Imperium

I can add little to earlier reviews other than to comment that Kapuscinski takes a refreshingly unique angle in trying to make sense of USSR/Russia. He was obviously touched by visits to the Caucausian region and these are the most emotional chapters of the book. Don't expect a travel book. Kapuscinski approaches the book from a human perspective rather than from a structural/physical geographic angle. In that respect its a book about people and their daily lives within a specific regime that so obviously turned sour from its early existence. A great book. The only way to do it justice is to read it.

As per usual, Kapusinski is insightful, witty, and incredibly well versed on his topic. I found Imperium to be one of his best, and was immediatly pulled in by the beginning chapters about his childhood in wartime Poland. Kapusinski's extensive travel in the region allows for insigtful commentary, ripe with interesting facts and blunt commentary. Overall I found Imperium extremely enjoyable, and after reading 2 of his books have already bought a third. Kapusinski is truly on of the great travel writers/commentators of our time.

I consider myself a lifelong student of Russia and the former Soviet Union, having read and studied a huge number of books and reports on the subject. But Ryszard Kapuscinski's Imperium is superior to everything else I have read and imagined. He is a keen observer and a superb writer; he has traveled to cities and regions where even the most hardened Russian reporters didn't go. His prose is gripping and the translation is excellent. Reading this book is a rare pleasure. I recommend it very highly to all those who want to understand what Russia is and why the Russians are the way they are. They are very different from the rest of the world and Kapuscinski unravels the mystery better than any body else. Having studied Eastern Europe for more than 50 years I can say this with a great deal of confidence.

Obligatory lecture to anybody, not just Russia fans or haters. Facts, observations, descriptions and information - everything that is so vital in reporters' style presented with skill and fluency.

I've read this book several time since I first chanced across it in the library several years ago. Kapuscinski's vision is unique since it is essentially unclouded by idealogical or political bias. His outlook is more cultural than political and he breaks apart the image (so prevalent in the U.S.) of the Russia is/was a monolithic and homogenous bastion of Marxism.The truth (not surprisingly) is much more complicated than that.

Imperium reads like a travelogue across the sweeping expanse of that was once collectively called the U.S.S.R. Kapuscinski shows that the "republic" was never more than a far-flung and disparate collection of principalities yoked by violence to form a unified front. Underneath this exterior he reveals the ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions that have always threatened to rend the region apart, and now seem destined to set the various factions against one-another.

All of this underscores the fact that Kapuscinski is one of the great writers of our time (although, regretably, his output is pretty limited). His writing transcends genre and is timeless and well crafted enough to draw the reader in no matter what the subject matter. Because he seems to have little to prove his vision is less self-conscious, less affected, and more mature than the most of the batch of current fiction writers.

Read this book. Read it for the history. Read it for the story-telling. Or read it for the power and grace of its language. Any way you read it, you'll be better for it...