Book: Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier

When I was young, I read a book titled Exiled to Siberia. Probably my Dad had it on his bookshelf, or perhaps it was a library book, although I don't think it was. I only have a hazy and vague sense of this book but have always remembered it and knew that Siberia was a last resort awful prison place and that Vladivostok was in that part of the world.

Ian Frazier obviously has wanderlust. For this book, he calls it the "dread Russia-love." He makes several trips over 20 or so years and Travels to Siberia is the result. He usually traveled with one or two Russians, with whom he develops a love-hate relationship, but for whom he ultimately is grateful. Frazier isn't as intrepid as, say, Paul Theroux, who seems to just go and do his traveling, somewhat curmudgeonly, but without expectations of more comfort and efficiency. He makes his way, perhaps with unacknowledged help, and it seems that he just "does it" without much fretting.

Frazier also goes off on grand adventures but with more trepidation and, in this book, he was usually accompanied by a Russian guide/translator/facilitator. Frazier actually does make serious attempts to learn Russian and eventually can communicate somewhat. As he says at one point, he could understand about one sentence of five; however, moving about in the more remote parts of Russia with limited communication skills would have made these trips more difficult...and they were difficult enough.

I like both authors, Paul Theroux and Ian Frazier. They both describe the Russia through which they traveled in vivid fascinating detail. In Frazier's case, it was Siberia and for the most part southern Siberia, with the exception of a wonderful trip to the Chukchi Peninsula, right across from Alaska...probably the part Sarah Palin sees. And he also spent some time in the western cities, usually in preparation for his Siberian travels.

It is a long book, nearly 500 pages, but interesting for the duration. Frazier fills in Russian history along the way, but not so much that it detracts from his odyssey. His favorite revolutionary Russians were the Decembrists (of the failed December 14, 1825 uprising) many of whom ended up in Siberia. "Like few young officers before or after, those of the Decembrists' generations dashed. They drank champagne, went to balls, broke hearts and had theirs broken, gambled away their estates on the draw of a card. Though dueling was illegal, they dueled..." and then, Frazier says, "Of course they failed--disastrously, spectacularly. Almost better to avert your eyes. None of them even managed to die gloriously. When the time came, they did not do one thing right."

So these snippets of history are part of this tale, along with the dailiness of travel, mostly by car, but also by plane and train, with descriptions of the land and rivers, the mostly horrible roads, the snow, the snow roads, the people, the food, the mosquitos, the taiga.... Frazier continually wishes to see gulags, and his guide gets sullen on this topic, so that thread also runs through the book. Nor does his guide like cities, and they rush through them but often camp close to the towns, Frazier then brooding alone in his tent while the guide(s) go in search of nearby nightlife.

The book has no photographs but does have several sketches by Frazier, most of which I wished had been photographs. I wonder why he didn't use a camera?

He makes an interesting comment on how he feels "Stalin gets a pass" for a "large fraction of the 55 million Russians killed by unnatural causes as a result of the Bolshevik revolution, from its beginning in 1917 to the fall of communism in 1992...As time passes, he [Stalin] seems to be sidling into history as one of those old-timey, soft-focus monsters--like Ivan the Terrible, like Peter the Great--whose true monstrosity softens to resemble that of a ogre in a fairy tale."

Russia, and especially Siberia, is rich in natural resources, including oil, natural gas, diamonds, nickel, titanium....I certainly did not know that when "Saudi Arabia reduced its oil production in 2005 and 2006, Russia became the largest oil-producing country in the world...with experts estimating that at least 80 billion barrels of Russian oil are yet to be found." For all of Russia's problems becoming a modern world player, it is foolish to discount them. It is an amazing country.

Travels to Siberia is a grand adventure for anyone with a curiosity about Russia, present or past, written with self-deprecating humor and lively prose as the author tries to explain his fascination for Russia which, for me, was successful.