Where Nights Are Longest

by Colin Thubron

Where Nights Are Longest is Thubron's account of his 10-thousand-mile journey through the western half of Russia, its cities and its countryside. "A magnificent achievement."--Nikolai Tolstoy.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Russia

211 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Colin Thubron, CBE FRSL is a Man Booker nominated British travel writer and novelist.

In 2008, The Times ranked him 45th on their list of the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, as of 2010, President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Colin Thubron's earlier books, copyright 1983 from travels he took in 1980.
If I had read this book when it came out, I would not have been nearly as surprised by the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. It's clear from reading "Where Nights Are Longest" (the title is taken from a line in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure") that there wasn't much holding it up.
It's remarkable to me how much Thubron was able to report about how bad things were. He was shadowed by the KGB and rooms were routinely bugged, and everyone knew it -- yet people couldn't seem to resist confiding in him about how flawed everything was in the Soviet system. A lot of that was readily apparent just from what Thubron observed and reported. When someone expresses to Thubron his incredulity that people in the West could be afraid of the Soviet Union, the reader has to agree.
I think this book is one of Thubron's greatest accomplishments. In terms of reader enjoyment, it's not quite as good as some of his more recent books, but it's still very good.
Some of the patterns of later books appear here as well. He travels alone. He takes no pictures. He seems to befriend, or to be befriended by, some of the most woebegone people imaginable. His new friends get him drunk on vodka.
Here he is getting drunk in Novgorod:
... my vision contracted until it encompassed only the cherubic face of my host, which started to gyrate slightly around his sad, brown and still puzzled eyes. We talked about Western pop groups, of which I know nothing at all. Yet I dimly heard myself holding forth on Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and several groups which I must have invented. We drank to them all.
Later, he takes on a guide named Misha, and only after they are both thoroughly soused does Misha confide that he's a KGB agent.
One more brief excerpt. It would take too long to try to explain the context, but I like it so much I'm going to share it anyway:
I stared at him. His face was bright, laughing, filled with the terrible simplicity of his heart. Somewhere in the pages of Dostoevsky, I must have met him before.
"Where Nights Are Longest" only added to my conviction that Colin Thubron is the greatest travel writer since Moses.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in the context of today's Russia.

[Marija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely read a book and think, "I wish I wrote that," but this is one such book. Thubron drove around western Soviet Union in the early 1980s (about the time I was there with a tightly-controlled group). His descriptions are poetic. The words he chooses to tell us about his encounters various people - as well as what he leaves out - is perfect. This is not a quick, easy read, but worthwhile nonetheless.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with Thubron's writing with this book. His travels in Russia were fascinating, lyrically written, and one of the few books I have never wished to end [the other is Sophie's Choice:]. My eyes were opened to a world not seen on TV, to a place were all materials are scarce. Highest recommendation.

[Jake Jaqua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! (Same as his title "Among the Russians") I read a used copy from the 80's (Atlantic Monthly Press, ppbk.) but beware this edition - mine had pp. 21-52 missing as it came from the publisher - the part on Moscow, so one can fantasize about an undercover agent slipping the boys on the print line a few thousand bucks to hide the inside information! ha

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating travel through the communist USSR. I found some parts to be a bit dry or to lag a bit in the story telling, but the majority was very interesting. The actual travel, people he met, and experiences he had are so intriguing.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot recommend this travelogue enough. One of Thubron's only works on Russia, it features careful but brilliant prose, wonderful insights into the character of Russians (and Latvians and Ukrainians and Georgians) and the Soviet era and a healthy dose of humor.

[Evie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I desperately wanted to like this book. It was well written and flowed well but it was dry, dry, dry!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenally descriptive account of a tour through the Soviet Union in the 1980s. I've read a lot of his travel books and this is so far the best.

[Rudy Seifert · Rating 1 out of 5]

not readable

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. It's hard to reconcile the fact that the cold war & iron curtain was during my lifetime.