There are some parts of the world known to us only through gossip and reputation. This is surely true of no land more than poor, beleaguered Siberia which, when it is spoken of at all, is referenced because of its political gulags and its snowy tundras. Mr. Frazier, an author and humorist, rather thoroughly dispels this unfair characterization by exposing us to a Siberia few of us will ever visit, a Siberia that is real in its kindness and its cruelty.
Initially attracted to this desolate stretch of eastern Russia by friends, Mr. Frazier condenses five subsequent trips there, over a dozen years, into this wonderful travel log which appeals as much as it appalls. A land rife with humor and fatalism, he guides us through its swamps and its ghostly prisons, enjoying along the way the hospitality of kind persons who are, nonetheless, unmistakable in their Russianness. Siberia is, it turns out, quite warm for a substantial portion of the year, but this heat seems rarely to be any more moderate than the oppressive chill for which the country is known. But while the characters he meets along the way entertain, and while the lengthy descriptions of the unreliable, broken-down technology he has the misfortune to rely upon frighten and amuse, it's the extent to which Mr. Frazier conveys the spirit of this inconceivably vast place that captivates. Musch has already been written on the differences between the American and the Russian characters; these differences have, in a significant way, shaped the course of recent history. But it's not until we meet these people, understand their appreciation for old books, their endurance of the harsh weather, their acceptance of Russian fatalism, that we can imagine just how much this remote and crazy land has affected them, made of them the hearty people they are.
Travels In Siberia is charming, but there's a weightiness here which I won't soon forget. The contrast between how we Westerners memorialize our past, our soldiers, our conflicts, with how the siberians are told to consign their past to the scrapheap of history is movingly stark. They seem to understand how damaging this mass-forgetting can be, but they are too fearful of Russian condemnation to defy the company line. This clash of cultures adds a welcome gravitas to Mr. Frazier's chronicle which, though it clocks in at 550 pages, reads quickly and artfully. This is a land of jovial insanity, of chaotic control, of happy depression. This is a unique place about which we'll be hearing more, I suspect, if fresh deposits of oil continue to be discovered, oil deposits which threaten to bring to the region a wealth the likes of which its inhabitants have never seen and can barely fathom. (4/5 Stars)
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