost-Asia fan, I needed this to bring me forward in time from the age of the great military adventurers and plant collectors - but not as far as the current age of the bored-in-busses.