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Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
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50
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
83/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Erika Fatland, Kari Dickson
Publisher:
Pegasus Books
Date:
January 7, 2020
A Norwegian journalist travels through Central Asia, exploring the varying legacy of Soviet rule in a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world.
What The Reviewers Say
Fatland’s anecdotes are rich and revelatory.
All credit...to Norwegian social anthropologist and author Erika Fatland, who may have titled her central Asian travelogue Sovietistan, but who treats each of this clumsily named collective with care and attention. Part travel diary, part sociopolitical analysis, Sovietistan seeks to keep in mind the region’s ancient history—dictated to Fatland with metronomic accuracy by identikit tour guides in the various city museums—while probing what may lie ahead.
Her best reporting is about Turkmenistan, a country largely closed to independent travellers and which she presents in a refreshing three-dimensional way.
...engaging.
