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Sovietistan Erika Fatland 2019 ISBN 978-0-85705-774-7
Descriptive , engaging , accurate . Erika Fatland , a Norwegian journalist , and anthropologist has captured the essence of Central Asia perfectly in Sovietistan , A Journey through Turkmenistan , Kazakhstan , Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan , and Uzbekistan .
In a series of essays that cover each country , Fatland describes the history , the politics , social situation , people , and cultures , in what is easily described as a perfect example of travel writing . Her social interactions are placed with facts and anthropological observations that engage the reader in a way that so many other fail .
Sovietistan is not a travel book that reads like a diary and steps from one place to the next outlining what the rider did but rather an example of relating personal experience with facts and observations on how the writer sees the world and the people within . It ’ s educational and entertaining at the same time .
Fatland has done well to explain the nuances of each location , and how the past shaped it , how each country came into being , and what perhaps the future holds . Originally written in 2014 ,
Sovietistan is perhaps becoming a little dated , yet it still provides a spin on a region of the world that is so often misunderstood .
If you are planning on riding any of the ‘ Stans , although not a motorcycle travel book , Sovietistan is still a book that you should take up and explore .
Untamed Spirit Doris Maron 2010 ISBN 978-1-45022-851-0
At 53 , Doris Maron sold up and hit the road , the adventure of a lifetime to ride around the world . Untamed Spirit is the result .
Riding through her homeland , Canada , Maron then rides on to Alaska , New Zealand and Australia , the first two thirds of Untamed
Spirit are consumed with the familiar . Describing the riding from one point to another lets down what could easily have been a great read , the adventure is there yet unfortunately not described in any detail .
Moving on to Asia , Maron , and Untamed Spirit should ' ve picked up as the lands become more exotic and unfamiliar yet it continues the same drudge ... this is not how to write interesting travelogues or biographical encounters . At a relatively short 204 pages , Untamed Spirit comes to a screeching halt , no word of warning , it just finishes ... a second volume was produced , we ' ll check that out too .
Maron ' s story could ' ve quite easily been so much more , unfortunately let down an unspirited style , a product of the self-publishing curse .
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