Embark on a captivating journey across the vast Russian steppe aboard the iconic Trans-Siberian Railway in this modern tale of self-discovery and introspection. The narrator, known only as D, begins his westward voyage in Vladivostok, traversing the ever-changing landscapes that unfold before him. As time moves inexorably onward, the everyday lives of the passengers intertwine with the rhythmic churning of the train’s propellers, contrasting sharply with the raw silence of the natural world beyond the windows.As the journey progresses, D’s physical expedition takes an unexpected turn, delving into the depths of his own psyche. A haunting presence, N, permeates the narrative, her essence imbued in the natural world, particularly at the breathtaking Lake Baikal in Siberia. N represents the one who got away, leaving a void and a profound fragility within D’s soul, scattering her ghostly influence across the many places his footsteps tread.Immersed in the tranquil vistas of the external world, D finds himself enamoured by the everyday characters he encounters along the way. As he navigates the complexities of his inner turmoil and the beauty of his surroundings, the narrator embarks on a transformative odyssey. The D who began his journey in Vladivostok will inevitably be different from the one who arrives in Moscow at journey’s end, but what will this transformation entail? Join D on this introspective voyage as he unravels the mysteries of his past, present, and future on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

He is a man of solitude. His world is that of the quiet and distilled. Each night, he sits at his desk as the clock strikes midnight. He journeys inward to that bottomless pit of conflict, prompted by memory, in search of an image fused with the imagination in order to reveal truth through character and the creative narrative process. The words become sentences and they are formed. And so it all begins. This was his first attempt and successful completion of a full-length book. His name is Daniel C.A. Christianson.

Customer Reviews

4.7

97 reviews

Rebecca Roussot

Russia has been front and center in global news over three years now and although many would think that Russia is always some place in the news even if it is only in a quiet and distinct manner. When I picked up this book I thought it would be about such conflicts and with subtle hints of geopolitics and propaganda which I detest. However, this book never refers to that conflict and when it does mention global conflicts it does so to critique nationalism and how large global states continue to dominate and bully smaller and more subservient states. The author of this book clearly has a great admiration for Russia but more so its literature, music and the working people of Russia whom its true culture is reflected in. I do wonder if Christianson actually made such a journey across Russia because most of the novel deals fervently with the internal musings, angst and traumas that have beset such an introspective wanderer. Perhaps the journey is simply a metaphor for the long journey through life that we must all undertake and how we can never escape from such a journey while we are living in this vulnerable and chaotic world.
Emmanuelle Richard

My friend Ana and I completed our reading of this book recently. What we often do after such a read is to sit down over a drink to discuss our thoughts. It took Ana quite a while to understand what this book was about. She felt that there was a lot of anger in it that added to its raw narrative and she also thought that primarily it was about the broken love that was experienced between D and N. I didn't agree with her. While I do think there is a certain anger and honesty in the narrative I also believe that style was used to contrast between the frail human standing alongside the wonder and strength of nature. I disagreed with my friend in her perception of the characters D and N. I do not believe that they are real life people who suffered such a broken love. Both characters are simply a metaphorical representation of both the high end artistic expression of his past through memories and a longing to live that artistic life in the future as a writer. Human beings so often are obsessed with romantic love in relationships but this book is not about romantic love at all. It is about the sensitive individual trying to forge out his true path in life.
Kate Mangan

I was recommended to read this book earlier in the summer prior to going interrailing across Europe. I didn't travel on such an epic journey spanning two continents but I did ride the rails for a month around and through some of Europe's most enchanting cities in Berlin, Krakow, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I travelled alone just like Christianson did across Russia. I could empathise with the author during such moments of loneliness and silence but also moments of sheer joy. Nothing else seems to matter whilst on those train journeys. I did not think of home and of my family, friends and work. All that mattered for me was to try and live in those precious moments just like the protagonist D got to experience when he was riding from train to train across that ever changing country. I tend to agree with many other reviewers when they suggested that the character N is not a real person but a personification of his memories of an innocent and happy way of life from the past. I don't think the character D is real either. Perhaps the author created him in order to depict the inner and external contrasts to all human life. I enjoyed dipping in and out of this book during the moments when I was travelling by day and night in Europe. A very interesting and mysterious read.
Nicole McCarthy

The saddest things in life are often the realizations that we could have lived another life, a different one filled with love and meaning but now we must live the life that is presented to us from such a past. I wish the character N was a real person but she is rather an idealized figure and a symbolic representation of what lost love looks and feels like. The journey of D is a stifling and traumatic one and he cannot equate the internal struggles with the external existence that he lives each day. In order for D to begin to accept such trauma he creates this heroine of female purity that allows him to come out from the abyss of darkness within his soul into the light of a world filled with possibilities. The character N has one aim and role and that is to bridge the gap between this internal and external world. N becomes alive and reassures D that his metamorphosis is taking place at the precious lake Baikal. N ultimately becomes the catalyst of self discovery of D from an internal world full of fear into an external world full of creativity through his desire to become a writer. As N fades away at the end of the novel D is there all alone with just himself as he always has been but now he realizes that he must take ownership of his own life and live it in such a way that will bring him true meaning and love in an authentic manner.
Nadine McCarthy

A delightful tale crossing a vast land. The sheer terror that unfolds when a human being sees within their own heart. There is no going back. The future awaits but without the spark of love that ignites within all of us. A minefield of explosions. A calamity of chaos which not one of us can survive. The brokenness of romantic love. The loss and regret of what might have been. Fading into a ravine of darkness. The natural world will live on after we have gone. Day follows night follows day once more. All we have is time but is it really eternal?
Jean Jacques Delacroix

The fundamental essence of this novel East to West is its critique on the depraved nature of humanity. No matter where humans go they cannot be free of this stain of evil that continues to follow us wherever we reside on this planet of ours. The author Christianson through his protagonist D is confronting the sheer terror of being human and he does so in a place of utter purity in the tranquil and wild surroundings of Siberia. N is not a real person. She cannot be. She represents neither male or female. She is the epitome of love that human beings are so desperate to find but due to our selfish nature we can never find such love. D represents the hunger in many humans who are tired of living such a selfish existence and desire to live a more independent but authentic life. At the end of the novel D decides to live such an authentic life as a writer but will do so alone because he cannot find the love that is most sacred to him in this world. There is a lingering depth to this novel but most people do not wish to confront one's own soul to expose its crude reality.
Rene Bonnaire

I had been reading a lot of the writings of Karl Ove Knausgaard over the last decade and now another Scandinavian writer comes along for me to read. There was so much backstory to try and understand the vast breath of Knausgaard's novels whereas this novel is very different and also very mysterious. There is a subtlety to its beauty and the author chose a concise and brief narrative style of writing to tell his tale across the huge canvas of Russia. There are very few characters and the ones that become present are only briefly mentioned in passing. Most of the plot is driven by the mind of the protagonist D. We know very little of his back story only that he is plagued with the memories of his lost love N. We don't even know if N is a real person. Perhaps she is not and perhaps the entire narrative of the book is a retelling of a past trauma and using the moving train and magnificent landscapes of Russia and in particular Siberia to show such trauma. I must confess that I do like such mysterious books because after I complete reading them the many questions that I had along that story continue to occupy my mind in the present. The other certainty I can conclude from reading this book is that it is obvious that the author Christianson has a deep love and knowledge of Russia but perhaps he longs for the Russia of the past and not that of the Soviet Union and Russia of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Justine Regarde

I read this book in English recently but I would love to read it in French or one of the other romance dialects because many of the narrative scenes especially the romantic scenes written to and about N are filled with such beautiful passages and words of longing that I wonder how they would sound in French, Italian, Spanish or maybe even German? The scenes that I felt closest to were the scenes at Lake Baikal when D is longing for N and imagines that she is here with him as he would take her across the lake on a boat. The scene at Kirov park where D is sitting on a bench waiting for N is hauntingly sad. The reader knows that N will not come. Even D knows deep down that she will not come and yet he continues to wait for her because he believes in the love that they once had for each other. The scene at the pond in Yekaterinburg as D watches a father and son play with toy water boats is equally as sad because the internal sufferings and regrets are laid bare for the reader to see and to feel. My favourite scene was the epistolary letter that D wrote to N sitting on a bench beside a statue of lovers in Omsk. Letter writing is so rare now in the digital age within the 21st century. We mostly send emails and texts now. Everything is so instant but I like the writing of a love letter because it is intimate and the writer takes its time to pen the words that he chooses from within the depths of his own soul. I don't even know if N is a real person but if I received a love letter like the one that D had written N then it would feel very real and special for me. I applaud the author Daniel C.A. Christianson for writing such a beautiful and moving book.