Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia

Nonfiction, Travel, Europe, Russia & Former Soviet Republics
Cover of the book Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia by David Greene, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Greene ISBN: 9780393245905
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: October 20, 2014
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: David Greene
ISBN: 9780393245905
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: October 20, 2014
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

Travels with NPR host David Greene along the Trans-Siberian Railroad capture an overlooked, idiosyncratic Russia in the age of Putin.

Far away from the trendy cafés, designer boutiques, and political protests and crackdowns in Moscow, the real Russia exists.

Midnight in Siberia chronicles David Greene’s journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway, a 6,000-mile cross-country trip from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok. In quadruple-bunked cabins and stopover towns sprinkled across the country’s snowy landscape, Greene speaks with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years.

These travels offer a glimpse of the new Russia—a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity but continues to endure oppression, corruption, a dwindling population, and stark inequality.

We follow Greene as he finds opportunity and hardship embodied in his fellow train travelers and in conversations with residents of towns throughout Siberia.

We meet Nadezhda, an entrepreneur who runs a small hotel in Ishim, fighting through corrupt layers of bureaucracy every day. Greene spends a joyous evening with a group of babushkas who made international headlines as runners-up at the Eurovision singing competition. They sing Beatles covers, alongside their traditional songs, finding that music and companionship can heal wounds from the past. In Novosibirsk, Greene has tea with Alexei, who runs the carpet company his mother began after the Soviet collapse and has mixed feelings about a government in which his family has done quite well. And in Chelyabinsk, a hunt for space debris after a meteorite landing leads Greene to a young man orphaned as a teenager, forced into military service, and now figuring out if any of his dreams are possible.

Midnight in Siberia is a lively travel narrative filled with humor, adventure, and insight. It opens a window onto that country’s complicated relationship with democracy and offers a rare look into the soul of twenty-first-century Russia.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Travels with NPR host David Greene along the Trans-Siberian Railroad capture an overlooked, idiosyncratic Russia in the age of Putin.

Far away from the trendy cafés, designer boutiques, and political protests and crackdowns in Moscow, the real Russia exists.

Midnight in Siberia chronicles David Greene’s journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway, a 6,000-mile cross-country trip from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok. In quadruple-bunked cabins and stopover towns sprinkled across the country’s snowy landscape, Greene speaks with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years.

These travels offer a glimpse of the new Russia—a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity but continues to endure oppression, corruption, a dwindling population, and stark inequality.

We follow Greene as he finds opportunity and hardship embodied in his fellow train travelers and in conversations with residents of towns throughout Siberia.

We meet Nadezhda, an entrepreneur who runs a small hotel in Ishim, fighting through corrupt layers of bureaucracy every day. Greene spends a joyous evening with a group of babushkas who made international headlines as runners-up at the Eurovision singing competition. They sing Beatles covers, alongside their traditional songs, finding that music and companionship can heal wounds from the past. In Novosibirsk, Greene has tea with Alexei, who runs the carpet company his mother began after the Soviet collapse and has mixed feelings about a government in which his family has done quite well. And in Chelyabinsk, a hunt for space debris after a meteorite landing leads Greene to a young man orphaned as a teenager, forced into military service, and now figuring out if any of his dreams are possible.

Midnight in Siberia is a lively travel narrative filled with humor, adventure, and insight. It opens a window onto that country’s complicated relationship with democracy and offers a rare look into the soul of twenty-first-century Russia.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book The Blackest Bird: A Novel of Murder in Nineteenth-Century New York by David Greene
Cover of the book A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse by David Greene
Cover of the book 4:30 Movie: Poems by David Greene
Cover of the book Touch: A Novel by David Greene
Cover of the book A Clinical Introduction to Freud: Techniques for Everyday Practice by David Greene
Cover of the book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by David Greene
Cover of the book Mutiny on the Globe: The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock by David Greene
Cover of the book The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy by David Greene
Cover of the book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by David Greene
Cover of the book The Reflective Parent: How to Do Less and Relate More with Your Kids by David Greene
Cover of the book Getting Away with Murder: Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and the Politics of Pakistan by David Greene
Cover of the book Divine Nothingness: Poems by David Greene
Cover of the book Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America by David Greene
Cover of the book Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by David Greene
Cover of the book The Age of Shiva: A Novel by David Greene
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy