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christopherc's review against another edition
2.0
I was really looking forward to reading Daniel Kalder's LOST COSMONAUT, where the Scottish author travels to four little-known parts of Russia seeking out places precisely for a their lack of tourist appeal. As a linguist studying minority languages of Russia, I have been to some of the places Kalder describes and found them enchanting. I hoped that his book might show people the considerable challenges minority populations face in contemporary Russia. And as a passionate traveler who wants to see as much as possible before it all changes, I thought that Kalder's "anti-tourist" perspective would be agreeable. Unfortunately, I found the book very disappointing, and often downright infuriating.
In the first part of the book Kalder tells of his 2001 visit to Kazan, capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. While the author does do a good job of informing the reader of some little-known aspects of Tatar history and culture, his claim that this is a weird and obscure republic rings false. Kazan has long been one of the most heavily-touristed parts of Russia, with tour buses full of Germans and Japanese pulling up daily in front of its Kremlin. And though the author adopts a tone of being scared of going to far-away Tatarstan, in an aside he mentions a long residence in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, so surely he was really used to seeing remote areas.
Things just get worse in the following chapters, where Kalder calls the locals by various insults. LOST COSMONAUT is not a travelogue which will better inform you about some delightful places that you might not otherwise hear of. Rather, it's a book of humour that tries to make you laugh at the expense of the good local people who don't deserve such mockey. A blurb on the cover of one printing calls him "Bill Bryson with Tourette's" and, indeed, Kalder has the same lack of respect for the locals that one finds in Bryson's work.
Furthermore, there is outright fiction in the book. Kalder warns one in the beginning that the "anti-tourist" likes lies just as much as truth. But if someone is buying a book on the premise that it gives a report of remote parts of Russia, one wants to read the truth instead of Kalder's inventions (a banner warning away the "white man" in Kazan, a Mari fellow snorting cocaine).
And the author totally squanders the opportunity to alert the West to the disturbing treatment of minorities in Putin's Russia. I cannot recommend Kalder's book, except if someone is already on their way to one of these places and wants to know at least some information about them, however untrustworthy. A better understanding of political and social issues in Mari El and Udmurtia can be had from Taagapera's THE FINNO-UGRIC REPUBLICS AND THE RUSSIAN STATE.
In the first part of the book Kalder tells of his 2001 visit to Kazan, capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. While the author does do a good job of informing the reader of some little-known aspects of Tatar history and culture, his claim that this is a weird and obscure republic rings false. Kazan has long been one of the most heavily-touristed parts of Russia, with tour buses full of Germans and Japanese pulling up daily in front of its Kremlin. And though the author adopts a tone of being scared of going to far-away Tatarstan, in an aside he mentions a long residence in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, so surely he was really used to seeing remote areas.
Things just get worse in the following chapters, where Kalder calls the locals by various insults. LOST COSMONAUT is not a travelogue which will better inform you about some delightful places that you might not otherwise hear of. Rather, it's a book of humour that tries to make you laugh at the expense of the good local people who don't deserve such mockey. A blurb on the cover of one printing calls him "Bill Bryson with Tourette's" and, indeed, Kalder has the same lack of respect for the locals that one finds in Bryson's work.
Furthermore, there is outright fiction in the book. Kalder warns one in the beginning that the "anti-tourist" likes lies just as much as truth. But if someone is buying a book on the premise that it gives a report of remote parts of Russia, one wants to read the truth instead of Kalder's inventions (a banner warning away the "white man" in Kazan, a Mari fellow snorting cocaine).
And the author totally squanders the opportunity to alert the West to the disturbing treatment of minorities in Putin's Russia. I cannot recommend Kalder's book, except if someone is already on their way to one of these places and wants to know at least some information about them, however untrustworthy. A better understanding of political and social issues in Mari El and Udmurtia can be had from Taagapera's THE FINNO-UGRIC REPUBLICS AND THE RUSSIAN STATE.
cony612's review against another edition
4.0
finished whilst isolating from having covid lol SO people who know me are aware i have a strange passion for post-Soviet states and their culture, history, people etc... this book is EXACTLY what I mean when I say I’m so curious about Russia!! I’m shocked this book has such few reviews! Youtuber Bald and Bankrupt advised to read it. You dive into the lives of Russian societies which have been given ethnic republics, but are completely abandoned by Moscow. The « anti-tourism » the author speaks of is basically going to places that would seem boring, but you gotta embrace it, it’s the whole point of discovering life in ethnic republics which are so unknown to us.
blevins's review against another edition
2.0
This book has an interesting hook--Kalder goes to the unknown void of Russia's fringe republics and writes about his experiences. The problem is Kalder is such a total ass that his personality nearly ruins any desire you might have to read more about his trips--I made it through but was tempted a few times to stop because of Kalder himself. When he's writing about the people's history from the area it's better but when he's mocking the locals it's kind of absurd. This is a travel book but Kalder doesn't even want to talk to locals or eat locals only food (he wants McDonalds!) and at least half the time he's insulting them. I was hoping that one of the locals would just punch him in the face and be done with it!
There's a section in the beginning of the book about the rules of being an anti-tourist that allow Kalder to get away with not doing any of the usual things a travel writer might do but still...this is a travel book!
Kalder really annoyed me when he'd put in his ridiculous ideas for movies, when he'd make desperate attempts at humor or just make stuff up--there's a paragraph about a sex change in Berlin that I don't know if it was a joke or serious that was flippantly brought up and then never brought up again.
The only thing that saves this book is the places that Kalder is writing about are places no one goes and that I'd never even heard of. The complete unknown is intriguing to me--too bad Kalder is such an ass whose style seems to be to irritate as much as inform or entertain.
There's a section in the beginning of the book about the rules of being an anti-tourist that allow Kalder to get away with not doing any of the usual things a travel writer might do but still...this is a travel book!
Kalder really annoyed me when he'd put in his ridiculous ideas for movies, when he'd make desperate attempts at humor or just make stuff up--there's a paragraph about a sex change in Berlin that I don't know if it was a joke or serious that was flippantly brought up and then never brought up again.
The only thing that saves this book is the places that Kalder is writing about are places no one goes and that I'd never even heard of. The complete unknown is intriguing to me--too bad Kalder is such an ass whose style seems to be to irritate as much as inform or entertain.
staticdisplay's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this book on sale in Chicago about 5-7 years ago and then it traveled around the country with me as I moved from coast to coast to coast. this book itself became a lost cosmonaut. now that I have read it, I intend to donate it to a free little library. I really had no idea how to read it - I thought it was fiction until I started reading. my favorite part was the Mig Mag, I think.
spiderfelt's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Nothing terribly bad, but not something I'm compelled to finish. The author's attitude towards traveling off the beaten path was appealing in my early twenties, however that wild spirit has been tempered as I have matured and I see just how much exploring can be done in my metaphorical backyard.
stuedb's review against another edition
3.0
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11671840
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11671840
prcizmadia's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting read that I devoured in only a few days. If you're interested in parts of this world that are off the beaten path, and the secret histories that exist all around us, this is a book you shouldn't overlook.
abookishtype's review against another edition
I have mixed feelings about reading The Lost Cosmonaut: Observations of an Anti-Tourist, by Daniel Kalder. There were a lot of things I liked. I really enjoyed that I got to tag along on Kalder’s trips to places that, according to a New York Times review I read when the book first came out, even Russians haven’t heard of. This is why I read travel books in the first place. This book also had the added benefit of some philosophy about places we have never heard of...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.