La Frontiera Viaggio Intorno alla Russia by Erika Fatland

 La Frontiera

Viaggio Intorno alla Russia by Erika Fatland is a new book by Marsilio. Russia is  a fascinating, magical, mysterious land. The biggest country of this world, my father used to say that the Russia was the "Granary of the World". An immense vastity that means also differences, linguisticals, climaticals, geographicals. 

The author, one of the best ones of Oslo, she also received the prize as one of the most influencial and good authors under 35 decided one day that she would have visited the entire russian border territory: and she made it! with the difficulties that you can imagine, with the most diversified drivers she met along her way, some toxic, curious, other ones polemics, I want to remember the taxi driver of Georgia polemic with Putin, grown up there; great relevance, in terms of chapters is given to Georgia, a land that has given to Russia a lot of politicians: I want to remember you of reading, for understand much better what the Communist Party meant for peasants, thinkers, people in general The Eight Life for Brilka by Nino Haratischwili, always published by Marsilio.

Erika tells when she decided at 22 years to afford to Russia, in the city of Puskin for studying Russian. It was a miserable experience, was pretty hot, the lady who gave her hospitality was pretty poor and she couldn't eat properly. Odessa was another experience and she reports the anedoct of her teacher. When she explained her that she would have wanted to read Dostoevskij in original, she suggested her of enter in a good mental predisposition, being lonely and in a tranquil place; the brain must be opened and receptive. With a lot of available time.

Erika visited also a little town where there are still swedish emigrated in Russia at the end of 1800: they still speak swedish and they try to maintain traditions, including their great tea, instead of drinking the horrible ukrainan one precised the son of Maria, the lady where Erika spent time with. What a beautiful experience. These two people lived in a very tiny house; the bathroom was outside, close to the stable of the hens; they live modestly, in the house there is also the washing machine, theoretically there is warm water in the house, but not all the time they receive it.

But, their hospitality has been the one that a king and a queen would donate to an appreciated guest. They donated to Erika time, a big dinner and a lot of cups of great tea! Yum! 

Interesting the visit at Cernobyl. I didn't know that: now they organize groups for tourists brought with a little bus in the city where there was the catastrophic nuclear disaster in 1986. Grass is still incredibly radioactive and people must avoid it with all themselves.

There was a park built for children and never inaugurated where tourists focuse the attention.

Every year, touristic tours started in 2001, Cernobyl counts 10-20.000 visitors.  A city at just 2 km from the nuclear central counted 50.000 people; it was the place where the workers of the nuclear atomic central, four in total, lived. 

Immediately after the disaster, all the people of the city remained at the obscure of the gravity of the situation living unprotected for a day and half; 36 hours: after that the government decided for reasons unclear at the time to the citizenship to evacuate the city, adding that they would have returned soon in the city; but the fact is that this one is a phantom city like the ones you meet in California and no one returned there.

There are still in the houses children toys left on the tables and the life is fixated in that historical moment. A sort of modern Pompeii, after all, because that days left unprepared the citizens and their life is crystallized in the latest instants spent in their houses. That houses tell their existence left behind forever. It is calculated that the emissions spread by Cernobyl were 200 times times superiors 8f compared to the ones of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki-

Tyroid cancers, but also deficit at the immunitary system the main illnesses treated in the hospital of Cernobyl, where they don't wait a change for other 30 years. Erika interviews some survivors of the explosion, and most of them are still spending long long time to the hospital. No one want to declare what kind of illness they have, but everyone hate the sovietic regime for what done.

The atomic central explosed was a model developed by Russians but never approved in the western countries of the world because considered too dangerous.

Changing topic....In Caucasus explains Erika there is the biggest concentration of spoken languages and ethnic groups than not in the rest of the world. 

In less than 260 days she explored the most remote territories of the russian country, starting from Pyongyang.

The portraits accumulated of places, countries, is fantastically beauty; I leave to you the discovery of them I don't want to ruin your reading  spoiling too much. Erika is captivating, opened, someone enthusiastic of people, places and the desire of telling a complicated but absolutely fascinating land she is in love with. 

Enjoy this reading, it's perfect for the summer-time!

Highly recommended book.

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori