Review: Eight Pieces of Empire by Lawrence Scott Sheets

Chechen rebels in Grozny, 1995. (via)

Reviewed by Christina
[I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

Published: 2011

It's about: "Not with a bang, but with a quiet, ten-minute address on Christmas Day 1991: this is how the Soviet Union met its end.  But in the wake of that one deceptively calm moment, conflict and violence soon followed.  Some of the emergent new countries began to shed totalitarianism while others sought to revive their own dead empires or were led by ex-Soviet leaders who built equally or even more repressive political machines.  Since the late 1980s, Lawrence Scott Sheets lived and reported from the former USSR and saw firsthand the reverberations of the empire's collapse.  Eight Pieces of Empire draws readers into the people, politics, and day-to-day life of the region, painting a vivid portrait of a tumultuous time.
Sheets's stories about people living through these tectonic shifts of fortune- a trio of female saboteurs in Chechnya, the chaos of newly independent Georgia in the early 1990s, young hustlers eager to strike it rich in the post-Soviet economic vacuum- reveal the underreported and surprising ways in which the ghosts of empire still haunt these lands and the world."  (back cover of my paperback edition)

I thought: I loved it.  I've never been particularly interested in war reporting, and I didn't really realize that's what I was getting into when I requested a copy of Eight Pieces of Empire.  I didn't know that this book would be difficult to read, and if I had I probably would have politely declined.  BUT.  I'm so glad it came my way.  You know those books that force you to examine how little you know about the world?  This is one of those books.

Lawrence Scott Sheets is a strong, journalistic writer (he covered the former USSR, especially the Causasus, for Reuters and NPR) and he fills these dire conflicts with some bizarre characters and absurd situations.  I can totally get behind the stories and the people in them; in a lot of ways, things weren't so different where/when I lived in Kazakhstan.  And despite the innately foreign and occasionally gruesome subject matter, Sheets makes his material human and relatable. 

There are a few stylistic things that grated on my nerves- the overuse of scare quotes,  Sheets' inconsistency in referring to characters sometimes by their given names and sometimes by their surnames, and a few other minor quirks.  But the book itself is excellently paced and so well-written.  Combine that with important and interesting recent history- I would never not recommend this.  It is interesting and worthwhile, especially for a reader who has any connection to or special interest in ex-Soviet countries.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!  сейчас!

Reading Recommendations:  Be ready for the war violence.  Technically this is a quick, easy read.  Emotionally, not so.

Warnings:  Appropriately grisly descriptions of war violence.  And a couple of swears.

What I'm reading next:  McSweeney's Issue 11

(P.S. - Sorry for not doing something funny today.  As you may have noticed, all the BB writers have a little preoccupied lately.  If you need a laugh, you can check out last year's post.)

Review: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A view from the AT (Engine Gap, NC).  Photo by George Humphries

Reviewed by Christina

Published: 1998

It's about:  Upon returning to America after living in England for twenty years, humor and travel writer Bill Bryson decides to reacquaint himself with his native land by hiking one of its most established and daunting routes: The Appalachian Trail.  Along for most of the adventure is a woefully out-of-shape old college buddy, Stephen Katz.
Bryson and Katz soldier through hill and dale, all the while learning new survivaly things.  Bryson takes periodic breaks from the travelogue to provide the reader with The Trail's history and folklore.  He also argues for better conservation of U.S. national parks and forests.

I thought:  Well!  I just like Bill Bryson.  This is the third of his books I've read, and I find I can count on him to entertain and educate as well as any other nonfiction writer out there.  A Walk in the Woods especially won me over by being closer to home than any other travel writing I've picked up; it was cool to read someone else's thoughts about places I know and love.  And what's really impressive about this particular book is that Bill Bryson takes a fairly dull, repetitive activity (walking through the woods for hours upon hours, day after day after day) and weaves in enough information and humor to make an entertaining story.  Another aspect of this book that differs from Bryson's others: the presence of chubby, unambitious, good-natured Katz.  He nicely balances out Bryson personality-wise, and he adds an element of variety to the narrative that could have become stale pretty quickly.

I read this one aloud to Brooke, and he felt it was uneven, losing momentum midway through when Katz and Bryson part ways.  Without spoiling too much, Brooke was also pretty disappointed with the trajectory of their hike.  I can see what he means with both criticisms- I too liked the first half of the book better than the second half.  But overall I still look back on A Walk in the Woods with fond memories, and I'd still recommend it to hiking/camping people (of which I am not one at all), Bryson fans, and travelogue-lovers.   

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!

Reading Recommendations:  I've said it before: Bill Bryson is perfect for reading aloud in the car.

Warnings:  A few swears, a little potty humor, and one or two mildly off-color jokes

What I'm reading aloud in the car next:  Moranthology by Caitlin Moran

Review: Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Lake District, via

 Reviewed by Christina

Published: 1995

It's about: American travel/humor writer Bill Bryson had lived in Great Britain for over twenty years- most of his adult life- when he decided to relocate to New Hampshire with his wife and children.  Before moving back to the U.S., he took a solitary farewell tour of England and Scotland.  Notes from a Small Island is his travelogue. 
(The book's wikipedia article is a really nice summary, if you're interested.)

I thought: Reading aloud to my husband in the car is one of my favorite things about taking road trips.  I love reading aloud, I love sharing stories and information and laughs with my husband, and I love discovering which books are appropriately suited to this particular situation.  Bill Bryson's writing is perfect for our needs: light, funny, and engaging, with snippets of story and history, but without a long and complicated plot.  Unfortunately, we tend to travel with several needy children; so on any given 6-hour day of driving we are lucky to get in 1-2 good hours of reading.  It took us a year to read the full 324 pages of Notes from a Small Island.

Because of our sometimes months-long gaps between reading sessions, I don't have the clear impressions that I usually do when I finish a book.  Forgive me if this review is a bit vague, but I enjoyed Notes from a Small Island enough that I wanted to be sure to mention it on the blog.  It should definitely be on your radar next time you're looking for some funny travel writing and/or an amusing way to learn a bit about England and Scotland.

So yes!  Bill Bryson travels around and describes his opinions of and experiences in various English and Scottish locales.  He throws in just the right amount of history, too.  I've seen a few reviews on goodreads that complain about Bill Bryson being crotchety, and it's true that there are times when he's hangry or hungover or tired and damp and yes, he complains and gets snippy with people.  But I don't mind the crankiness; it helps the writing ring true, and in most cases I can see where he's coming from.  Besides, the sections where he praises the many things he loves about Great Britain easily outweigh the negativity.  In 2003, BBC Radio 4 listeners voted Notes from a Small Island the book that best represents England.  And it's written by a whiny American!  I think Bill Bryson can be pretty proud of that.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!

Reading Recommendations: Most of us Americans have never heard of and will never see most of the places described in this book.  So Notes from a Small Island is armchair travel at its best.

Warnings: Some swears.

Favorite excerpts: Shoot!  I didn't make any notes, and there were so many witty moments I'd like to share.  I'll settle for a few that I've found from other reviews and goodreads and stuff:

“At least half the hedgerows of Britain pre-date the enclosure movement and perhaps as many as a fifth date back to Anglo-Saxon times.  Anyway, the reason for saving them isn’t because they have been there for ever and ever, but because they clearly and unequivocally enhance the landscape.  They are a central part of what makes England England.  Without them it would just be Indiana with steeples.”

"What an enigma Britain will seem to historians when they look back on the second half of the twentieth century. Here is a country that fought and won a noble war, dismantled a mighty empire in a generally benign and enlightened way, created a far-seeing welfare state - in short, did nearly everything right - and then spent the rest of the century looking on itself as a chronic failure. The fact is that this is still the best place in the world for most things - to post a letter, go for a walk, watch television, buy a book, venture out for a drink, go to a museum, use the bank, get lost, seek help, or stand on a hillside and take in a view.

All of this came to me in the space of a lingering moment. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I like it here. I like it more than I can tell you.” 

What I'm reading aloud to Brooke in the car next:  A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson