BOOKS NIC BOTTOMLEY
Kremlins in the machine Nic finds himself heading east to explore tales set in Russia
“...cutting music recordings of outlawed Western artists into old x-rays in lieu of vinyl” 42 I BATH LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
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aybe it was this morning’s unexpected frost, or maybe it’s the political insanity playing out across the ocean to the west, but for some reason or other, this week, I am drawn east to recent writing in and around Russia. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (Simon & Schuster, £8.99) features an especially remote and, at times, inhospitable Russia. This is Kamchatka, that far eastern peninsula that lies just north of Japan which is more familiar to most from the board game Risk than from any personal travels taken or considered. The key disappearance hinted at by the title takes place in a dramatic first chapter. Two young sisters, Alyona and Sophia make the inadvisable decision to accept a ride from a stranger. We are not witness to their fate, but we do stick with them long enough to see the driver ignore the turn to their home and then grab and dispose of Alyona’s mobile phone. From this abrupt beginning, the novel’s cast of characters grows steadily as interlinking chapters introduce more and more people who have been affected by the disappearances or who might, the reader wonders, be able to shed light on what happened. We meet those who grew up in the indigenous villages of the region, and those who eschew those traditional societies for the local capital of Petropavlovsk, or have even spent time in far distant St Petersburg. Along the way we are treated to many perspectives on Kamchatka life – from those who believe that crimes like this are a symptom of a corroded modern world nothing like as certain as the Soviet days, to those who, despite appreciating the region’s stunning natural surroundings, rail against a still insular and misogynist society. Though it meanders and explores so many aspects of Kamchatka life, the mystery that ignites the book remains its driving force, particularly as the book morphs tensely into crime-thriller territory for its final sequences. Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva (Little Brown, £14.99) is another multicharacter portrait in a principally urban
environment, but here we are in Ukraine although, for the bulk of the book, we’re witnessing it under Soviet rule. This is one of those books which is difficult to clearly categorise as a novel or a set of short stories – not that there is any need for it to be labelled as either. The darkly comic, and sometimes shambolic, stories of a group of citizens revolve around an apartment building that does not exist. At least not on paper. In reality though (although reality occasionally blurs throughout the book) the apartment block is full of life as citizens do their utmost to maximise living space, or earn a few rubles or home comforts on the side, beneath the radar of the secret police and their inquisitive neighbours. Smena, in the story titled Bone Music, has perhaps the most intriguing sideline – cutting music recordings of outlawed Western artists into old x-rays in lieu of vinyl. The vast Russian wilderness is certainly visible in Disappearing Earth but because that story flits between town and country, we are never get lost in its full majesty. If you’re after something truly remote then the incredible new nature adventure book Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C Slaght (Penguin, £20) will whisk you away to the remote region of Primorye, an unremittingly harsh landscape of snow, ice and thousands of miles of dense forest. Spanning Russia, China and North Korea this region is home to the world’s largest species of owl, the colossal Blakiston’s fish owl. Slaght has dedicated a huge chunk of his adult life to preserving these majestic and threatened birds and his book is a testimony to these elusive owls and his efforts to help them as well as an attack on those who threaten their habitat. Whether it’s through fiction, non-fiction or somewhere in between, you are never far from the remarkable or the jaw-dropping when reading Russia. Nic Bottomley is the general manager of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, 14/15 John Street, Bath; 01225 331155; www.mrbsemporium.com
