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

114 reviews

Hanna Lund

One of the many dreams that I have is to ride the rails of the transsiberian railway across Russia. This dream has occupied my mind and plagued my spirit ever since I was a young girl and when I first read the words of Boris Pasternak. There is something so enigmatic about Russia. Of course its size is colossal taking up so much of planet Earth but equally so is Russia's blood stained history and most of all is its glorious literature on which so many stories, imagined and real became a part of life of this great culture. I don't know when I will be able to fulfill this dream of mine with this ongoing conflict but I hope one day to follow the same path that Christianson made from East to West, from Vladivostok all the way on land to Moscow. When I was reading his story and experiencing his narrative of D I felt that I was on those trains and gazing out at the natural and changing landscapes. I can only imagine what it feels like to stand on the shores of Lake Baikal and look upon something that has lived for millions of years. The story of D&N is a very mysterious one. I don't know if it was a real love story but even if it is only a fictional love story it is filled with passion, longing and ultimately the death of the love that once promised so much. I am convinced that no story set in or about Russia is a bad one. Russia fills the writer with so much energy that leads to the creation of such beautiful and poignant words. I didn't want the end of this novel to come. Instead, I wanted to go back to the beginning at Vladivostok station and begin this story all over again on this wonderful journey across Russia.
Pat Bennett

Fascinating read. It brings to life the train journey across Russia. I have not been to Russia but after reading East to West across Russia I feel I have. It is such a gripping book it leaves a strong desire to do the trip. Maybe when the political scene improve it would be fascinating to sit on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia as D did. I believe N is a real person and is D's lost love that he would like to rekindle. Daniel C.A Christianson...you are now a writer. Looking forward to your next book.
Remi Breton

I read this delightful but deeply personal novel a few months ago. I thought that I had a good understanding of the meaning of Christianson's memoir but then last week I read the interview of Christianson with Brian Feinblum, a book publicist from the United States. In the interview Mr Feinblum asks Christianson ten individual questions relating to his novel and to his writing in general. Question 4 really intrigued me where Feinblum asked Christianson about how he decided on the title for his book and its cover design. Christianson's response was very revealing as he stated that above the smoke coming from the moving train one can see the faint outline of a human face. I certainly had not noticed this human face before although it is very faint indeed. However, on closer inspection one can make out a human face and the author stated to Feinblum that this faint outline of a human face is none other than the protagonist's lost love N. This now makes me believe that the character N is a real person. From my close reading of East to West I had come to the conclusion that N could not be a real person but an entity that is not of this world. N represents a utopia figure and a place that D longs to reach one day. I am now wondering if N is a real woman and the lost love of D? If this is so then who is this woman named N? Why didn't the author name her? Why did the author not even name his protagonist? Can we now assume that D is indeed the author Daniel C.A. Christianson or is D an idealised figure too? It still leaves so many questions that are difficult to answer but I really enjoyed this novel. It forced me to look inside my own soul and question how I live my life.
Rebecca Hamsun

At the heart of this narrative is a novel of existentialism as the author through his protagonist D is depicting a way of life that he wants to inhabit but is stunted in the present by the everyday chaos of modernity. He never mentioned the prominent proponents of existentialism such as Soren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche although he did briefly refer to Simone de Beauvoir in kirova park when the protagonist was critiquing man's dominance over and abuse of the female species. The subject of philosophy and existentialism is crucial to the entire narrative and its overall meaning as the protagonist from the very moment he steps onto the soil of Russia is contemplating on his own existence and slowly overtime he begins to look internally where all the flaws and fallibilities of his own humanity are laid bare for him to see. The character D connects deeply to the Russian writers from the 19th century and more specifically Chekov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy who in many ways were very much existential writers and certainly Dostoevsky lived that existential meaning through his dark and poignant narratives. The existential philosophers that the author of this novel clearly admires encouraged people to find their own meaning and values in a world full of contradictions and depravity. The protagonist D as he moves through the vast terrain of Russia is slowly becoming that existential philosopher as he grapples with his own life and especially the loss of his great love N. I don't think the character N is a real life woman but like many others have said she is an idealized heroine type figure that D is traumatized by her departure but in reality D is traumatized by the utter absurdity of life and so he desperately tries to find a grand meaning to his life. In the end the meaning for D is through his writing. He must write in order to fully exist as a person.
Joanna Doyle

Fabulous images of Russia are translated in the written word. I feel the journey on the train. To the experience in the restaurant eating the local cuisine. Can’t wait for the next book
Sebastian Riquelme

I read this memoir earlier in the year. It was somewhat different to other memoirs that I have read as it incorporated various fictional scenes. These fictional scenes while initially deflected from the moving narrative did eventually allow me to see the bigger picture and overall message that the author was trying to portray. I have never visited Siberia before but the closest natural environments that I did visit were Alaska and Canada and when I was reading the scenes set in Siberia it did remind me about the wonder of the natural world that I got to experience at those two places. I also believe that the character N is not a real life person. In fact, she is not a character in the novel at all. She is only revealed through the memories of the protagonist and only briefly makes an appearance in the final scene of the book on red square in Moscow. I think she represents the ideal female form that men fall hopelessly in love with and who pine after forever after they depart their lives. The blonde and golden hair that N has symbolizes the purity of the female and the fading away of N is the departure of all love that we once experienced and hoped that would last forever but in the end love evaporates into the air and dissolves into nothingness just like how all love and human beings will dissolve one day. It is a novel of darkness and light all connected to each other. One cannot live without the other. Maybe that is the true and honest depiction of the Russian soul.
Antoine Moreau

I was recommended to read this book late last year but I only got round to it over the summer and I am so pleased that I did tackle it as it was quite the journey that I was brought on. I read the interview with Christianson and a USA publicist online today and this interview does shed some more light on the many questions that one has upon reading this book across Russia. In the interview, Christianson alludes to this mysterious character named N and he said that she was the one who inspired the birth of these words. This tells me that N is very much a real person and not an imaginary and shadowy figure who is central to the narrative. However, maybe that is what the author wants us to believe and so the character N could still be a figment of his imagination and a grand metaphor for the old way of life in Russia that many slavic people long to return to. My favorite scene in the book is the long monologue at lake baikal. It does go on and on quite a bit but I found the fusion of history, literature, science, religion, politics, psychology and especially philosophy to be so riveting. I might not have always agreed with the author's words but I certainly was engrossed in the many topics and for a while it allowed me to depart from the main narrative only to return later to the moving train. I won't give it 5* but I do feel that it is worth 4*. The author mentioned in the interview that there will be a further four books that will pre-date this book so perhaps the reader will finally get an answer to the question of whether N is a real person or not.
Ana Owens

This is both a bizarre and very interesting book. It is bizarre as I could never tell what was real and what was fictional. However, the narrative was a most interesting one and it flowed seamlessly from beginning to end. I felt the journey was more of a psychological and transformative journey for the protagonist as opposed to it being a physical one. Even if the protagonist never departed the safe confines of his home he could still have undergone such a metamorphosis by shedding his old life of love and sacred memories for his new life of individuality, creativity and endless opportunities and experiences that will come his way if he chooses to live such a new life. The scene set at the pond in the city of Yekaterinburg was particularly sad as the protagonist was watching a father and son playing together and knowing that he will never get to have such experiences with his daughter or son. I feel the best narratives take place outside of the train where the protagonist gets to interact with others and sometimes in not a positive manner. The beauty of life on the train is how the magnificence of the natural landscapes is always there and ever changing as he moves from East to West. The essence of the story is the moments spent at Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is a mythical and pure lake that is so far away from civilization but the purity of such a place is contrasted with the impurity and brokenness of the human entity. D wants to become as pure as the lake but he knows that he is flawed and the time on his clock is ticking closer to destruction.