Product Description

A land of enormous proportions, countless secrets, and incredible history, Central Asia--the heart of the great Mongol empire of Tamerlane, site of the legendary Silk Route and scene of Stalin's cruelest deportations--is a remote and fascinating region. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of newly independent republics, Central Asia--containing the magical cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, and terrain as diverse as the Kazakh steppes, the Karakum desert, and the Pamir mountains--has been in a constant state of transition. The Lost Heart of Asia takes readers into the very heart of this little visited, yet increasingly important region, delivering a rare and moving portrayal of a world in the midst of change.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #416739 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-11
• Released on: 1995-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.com Review
West of China, south of Russia, hemmed in by mountains, steppe, and desert, lie the five Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. Cut loose from Moscow in the early '90s, the five "Stans" (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) discover that their newly found freedom plays tug-o-war with despair and a nostalgia for the certainties of the Soviet past. It's during this time that author Colin Thubron travels the width of central Asia, asking questions about the past, present, and future. Not content to simply bounce from place to place, Thubron travels from person to person, uncovering their many vibrant stories and developing a deep understanding of the area's lesser-known history. Kyrgyz and Uzbeks debate the place of Islam. Koreans and Germans, descendants from forced migrants, wonder if they know enough of their ethnic tongue to return to their homelands. Russians find themselves left behind, disbelieving, as the tide of Russian power recedes toward Moscow.

Central Asia was mostly off limits to foreigners during the Soviet years, and while officials are still uncertain about how to deal with a backpack-wearing solo traveler, the locals Thubron meets are not. Thubron finds the heart of Asia in the hearts of its people, swimming in a sea of tea, vodka, and hospitality. From the oldest-known Quran to a deserted Soviet naval base on the shores of a high mountain lake 1,500 miles from the ocean (used to test torpedoes far from spying eyes), Thubron's writing echoes the melancholy emptiness of the wide spaces he passes through. The Lost Heart of Asia is a rare meeting of a marvelous writer and a mysterious land. --Ken Peavler

From Publishers Weekly
A 6000-mile journey takes Thubron (Where Nights are Longest) through Central Asia to the countries of the ancient Mongol empire of Tamerlane-Tashkent, Kazakh, Samarkand, Bukhara-more recently part of the Soviet Union. He supplies helpful historical background and a multitude of conversations with residents. He shows that while several generations grew to adulthood under communism, previously proscribed nationalist, Muslim and other religious practices have quickly reasserted themselves as these republics have gained nationhood. Thubron finds a range of reactions to the collapse of the Soviet Union: some people are nostalgic for the unity it provided, however repressive the regime, but many seem overjoyed and look forward to material improvements even though the problems confronting each country are sobering. Thubron has a gift for describing the ambiences of unfamiliar villages and cities, but his self-conscious literary style sometimes distracts from the instructive content. First serial to Conde Nast Traveler.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Thubron, a fine novelist as well as an accomplished travel writer, has developed exceptional skills of observation and dramatization. He absorbs every scene and conversation and then distills them into incisive commentary, poignant anecdotes, and remarkable metaphors. His last travel book, Behind the Wall, chronicled his journey across China. Now Thubron ventures farther into the great continent of Asia, exploring its landlocked, remote, and "fearful heartland" in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. As he travels by bus and train from one isolated and disconsolate central Asian city to another, he inhales an overwhelming atmosphere of hopelessness. Without the structure of Communism, life seems to be drifting into chaos and apathy. Communities lack jobs, money, and a sense of purpose. Although many Muslims are pleased to be able to practice their religion openly, they know that faith alone won't revitalize life in their neglected countries. As Thubron explores Turkenia, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, and Kazakhstan, visiting markets and mosques, he becomes attuned to a pervasive sense of displacement and vacuousness, of ethnic divides and distrust. In this land of conquerors and tyrants, times of peace and creative flowerings have been brief and infrequent. The future promises to be no different. Donna Seaman

Customer Reviews

Do not loan this book
Don't loan this book. You'll never get it back. It's that good. It's that informative. It's that true to life. Reading Colin Thubron's "The Lost Heart of Asia" put me in a part of the world I now want to experience for myself, but probably never will. It helped me understand how history and current events interact on such a diverse region. The Soviets left them with one major gift: A common language.

Desolation in lost heart

I've been thinking about Turkestan travel lately, not so much that I plan to do it in person, but more in terms of literature. The whole field of travel literature is such that there are distinct styles among the authors and it's pretty much up to you to select the style that you like. One style that I definitely don't like is the "Yuck" style guaranteed to wrinkle noses, elicit groans, turn stomachs, and produce the reaction "thank God it was her, not me". Authors of this school no doubt garner kudos for having "braved the wilds of X" but it's basically a kind of fraternity/sorority gross-out tour. Still another variety of travel writer finds everyone an idiot, venal, politically incorrect, or somehow unappetizing; definitely not "like us" (which is bad). Everything is awful; if only he'd come here ten years ago---they say it was paradise then, but now, look at all the plastic bottles on the beach. Etc. etc. What about your hometown, buddy ? I'm not exhausting all the possibilities here, but let's turn to two more appealing schools---the Beautiful, Enchanting place group, and the Sad, Wrecked, and Disoriented place group. I could plump for either of these because a) there are some really beautiful places in the world and you can have some great experiences almost anywhere, come to think of it, and b) the world is pretty messed up too, and a lot of places have been wrecked by wars, poverty, and misgovernment, the people have a hard time getting by, and things look pretty grim. I don't require that everything look lovely, but what I do want in a travel book is a writer who doesn't condescend, who doesn't try for laughs at the expense of the people she meets, and who puts in a fair bit of background information on the particular place so that I learn as well as travel vicariously.

Colin Thubron's travel book about the five new/old nations of Central Asia, written in the early 90s, definitely pleases. Speaking a fair amount of Russian, Thubron was able to talk to many people over the several months he spent travelling around. He seems to have had a number of contacts, gleaned in England, but he also met up with various characters along the way. I admired his lyrical descriptions of the land, of places, of ruins, and of conditions, as well as his portrayals of the people he met. His is not a very optimistic view of human nature, nor of the conditions extant in those lands at the time (not that they have vastly improved). The sudden collapse of Russian rule left a vacuum, political, economic, and cultural. Everything turned upside down. Even the most optimistic traveller might have been hard pressed to find upbeat material in the detritus of the Soviet colonial legacy. In none of the five countries does he describe rulers---not even the later-notorious, egomaniacal Saparmurad Niyazov in Turkmenistan. He concentrates solely on the people he meets, who long incessantly for a better material standard of living, who often say that Communism, even Stalin, was better than the present mess. He meets many people who cling to Islam, either in fact, or merely in retrospect, holding onto some dimly-recalled shred of their nearly-erased cultural past. Some of the rather odd characters will touch your soul. Asia had lost its heart long before in the case of these repressed, depressed, and suppressed peoples, condemned to be cotton growers, pollution dumps, or open prisons by successive governments in Moscow. Overall, his is a thoughtful, beautiful book that anyone interested in Central Asia should read.

Great Writing.
This was a very well-crafted and informative book, which I would recommend reading to those who haven't yet. For those who have, and who enjoyed it like I did, I would also recommend Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival, which George Kennan's account of his travels around eastern Siberia on dog and reindeer sleds.