Travels in Siberia

By: Ian Frazier

Narrated by: Ian Frazier

Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A Dazzling Russian travelogue from the best-selling author of Great Plains.

In Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier trains his eye for unforgettable detail on Siberia, that vast expanse of Asiatic Russia. He explores many aspects of this storied, often grim region, which takes up one-seventh of the land on earth. He writes about the geography, the resources, the native peoples, the history, the 40-below midwinter afternoons, the bugs.

The book brims with Mongols, half-crazed Orthodox archpriests, fur seekers, ambassadors of the czar bound for Peking, tea caravans, German scientists, American prospectors, intrepid English nurses, and prisoners and exiles of every kind - from Natalie Lopukhin, banished by the czarina for copying her dresses; to the noble Decembrist revolutionaries of the 1820s; to the young men and women of the People’s Will movement whose fondest hope was to blow up the czar; to those who met still-ungraspable suffering and death in the Siberian camps during Soviet times.

More than just a historical travelogue, Travels in Siberia is also an account of Russia since the end of the Soviet Union and a personal reflection on the all-around amazingness of Russia, a country that still somehow manages to be funny.

Siberian travel books have been popular since the 13th century, when monks sent by the pope went east to find the Great Khan and wrote about their journeys. Travels in Siberia will take its place as the 21st century’s indispensable contribution to the genre.

©2010 Ian Frazier (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Ian Frazier caps his travels through Siberia's vastness by narrating his own account of them, another enormous undertaking. The author doesn't have the polish or range of a professional voice actor, but soon we appreciate how this somewhat pedestrian tone suits both the crude reality of Siberia and the deadpan humor that pervades his book. How could anyone doubt that this is the voice of the actual man who, as he admits, had a 'chronic fear of being run over while asleep in my tent' or who was annoyed that his tea tasted like the shaving cream someone had mixed in his cup?" ( Washington Post Book World)

Travel writing at its best.

Travel writing at its best. Frazier is a keen observer and wonderful writer. interweaves history of Siberia into his travelogue.

Wonderful.

Wonderful book. I highly recommend it. I learned a lot and enjoyed the dry humor.

Admirable work ruined by narration

I would have given anything to have heard this book read...by someone else. It could have been an magnum opus. Instead, due to the ponderous and stilted narration, it became as monolithic and featureless as post WWII Stalinist architecture. I so regret the author's decision to read his own work given the amazing amount of information and care that went into its creation. The subject matter and history were fascinating but could not survive the weak narration. I gave up half way through, which is saying something given the length of the reading.

Fantastic story

Good history, geography and feeling about Siberia. Real observation, thinking, humor. Compassion for the Decembers. Speech is amazing

loved it

it is an awesome book to listen to!! ich Habs gech glichhah. Das isht guut

Sidetracked In Siberia

I had no idea that Ian Frazier was considered a humor writer in the travelogue world when I first listened to this book. Perhaps it's because Russians and Americans are too culturally different to easily share a sense of humor, or that the author was challenged by the language. Or perhaps it's simply because Siberia is filled with tragedies, historical, economic, and environmental. But while comic moments were few, I grew to admire the resourcefulness of Frazier's guides and the warmth of the Russian people. I liked the book best when Frazier stayed in Siberia. At times, he digressed back to or about the U.S. and the journey lost its way. I rated as a "3" because Frazier's voice and his frequent forays from the main topic made for a sleepy listen at times. Perhaps the print version, which includes Frazier's original sketches from the trip, better conveys the spirit and uniqueness of Siberia.

Not as good as I'd hoped.

I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. Frazier goes through a lot of Siberia's history, which I thought was really fascinating and very well told. However, I didn't find him quite so compelling any time he was talking about his travels there. He goes on and on about how much he loves Russia, and yet...he didn't convince me, despite the fact that he went back so many times. To me, it seemed that he talked an awful lot about the inconveniences, and the things that he found gross, and the things that didn't work or that broke down, and how horrible the bugs are, and the ways that his Russian guides/travelling companions/people he stayed with/other people staying in the same places annoyed him or made him mad. He does a great job of describing all those things, but there are not a lot of descriptions that actually made me think that he felt genuine affection for Russia or the people he met there (other than maybe all the hot Russian women he sees walking around), or that made Russia seem as magical to me as he says it seems to him.

I might have enjoyed this a bit more if I'd read it instead of listening to the audio version; Frazier reads it himself, and, while he's certainly not a terrible reader, he's not really a great one either. Sometimes he would get going and read in a very natural way; other. times. he. would. read. like. this. Which, personally, I find really painful to listen to. There were also some really weird pronunciations here and there, as though he wasn't actually thinking about what he was saying.

Anyway, whether it was his personality I couldn't get behind or whether it's just that I found his reading off-putting, I ended up just...so ready for it to be over by the time I was halfway through. I'd rate this two stars only, if not for all the lovely history parts, which really are great. And for Sergei, who is the one person he managed to convey with some little bit of depth.

Meh to the rest of it though.

Professional Needed

The author read the book and that was a downer. He was flat and basically boring. I didn't need to hear him practicing his Russian. He does translate the Russian but not the French - some of us took German or Spanish NOT French. A professional reader was needed.

Siberia is fascinating

The author’s voice is easy to listen to and you will learn a lot and laugh a little bit. This book spurred me on toward learning a lot more about Siberia. YouTube tours of Siberian towns and cities are a lot of fun to see.

DECEMBRISTS HELL

Writing well enough to capture a reader’s interest is difficult. Ian Frazier’s “Travels in Siberia” wonderfully succeeds with a good read as well as a guide for the untraveled and those who are thinking of traveling to Russia. This is not the Russia seen from Sarah Palin’s back yard but the Russia of real people living in a hard and beautiful country.

Russia, its people, its history, its complex and corrupt way of doing business in the 21st century are revealed in Frazier’s book. One realizes the importance of not judging less ye be judged but living life in Siberia is not for the weak. Seeing something from your back yard is nothing like traveling in a van across Siberia or retracing the steps of early Siberian travelers like George Kennan. Frazier has written a fascinating piece of history.