longaneyes_'s review
I am so ashamed. I took like two months to get halfway through this book. I liked it...but not enough. DNFing or finishing all my books before basic training.
pennifer's review
4.0
Another entry in the travel diary-trivia-history-profile book genre. Generally well done and engaging. During his research, the author sought access to the President and may have gotten more than he bargained for in the end, when the Nazarbaev took a shine to him and invited him over all the time to talk and travel as part of his entourage. The last chapter turned into an endless and uncritical slog through Nazarbaev’s life and rule (became Kazakhstan’s first and only president to date in 1990), with a few other quick profiles of historical figures tossed in for good measure. An uneven finish but glad I stuck it out. Given that Nazarbaev is still in office a full 11 years after this book was published, I’d be interested to hear if Robbins is still so enthused.
michaelnlibrarian's review
3.0
One of the blurbs describes this as a "travelogue" but it is a book about the author's investigations into modern Kazakhstan after he became interested in the country. It includes both his own first person descriptions of his experiences as a visitor, including quite a few meetings with the president of the country, but also sidebars on different aspects of the history of Kazakhstan.
The title as used in the U.S. gives the impression this might be one of those "fun" travel books, but although there are some amusing anecdotes, mostly this is a serious book.
At the end, he relates a conversation over a long lunch with a friend who complains that his book will be too negative, too much about the problems of the Aral Sea, of the Gulag in Kazakhstan, and so on, and not enough about the good things in Kazakhstan. I tend to think this is a fair criticism of the book as it turned out. It also spent too much time on Russians whose lives intersected with Kazakhstan but who are hardly central to the history of the country, such as Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn.
Certainly anyone with an interest in Kazakhstan should read this. You get a strong sense of what distinguishes Kazakhstan from its neighbors, particularly Russia, and how it has developed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Whether anyone who isn't particularly interested in Kazakhstan would find it interesting is hard for me to judge.
The title as used in the U.S. gives the impression this might be one of those "fun" travel books, but although there are some amusing anecdotes, mostly this is a serious book.
At the end, he relates a conversation over a long lunch with a friend who complains that his book will be too negative, too much about the problems of the Aral Sea, of the Gulag in Kazakhstan, and so on, and not enough about the good things in Kazakhstan. I tend to think this is a fair criticism of the book as it turned out. It also spent too much time on Russians whose lives intersected with Kazakhstan but who are hardly central to the history of the country, such as Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn.
Certainly anyone with an interest in Kazakhstan should read this. You get a strong sense of what distinguishes Kazakhstan from its neighbors, particularly Russia, and how it has developed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Whether anyone who isn't particularly interested in Kazakhstan would find it interesting is hard for me to judge.
wictory's review
5.0
Now I want to visit Kazakhstan.
This book is a lovingly-written, extensively researched ode to a little-known and much-mocked nation. The author, aside from traveling to the remotest parts of this already remote country, also makes a thorough study of the Kazakh president and political history since the country's recent independence.
As a result, this book is crazy educational. "Crazy educational?" you say, doubtful and with slight scorn. Yes - it is educational, but the history, the natural resources, the tragedy of its treatment under the Soviets - is all so fascinating you'll never enjoy education so much.
The author includes backstory, such as the tale of the haughty English explorer determined to travel the breadth of the land during one of the harshest winters in memory and the time great Russian writers spent here in exile.
I hope the author makes a habit of illuminating neglected nations, because I've never enjoyed a travelogue as much as I did this one.
This book is a lovingly-written, extensively researched ode to a little-known and much-mocked nation. The author, aside from traveling to the remotest parts of this already remote country, also makes a thorough study of the Kazakh president and political history since the country's recent independence.
As a result, this book is crazy educational. "Crazy educational?" you say, doubtful and with slight scorn. Yes - it is educational, but the history, the natural resources, the tragedy of its treatment under the Soviets - is all so fascinating you'll never enjoy education so much.
The author includes backstory, such as the tale of the haughty English explorer determined to travel the breadth of the land during one of the harshest winters in memory and the time great Russian writers spent here in exile.
I hope the author makes a habit of illuminating neglected nations, because I've never enjoyed a travelogue as much as I did this one.
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