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A review by illustrated_librarian
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway, Aliocha, a desperate Russian conscript, hopes a chance encounter with a French woman will offer him a way to flee. Heléne, too, is on the run - absconding from the home she shares in Western Siberia with her Russian lover to return to the familiarity she craves in France.
Eastbound is a breathless, hurtling novella. I usually associate novels set in liminal spaces with a dreamlike languiness but instead de Kerangal cranks up the tension. Tight prose and run-on sentances interspersed with short, stacato lines perfectly evoke the rhythm of the train's movement across the landscape and Heléne and Aliocha's shifting, dangerous alliance.
The train sits almost outside of time and yet there's a hyper-awareness of its incessant and inevitable passage. The timing of stops, the time until the end of the line, and the time left until someone realises Aliocha is missing all jangle constantly in the characters' minds as they scramble to avoid discovery of their plan. Amid the desperation, time seems to stretch and slip when they observe the beautiful landscape they travel through, framed by the train windows. There's a moment of collective awe as they pass Lake Baikal and the entire train pauses to witness a beloved national landmark, and time almost physically slips away as Aliocha watches the snowy taiga briefly illuminated by the train's rear lights before it slides from view forever.
Inside the train, barriers of class, age, and social convention collapse. Suddenly, a first-class passenger like Heléne and a conscript crammed into third class can meet and understand, across social and language barriers, that each wishes to escape their current circumstances. Their story forms a thrilling examination of the essence of language and identity, and the marvel of human connection across boundaries.
Eastbound is a breathless, hurtling novella. I usually associate novels set in liminal spaces with a dreamlike languiness but instead de Kerangal cranks up the tension. Tight prose and run-on sentances interspersed with short, stacato lines perfectly evoke the rhythm of the train's movement across the landscape and Heléne and Aliocha's shifting, dangerous alliance.
The train sits almost outside of time and yet there's a hyper-awareness of its incessant and inevitable passage. The timing of stops, the time until the end of the line, and the time left until someone realises Aliocha is missing all jangle constantly in the characters' minds as they scramble to avoid discovery of their plan. Amid the desperation, time seems to stretch and slip when they observe the beautiful landscape they travel through, framed by the train windows. There's a moment of collective awe as they pass Lake Baikal and the entire train pauses to witness a beloved national landmark, and time almost physically slips away as Aliocha watches the snowy taiga briefly illuminated by the train's rear lights before it slides from view forever.
Inside the train, barriers of class, age, and social convention collapse. Suddenly, a first-class passenger like Heléne and a conscript crammed into third class can meet and understand, across social and language barriers, that each wishes to escape their current circumstances. Their story forms a thrilling examination of the essence of language and identity, and the marvel of human connection across boundaries.