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A review by glitteringimages
Pravda Ha Ha: True Travels to the End of Europe by Rory MacLean
medium-paced
3.25
You know how every book about Russia gets a ridiculous cover design with a pseudo-cyrillic typeface? This one deserves it.
“Underground there was no horizon. Underground the people moved in halting steps, moved as one, moved four abreast to ride down, deep down beneath the city. The earth swallowed them, corralled them, unnamed them as the metallic shriek rose up to strike them dumb. No one talked above the whine of the motors. No one stood out. Once or twice the odd traveler dared to shout, leaning towards his fellows, his warm breath brushing their ears. Otherwise the mass - ten million souls every day - moved through the deafening noise, unable or unwilling to be heard.”
- Rory MacLean, apparently discovering the concept of a subway for the first time in Moscow.
There is some beautiful imagery and there are some genuinely informative interviews. There are also some small factual errors (see Louis Train’s review) that made me question if this was really the best source to fill in the gaps of my historical knowledge.
I’m confused by the smarmy tone MacLean takes throughout this political text (it is miscategorized as a travelogue), in contrast to how likable a person he must be to form such quick and unlikely friendships on his travels. He can interview subjects with sensitivity, but people (usually women) in the background are window dressing, described in demeaning terms. Anyone who disagrees with his politics (which I largely agree with!) is misled, deceiving themselves, simply doesn’t understand their own experiences..
Our glorious leaders vs. their wicked despot, etc.
“Underground there was no horizon. Underground the people moved in halting steps, moved as one, moved four abreast to ride down, deep down beneath the city. The earth swallowed them, corralled them, unnamed them as the metallic shriek rose up to strike them dumb. No one talked above the whine of the motors. No one stood out. Once or twice the odd traveler dared to shout, leaning towards his fellows, his warm breath brushing their ears. Otherwise the mass - ten million souls every day - moved through the deafening noise, unable or unwilling to be heard.”
- Rory MacLean, apparently discovering the concept of a subway for the first time in Moscow.
There is some beautiful imagery and there are some genuinely informative interviews. There are also some small factual errors (see Louis Train’s review) that made me question if this was really the best source to fill in the gaps of my historical knowledge.
I’m confused by the smarmy tone MacLean takes throughout this political text (it is miscategorized as a travelogue), in contrast to how likable a person he must be to form such quick and unlikely friendships on his travels. He can interview subjects with sensitivity, but people (usually women) in the background are window dressing, described in demeaning terms. Anyone who disagrees with his politics (which I largely agree with!) is misled, deceiving themselves, simply doesn’t understand their own experiences..
Our glorious leaders vs. their wicked despot, etc.