Midnight in Siberia: A train journey into the heart of Russia

by David Greene

Paperback, 2015

Call number

914.704

Genres

General Nonfiction

Biography & Memoir

Publication

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2015]

Pages

xvii; 318

Description

"Travels with NPR host David Greene along the Trans-Siberian Railroad capture an overlooked, idiosyncratic Russia in the age of Putin. After two and a half years as NPR's Moscow bureau chief, David Greene travels across the country--a 6,000-mile journey by rail, from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok--to speak with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years. Reaching beyond the headline-grabbing protests in Moscow, Greene speaks with a group of singing babushkas from Buranovo, a teenager hawking 'space rocks' from last spring's meteor shower in Chelyabinsk, and activists battling for environmental regulation in the pollution-choked town of Baikalsk. Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia--a nation that boasts open elections and new-found prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality. Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene's lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of twentieth-century Russia--how its people remember their history and look forward to the future"--Provided by publisher.… (more)

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

2014

Physical description

xvii, 318 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

9780393351873

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User reviews

LibraryThing member nemoman

Greene was NPR's Moscow Bureau Chief for several years. Before, returning to the States he traveled across Russia by train. This book is an account of that trip. Along the way , he visits and stays with a number of Russian families. He begins to understand their love/hate affair with Putin, and why

they do not demand better from their government. Greene writes well, and you come away with a much better understanding of the country than you can get by reading newspaper articles. As enjoyable a book of travel reading it is, I have no desire to visit Siberia.

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LibraryThing member debnance

I swear that I could hear David Green reading this story to me as I read along. Greene is an NPR reporter and was assigned for some years to Russia. He’s got a reporter’s curiosity that drives him to stop and interview all the intriguing folks he runs across. And, brother, does he ever run

across some intriguing folks. A couple whose son was a Russian hockey star, killed when his plane came down. A man whose dad invented the AK-47. A group of Russian babushkas.

A perfect summer read: great interviews and lovely cold weather.

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LibraryThing member cygnet81

Exactly captures my feelings about Russia.

LibraryThing member dele2451

The train information, travel recollections, Russian history, and personal interviews were wonderful. The author's repeated use of the word "stability" and his over emphasis on that term as an ideological goal (especially later in the book) detracted somewhat from the overall read. The trip pics

were a welcome addition. Overall, an interesting book and worth the read.

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LibraryThing member olevia

One of those books which might have been better served by not having the author read it. Even if the author is an NPR reporter.

LibraryThing member witchyrichy

David Greene was an NPR correspondent based in Moscow prior to becoming a host of Morning Edition in 2012. Midnight in Siberia is his reporting memoir of a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway. As he does with much of his reporting, Greene focuses on individuals and how their stories reveal larger

truths, or in the case of Russia, complexities. He did tell his own story--documenting his travel with Sergei, his NPR colleague and translator--especially when it demonstrated the frustration and fascination of Russian society or when it showed how he learned t0 appreciate a vibrant Russian culture the pulses beneath that sometimes chaotic world.

Greene found a balance of the personal and the public, and I feel like I have a better understanding of Russia beyond the headlines. It was particularly fascinating that many of the Russians he encountered, outside of Moscow, liked Putin and felt like their country needed a strong man to create order. They had lived through the disastrous attempts at democracy and capitalism and were happy with some order even if it didn't always make sense. Greene also highlights the irony that those protesting in 2012 or so were also those who had benefited the most from Putin's reforms.

I did feel like he had a sometimes overly rosy view of his own country, especially its justice system and contrast between rich and poor. it may be that he didn't want to get too far into the weeds of comparing the two countries. This was meant to show the way Russians viewed their own lives and Greene connected with them in their homes and the towns where they found both joy and grief. Ultimately, he wrote an ode to the Russian people and their landscape of home.

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