Wonderful final few chapters. First a discussion of Stalin and the contradictions. Responsible for killing more than even Hitler, he remains respected in Russia, though it was primarily Russians that he killed. Frazier visits a Gulag and is appalled by the sense of absence. It's just there. No list of the dead, no list of the years it was functioning, no nothing. Not torn down, not commemorated--as if the Russians are still waiting to figure out what to make of it.
Section four ends with a burst of "Russian Love" from Frazier. He attends a ballet in St. Petersburg, is overwhelmed by the crowd in all its Russianness--the woman in dyed furs, leather, strange printed dresses (Who Killed Roger Rabbit printed over and over) and by the complete rapture with which the Russians--dancing across space in their own huge country--watch the ballet.
Frazier is a fantastic writer. Break for awhile, then back to finish section five. One of the best travel books I have ever read!
Section four ends with a burst of "Russian Love" from Frazier. He attends a ballet in St. Petersburg, is overwhelmed by the crowd in all its Russianness--the woman in dyed furs, leather, strange printed dresses (Who Killed Roger Rabbit printed over and over) and by the complete rapture with which the Russians--dancing across space in their own huge country--watch the ballet.
Frazier is a fantastic writer. Break for awhile, then back to finish section five. One of the best travel books I have ever read!
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