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Absurdistan
Book by Eric Campbell
350 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2005
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March 8, 2010
Gosh, well this was a surprising and amazing read.
Absurdistan (not to be confused with that silly novel of the same name) is a memoir by an Australian journalist who spent the last few decades as an embedded reporter in some of the most fucked-up parts of the world, including Moscow, Chechnya, Beijing, Kabul, and Northern Iraq. His experiences living and working in these places was almost unbelievably fascinating and frustrating in equal measure, but also served to highlight, over and over and over, both how very lucky I am and how woefully, embarrassingly unaware I am of the rest of this insane world we live in. Did you know how desperately poor and fucked up Russia was in the just-post-Communism 90s? How sick the Chinese propaganda machine is? How totally appalling things are in the Mideast? That there are still nomads in what used to be Soviet gulags? That the Taliban blew up enormous 1400-year-old statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan?
If I may give you a few highlights of some of the things you'll learn about, should you (and you should!) choose to read this fine book.
* In Russia, 1996: "On my last night in Minsk, Nastya took me to a nightclub called Reaktor. It had a neon model of Chernobyl in one corner, spouting neon radiation. It was the kind of black irony you could find only in the former Soviet Union, where people confronted the misery of their situation but decided to enjoy life anyway."
* In Grozny 1997: "The main problem for the local economy – apart from the fact that almost every town and village had been shot up and bombed – was that there was no work for the gunmen.
A group of fighters came to us to ask about opportunities in the West, specifically Hawaii.
"I'm afraid not," Eve said. "There's no war in Hawaii."
"Really?" he asked. "We heard they were having lots of problems with America and needed fighters."
"No, I'm sorry," Eve said. "It's very peaceful there."
* The Moscow bar called Hungry Duck. One day a week, from six to nine, only women were allowed in, and there was a free open bar and male strip shows. Men lined up for hours outside, and when they were let in at nine, the women went wild, some stripping themselves, jumping on the men as they came in.
* Kabul, 1997, filming then end of the poppy harvest, as the farmers are readying their crop for sale to drug dealers. "As we were leaving, one of the farmers handed me a pile of opium buds and made a short speech. Afterwards, I asked [my translator:] what the man had said.
"He said, 'Take all this. It's enough to kill you.'"
* The insane Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who organizes a charter media trip to Baghdad in 1998, when the UN won't let any planes in. This turns into ten hours on a runway while Zhirinovsky "negotiates" with the relevant authorities, the plane finally flying...to Armenia. And further hijinx.
* A Russian dentist accidentally cutting off a part of the tongue of our intrepid hero.
* The absolutely mind-boggling horror of control-freak China and their uncompromising iron grip on all propaganda and media. For every media trip journalists get sent on, their time is not only scheduled down to the minute (including numerous banquets, press conferences, and meticulously controlled "face time" with government-selected citizens), but there are five to ten government workers and minders to each journalist. The chaos that ensues would be hilarious if it was fictional.
* Afghanistan, 2001. The Northern Alliance government's inauguration ceremony, replete with all the rival warlords, deposed governmental people, and those who would be taking their place. "The atmosphere inside was both triumphant and tense, like a giant wedding where the families don't get along but are trying to be nice for the day. Which was just as well, given that many of the 'guests' had private armies."
Anyway, and on and on and on. Those are a tiny tiny selection of highlights from this expansive, amazing book. And the coolest thing was that while I was reading it, I kept coming across other things discussing many of the locations in this book. The Economist, which I'm desperately trying to start reading, just had an issue all on China–U.S. relations, and a lot of it (especially the stuff about Tibet) made a lot more sense to me after having read the China sections of this book. I'm also proofreading a sort of philosophy/sociology book about Turkey and Armenia and the genocide there in the early 1900s, which again complimented what I was learning here from Eric Campbell.
Anyway! Good lord can I babble. But, um, read this book!! It's crazy & awesome & you'll learn something, too.
Absurdistan (not to be confused with that silly novel of the same name) is a memoir by an Australian journalist who spent the last few decades as an embedded reporter in some of the most fucked-up parts of the world, including Moscow, Chechnya, Beijing, Kabul, and Northern Iraq. His experiences living and working in these places was almost unbelievably fascinating and frustrating in equal measure, but also served to highlight, over and over and over, both how very lucky I am and how woefully, embarrassingly unaware I am of the rest of this insane world we live in. Did you know how desperately poor and fucked up Russia was in the just-post-Communism 90s? How sick the Chinese propaganda machine is? How totally appalling things are in the Mideast? That there are still nomads in what used to be Soviet gulags? That the Taliban blew up enormous 1400-year-old statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan?
If I may give you a few highlights of some of the things you'll learn about, should you (and you should!) choose to read this fine book.
* In Russia, 1996: "On my last night in Minsk, Nastya took me to a nightclub called Reaktor. It had a neon model of Chernobyl in one corner, spouting neon radiation. It was the kind of black irony you could find only in the former Soviet Union, where people confronted the misery of their situation but decided to enjoy life anyway."
* In Grozny 1997: "The main problem for the local economy – apart from the fact that almost every town and village had been shot up and bombed – was that there was no work for the gunmen.
A group of fighters came to us to ask about opportunities in the West, specifically Hawaii.
"I'm afraid not," Eve said. "There's no war in Hawaii."
"Really?" he asked. "We heard they were having lots of problems with America and needed fighters."
"No, I'm sorry," Eve said. "It's very peaceful there."
* The Moscow bar called Hungry Duck. One day a week, from six to nine, only women were allowed in, and there was a free open bar and male strip shows. Men lined up for hours outside, and when they were let in at nine, the women went wild, some stripping themselves, jumping on the men as they came in.
* Kabul, 1997, filming then end of the poppy harvest, as the farmers are readying their crop for sale to drug dealers. "As we were leaving, one of the farmers handed me a pile of opium buds and made a short speech. Afterwards, I asked [my translator:] what the man had said.
"He said, 'Take all this. It's enough to kill you.'"
* The insane Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who organizes a charter media trip to Baghdad in 1998, when the UN won't let any planes in. This turns into ten hours on a runway while Zhirinovsky "negotiates" with the relevant authorities, the plane finally flying...to Armenia. And further hijinx.
* A Russian dentist accidentally cutting off a part of the tongue of our intrepid hero.
* The absolutely mind-boggling horror of control-freak China and their uncompromising iron grip on all propaganda and media. For every media trip journalists get sent on, their time is not only scheduled down to the minute (including numerous banquets, press conferences, and meticulously controlled "face time" with government-selected citizens), but there are five to ten government workers and minders to each journalist. The chaos that ensues would be hilarious if it was fictional.
* Afghanistan, 2001. The Northern Alliance government's inauguration ceremony, replete with all the rival warlords, deposed governmental people, and those who would be taking their place. "The atmosphere inside was both triumphant and tense, like a giant wedding where the families don't get along but are trying to be nice for the day. Which was just as well, given that many of the 'guests' had private armies."
Anyway, and on and on and on. Those are a tiny tiny selection of highlights from this expansive, amazing book. And the coolest thing was that while I was reading it, I kept coming across other things discussing many of the locations in this book. The Economist, which I'm desperately trying to start reading, just had an issue all on China–U.S. relations, and a lot of it (especially the stuff about Tibet) made a lot more sense to me after having read the China sections of this book. I'm also proofreading a sort of philosophy/sociology book about Turkey and Armenia and the genocide there in the early 1900s, which again complimented what I was learning here from Eric Campbell.
Anyway! Good lord can I babble. But, um, read this book!! It's crazy & awesome & you'll learn something, too.
Currently reading
June 3, 2012I felt this book was really slow in developing and not nearly as humorous as advertised. That was before I realized I was reading the wrong Absurdistan. This is the memoir of an Australian foreign war correspondent, Eric Campbell, and not the comedic novel by Gary Shteyngart that I was supposed to be reading for my book club.
Eric Campbell's book is good thus far. I realize now that my laughter was inappropriate when his wife left him, and for that I apologize.
Yes, I could admit that I am embarrassed that it took me 50 pages to realize my mistake and probably 25 to even grow suspicious, that I convinced myself that Shteyngart's version started with an incredibly long and dry introduction to post-cold-war eastern Europe. But instead I will take this opportunity to warn you of the dangers of online one-click ordering and condemn the authors for their failure to come up with original titles. My mistake, of course, was understandable and if you think it reflects on me negatively as a person than you must be an overly judgmental and self-important elitist and for that you should be ashamed.
Eric Campbell's book is good thus far. I realize now that my laughter was inappropriate when his wife left him, and for that I apologize.
Yes, I could admit that I am embarrassed that it took me 50 pages to realize my mistake and probably 25 to even grow suspicious, that I convinced myself that Shteyngart's version started with an incredibly long and dry introduction to post-cold-war eastern Europe. But instead I will take this opportunity to warn you of the dangers of online one-click ordering and condemn the authors for their failure to come up with original titles. My mistake, of course, was understandable and if you think it reflects on me negatively as a person than you must be an overly judgmental and self-important elitist and for that you should be ashamed.
March 22, 2015
I nearly didn't pick this book up off the sale table because of its title - but it's not a would-be funny set of tales about foreign countries and customs, it is a fascinating set of essays, recollections of ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) foreign correspondent Campbell's postings to Moscow, Beijing, Afghanistan and, finally and disastrously, Iraq.
Absurdistan seems to refer to places where logic and sense are turned on their heads but the only people who don't regard this as normal are the outsiders, the foreign correspondents in the situations Campbell writes about.
In China he reports the endless frustration of dealing with the section of the Chinese government detailed to provide news to foreign journalists, and who seem to be hell bent on preventing them from actually gathering any news that is not fed them through predigested party sources. In places like Chechnya and Afganistan, warfare between factions is endemic, the norm. The men are bored when there's no fighting. Everywhere the power of warlords is terrifying.
Journalists do their best to manouvre through endless lies and half lies of political double speak, sometimes having to fall into the game themselves. Some of the stories in the book are very funny in an appalling sort of way. But they all capture something of what life was actually like in the conflict zones that Campbell visited and the cities he lived in, from Moscow to the foreign compound in Beijing where journalists had to live. Do they still? I don't know.
Campbell writes with a keen eye, and with insights that can only come from long exposure to the push and shove of politics, attempted media manipulation and the ruthlessness often shown by journalists and photographers as they jostle for the next big story and the most vivid film ahead of all competitors.
It's not surprising that Campbell suffered a bout of depression/mental breakdown after he was injured in Iraq and his cameraman and friend was killed right next to him by a suicide car bombIng. Campbell was wearing his flak jacket, Paul Moran was not. It's more surprising that as he emerged from this state he opted to go overseas again, with his journalist wife and their son, back to Moscow, to revisit the first of his Absurdistans.
I'm really glad I found this book. It has helped me to understand more about several of the long running conflicts he wrote about in 2002, and which continue. He writes with an easy style, treading fairly lightly even in heavy territory, and finding humour in often appalling situations.
Absurdistan seems to refer to places where logic and sense are turned on their heads but the only people who don't regard this as normal are the outsiders, the foreign correspondents in the situations Campbell writes about.
In China he reports the endless frustration of dealing with the section of the Chinese government detailed to provide news to foreign journalists, and who seem to be hell bent on preventing them from actually gathering any news that is not fed them through predigested party sources. In places like Chechnya and Afganistan, warfare between factions is endemic, the norm. The men are bored when there's no fighting. Everywhere the power of warlords is terrifying.
Journalists do their best to manouvre through endless lies and half lies of political double speak, sometimes having to fall into the game themselves. Some of the stories in the book are very funny in an appalling sort of way. But they all capture something of what life was actually like in the conflict zones that Campbell visited and the cities he lived in, from Moscow to the foreign compound in Beijing where journalists had to live. Do they still? I don't know.
Campbell writes with a keen eye, and with insights that can only come from long exposure to the push and shove of politics, attempted media manipulation and the ruthlessness often shown by journalists and photographers as they jostle for the next big story and the most vivid film ahead of all competitors.
It's not surprising that Campbell suffered a bout of depression/mental breakdown after he was injured in Iraq and his cameraman and friend was killed right next to him by a suicide car bombIng. Campbell was wearing his flak jacket, Paul Moran was not. It's more surprising that as he emerged from this state he opted to go overseas again, with his journalist wife and their son, back to Moscow, to revisit the first of his Absurdistans.
I'm really glad I found this book. It has helped me to understand more about several of the long running conflicts he wrote about in 2002, and which continue. He writes with an easy style, treading fairly lightly even in heavy territory, and finding humour in often appalling situations.
December 30, 2007
This is the true story of Australian foreign correspondent Eric Campbell's deployment to post-communist Russia, still-communist China and war-ravaged Afghanistan from 1995 to 2003. It is absolutely fascinating and an extremely enjoyable read. The title really sums it up nicely: these are absurd, impossible, scary and weird stories, all the more so because they are real. Eric Campbell went camping with the last Russian nomads, he was there when the first refugees from Kosovo arrived in a makeshift camp, he met the Dalai Lama, visited a nuclear training bunker, stole a star from the gate of Osama Bin Ladens residence and met the student protesters who were instrumental in Serbian dictator Milosevic's downfall.
This book tells history as big universal and small individual stories. It is an important book about an important time in (to qoute the blurb) "some of the most dysfunctional places on Earth."
Read it. You'll love it.
This book tells history as big universal and small individual stories. It is an important book about an important time in (to qoute the blurb) "some of the most dysfunctional places on Earth."
Read it. You'll love it.
September 28, 2025
A pretty incredible story and a must-read for anyone interested in world politics or journalism. Most of the memoirs I read are quite literary, but the plain language of this book are an advantage. The prologue had me hooked from the start, and it was fascinating to learn about the inner workings of both Russia and China that are usually censored or heavily regulated. Despite being very well versed in international politics, there were still things that shocked me throughout, especially the murder of a young woman for speaking out against a Russian politician - sounds like just a usual day in Russian politics but read this book for the full context on why it is anything but!
The saying 'life is stranger than fiction' sums this book up perfectly. I'm not going to lie, though, I was sobbing in the chapters describing the death of Paul Maron. The whole situation was horrific and my heart goes out to all involved (even though it was like 23 years ago). I could say so much more but this is just one of those books that need to be read. What an incredible and fascinating life Eric Campbell has lived!
Thank you Annie for the recommendation!
The saying 'life is stranger than fiction' sums this book up perfectly. I'm not going to lie, though, I was sobbing in the chapters describing the death of Paul Maron. The whole situation was horrific and my heart goes out to all involved (even though it was like 23 years ago). I could say so much more but this is just one of those books that need to be read. What an incredible and fascinating life Eric Campbell has lived!
Thank you Annie for the recommendation!
March 4, 2009
Eric Campbell is an ABC Correspondent, that is, Australian Broadcasting Corp. This book is essentially a memoir of his work as a foreign correspondent. Starting out as a reporter on general interest, but not really exciting stories, Campbell worked hard to become a foreign correspondent. His first foreign posting was to Moscow. He describes dealing with the bureaucracy and his activities in covering some of his stories. With Moscow as his home base he traveled over Russia and covered the wars in Chechnya and Yugoslavia. He notes that on his Aeroflot flights to and from Yugoslavia he was served a ‘lunch of cabbage salad and questionable meat in impenetrable plastic packaging, served with a sneer.’ He admits being wrong on Putin, as were many others, essentially underestimating him. Campbell also indicates the possibility that Russia’s return to Chechnya was given added impetus by the Russian FSB (successors to the KGB). Apparently a few FSB agents were apprehended by local police carrying explosives into a hotel in the lead up to the Chechnya invasion but the cover story was they were on an exercise. He was next assigned to Beijing. The Chinese were much more controlling of journalists than had been the Russians and comical incidents are described by the author. Campbell did a stint in Afghanistan and was also able to be among the first reporters in Iraq. Unfortunately, his cameraman was the first journalist to be killed in Iraq and Campbell was evacuated due to injuries incurred in the same explosion. The author does an excellent job in describing the situations he was in and the characters involved. I enjoyed this book because it has a lot of short exciting chapters allowing one to put it down, if one really has to, and get back into it later.
April 8, 2009
I found this book depressing because the author detailed so many of the negatives that he saw and experienced and very, very few of the positives. I don't understand news reporters ability to switch off and not become personally involved in the horrific events that they are witnessing. I also don't understand the addiction element...how someone could want to chase wars and crises all over the world. Why run around the world throwing yourself into the midst of sorrow, terror and inhumanity to just watch it and do nothing??? It amazes me that it always seems to take a death of a fellow reporter or a close personal call to shake these journalists...is not the death and destruction they see around them enough to personally affect them? I don't get how they can not see the heartbreaking tradgedy of watching mothers screaming over the corpses of their children or arriving at a bomb site to see screaming mutilated people as personal...I guess one of the answers is they do see the awful inhumanity of it but feel powerless to do anything to stop it or they see it so many times that they become hardened - again - so why do it? It's a job? It pays the bills? Surely there has to be a way of reporting the news and then somehow making a difference - but I guess that isn't "objective" reporting - how can one be objective when faced with such sorrow and tragedy - no one can pretend to not be human...This book, to me, is all about division and despair and it could have been so much more.
February 13, 2008
I'd recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humor and an iota of interest in travel and/or f*ed up international politics.
It's written by an Australian journalist who travels as a foreign correspondent through the former USSR, Iraq, arctic Siberia, Afghanistan and other gnarly places during fascinating moments in their respective histories.
It's not overly political or historical in focus. A very human first-person account. Funny, sharp-witted, brilliant and a page-turner, this is one of the best books I've read in the last 5 years.
Oh, and be careful not to pick up one of the other works entitled "Absurdistan", which, according to a mistaken-and-later-angry friend of mine, are not as good.
It's written by an Australian journalist who travels as a foreign correspondent through the former USSR, Iraq, arctic Siberia, Afghanistan and other gnarly places during fascinating moments in their respective histories.
It's not overly political or historical in focus. A very human first-person account. Funny, sharp-witted, brilliant and a page-turner, this is one of the best books I've read in the last 5 years.
Oh, and be careful not to pick up one of the other works entitled "Absurdistan", which, according to a mistaken-and-later-angry friend of mine, are not as good.
August 16, 2021
Funny. Sad. Well written. Honest. What more do you want ?
February 27, 2015
An account of the ABC foreign correspondent's life reporting from danger zones and hell holes - Yeltsin's Russia, Chechnya, Serbia, Afghanistan... . I like Eric Campbell, he writes well and there were perverse thrills of horror to be had from time to time - but how could he stand it?
Unfortunately I had to give up halfway through the writer's stint in Beijing because the public library copy seemed to be infested with some mites(?) that I didn't want to welcome into my personal library.
Not recommended for sensitive readers.
Unfortunately I had to give up halfway through the writer's stint in Beijing because the public library copy seemed to be infested with some mites(?) that I didn't want to welcome into my personal library.
Not recommended for sensitive readers.
August 1, 2007
A really great writer, especially for a TV journalist. While there isn't much depth in the analysis of the events Campbell speaks about, he allows us to see them as person, not far off and unrelated.
December 27, 2014
I really enjoyed reading about the fascinating places being a foreign correspondent has taken Eric Campbell. He paints an interesting picture of locations and events and throws in some humorous anecdotes.
February 9, 2025
This is a strange but amusing book, written by a foreign correspondent for Australia's national broadcaster, ABC, detailing his experiences in Russia, China and Iraq. As seems a perfectly logical pairing, the guy who so fixated on the exciting lifestyle of a travelling journalist, sent around the world to capture the local culture and events, seems to have hated every country he went to, including the "provincial backwater" of his own home, Australia. I'm not a fan of people who look down on us, call it that famously Australian "tall poppy syndrome" or whatever you will. I love my home, and there aren't many places I would rather live - if only house prices anywhere within commuting range of a city weren't so fucked.
But I digress. This book was easy to get into, even if I found the guy's constant grumbling a little but tiresome. Of course it's cold and a little grim in Russia. The hell did you expect? Lighten up and find something interesting or worthwhile about the place. Personally, I have long dreamed of going to Saint Petersburg - only in the thick of winter, mind. But obviously I have something of an idealised vision of the city in my head, inspired disproportionately by its picturesque rendering in 2002's Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. When he travelled up to the mining city of Vorkuta, his apocalyptic, Trumpian "shit hole" descriptions became so excessively dreary that I just had to look it up ...
"Good God," I thought. I guess the miserable bastard is right.
Anyway, aside from putting me right off Russia and China as a place to take the wife and kids, I had a good time reading it. Terrible cover though. It looks cheap and amatuer as hell.
But I digress. This book was easy to get into, even if I found the guy's constant grumbling a little but tiresome. Of course it's cold and a little grim in Russia. The hell did you expect? Lighten up and find something interesting or worthwhile about the place. Personally, I have long dreamed of going to Saint Petersburg - only in the thick of winter, mind. But obviously I have something of an idealised vision of the city in my head, inspired disproportionately by its picturesque rendering in 2002's Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. When he travelled up to the mining city of Vorkuta, his apocalyptic, Trumpian "shit hole" descriptions became so excessively dreary that I just had to look it up ...
"Good God," I thought. I guess the miserable bastard is right.
Anyway, aside from putting me right off Russia and China as a place to take the wife and kids, I had a good time reading it. Terrible cover though. It looks cheap and amatuer as hell.
October 15, 2020
Eric Campbell was a war reporter, working for the Australian outfit ABC. His book covers wars and other matters in Europe, the Middle east and the far east from 1995 to 2003.
Campbell writes in a fluid direct style which tells you just what you want to know. You feel you're getting an honest and accurate desciption of the way things were in these places. He underwent a great deal of inconvenience, privation, boredom and was forced to keep quiet at times about things he felt passionately about in order to get a good story.
In the end I felt I got a fuller, more accurate version of the events in these places than I had got from watching the news and reading newspapers. The wealth of detail, of the places he saw, the people he spoke to, the people he worked with, made this a compulsive read.
It made me think about the purpose and function of war correspondents. Some of what Campbell said made me uneasy. The presence of large numbers of journalists in war zones can sometimes upset the balance of events. Campbell (and presumably others) have substantial budgets to spend on obtaining interviews, getting interpreters, supplies, accommodation, transport etc - enabling smart operators to get rich by battening on them. Maybe there are too many war correspondents, all those microphones waving about, reporters all telling us the same thing. And often all getting it wrong, as they did on the weapons of mass destruction.
Nevertheless, I admire Campbell for his bravery and honesty, and hope he has a happy life.
One quibble - poor title. I was expecting a book about the new ex-Soviet republics, which are the "stans" as far as I am concerned. And there is another book with the same title.
Campbell writes in a fluid direct style which tells you just what you want to know. You feel you're getting an honest and accurate desciption of the way things were in these places. He underwent a great deal of inconvenience, privation, boredom and was forced to keep quiet at times about things he felt passionately about in order to get a good story.
In the end I felt I got a fuller, more accurate version of the events in these places than I had got from watching the news and reading newspapers. The wealth of detail, of the places he saw, the people he spoke to, the people he worked with, made this a compulsive read.
It made me think about the purpose and function of war correspondents. Some of what Campbell said made me uneasy. The presence of large numbers of journalists in war zones can sometimes upset the balance of events. Campbell (and presumably others) have substantial budgets to spend on obtaining interviews, getting interpreters, supplies, accommodation, transport etc - enabling smart operators to get rich by battening on them. Maybe there are too many war correspondents, all those microphones waving about, reporters all telling us the same thing. And often all getting it wrong, as they did on the weapons of mass destruction.
Nevertheless, I admire Campbell for his bravery and honesty, and hope he has a happy life.
One quibble - poor title. I was expecting a book about the new ex-Soviet republics, which are the "stans" as far as I am concerned. And there is another book with the same title.
February 8, 2017
I enjoyed reading Campbell’s book. Campbell was a foreign correspondent for the ABC (Australia’s government funded TV station). His first posting was to Russia for 4 years and this quote resonated with me, not that Trondheim is like Moscow but I can understand what he was saying.
It wasn’t a dream destination… My wife Meredith was so thrilled by the prospect that she planned to stop off indefinitely in London on the way. But I didn’t care… I was now 35 and bored rigid with life in Australia. If the price of escape was living somewhere cold, hard and mean, I was happy to pay it.
Campbell was living in Russia when President Yeltsin’s health was in decline and four times he appointed then fired new prime ministers and cabinets while the economy went into difficulties. Finally, Yeltsin named Vladimir Putin as prime minister of Russia. Putin was head of the secret police and
to read the rest of my review, go to my blog: https://strivetoengage.wordpress.com/...
It wasn’t a dream destination… My wife Meredith was so thrilled by the prospect that she planned to stop off indefinitely in London on the way. But I didn’t care… I was now 35 and bored rigid with life in Australia. If the price of escape was living somewhere cold, hard and mean, I was happy to pay it.
Campbell was living in Russia when President Yeltsin’s health was in decline and four times he appointed then fired new prime ministers and cabinets while the economy went into difficulties. Finally, Yeltsin named Vladimir Putin as prime minister of Russia. Putin was head of the secret police and
to read the rest of my review, go to my blog: https://strivetoengage.wordpress.com/...
September 15, 2021
As I read this the sense of the absurd that Eric Campbell places as his title but never mentions overtly was heightened by current world events. Namely, Trump, Afghanistan, North Korea, South China sea. This book is set in an earlier time that seems to be the same time. Nothing changes except the people and places, in short, the world is still absurd and will remain so if we leave it to them and I get that if it is not reported they will only get worse. Even as I write we have just evacuated from Afghanistan and yet journalists remain. Why? Don't they realise people want to kill them? A criticism of this book is Eric Campbell never really explains why he wanted to be there but perhaps the why is for another book. This is the where and when, culminating in the events that lead Eric Campbell home. In memoir, it is only an exceptionally well structured book that can build to a climax as this book does. Definitely worth reading.
June 14, 2021
There is something strange about people who insist on reporting from war zones or unpleasant countries. You can't help but feel they're a little mad. Campbell seems not to dispel this notion - his whole reason for existence to live in places like Moscow or China, or to visit places that are worse. It's a very interesting look behind the scenes, and one that is written with quite a bit of humour; but also one that is written by someone who's clearly not entirely blessed with sanity - though I'm not entirely sure he realises quite how strange his work is.
Written in an engaging tone, and with many humorous asides. I discover he's written a follow-up, and will devour that one, too.
Written in an engaging tone, and with many humorous asides. I discover he's written a follow-up, and will devour that one, too.
May 6, 2024
Really surprisingly brilliant read. Found this in one of Sydney's ubiquitous street libraries and was suitably intrigued by the cover and name. I wasn't expecting such a vivid insight into reality in some of the more insane countries of the 90's and early 2000's.
I love good journalistic writing and reading this evoked 'Into Thin Air'. I wasn't expecting it to make me cry but just like Krakauer, Campbell will really tug at your heart strings if you're a person who partakes in dangerous activities in spite of the fact your life matters immensely to someone else. I hope Paul Moran's family is happy and well.
I love good journalistic writing and reading this evoked 'Into Thin Air'. I wasn't expecting it to make me cry but just like Krakauer, Campbell will really tug at your heart strings if you're a person who partakes in dangerous activities in spite of the fact your life matters immensely to someone else. I hope Paul Moran's family is happy and well.
November 19, 2019
An absolute brilliant recollection of a rather tumultuous journey. I feel for Eric for he has gone through some trying times, but am appreciative of the effort he has gone through to put together this memoir. It made me happy to see he had found his place in the world, even if that was indeed no place at all, Absurdistan.
He is candid in his delivery, brilliantly portraying the sarcastic and cynical approach to life of a foreign correspondent. For a similar read I would recommend Hugh Rimintons Minefields.
He is candid in his delivery, brilliantly portraying the sarcastic and cynical approach to life of a foreign correspondent. For a similar read I would recommend Hugh Rimintons Minefields.
December 24, 2021
It's been an interesting book that allowed me to have a peek into the life of a foreign correspondent reporting from some of the most dangerous and controversial places in Asia and Eastern Europe. It offers a combination of personal takes with historical, cultural and political insights that are both informartive and entertaining. Although Eric does not shy away from expressing his opinion, he seems to remain as objective and impartial as possible in relating his experiences.
Thinking about reading his second book - "Silly Isles".
Thinking about reading his second book - "Silly Isles".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2018
I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this as I almost exclusively read fiction ... but I did. Intriguing and informative, raw and even funny in parts. The war in Kosovo happened while I was doing General Studies in high school, so it was helpful to get an on-the-ground perspective in what happened. Will add to my growing collection of 'journalist/autobiography travel writing' along with Almost French and Holy Cow. Also keen to get his wife Kim Traill's book on Russia.
August 26, 2017
Erittäin kiinnostava toimittajan omaelämäkerta erilaisista melko äärimmäisistä paikoista, joissa hän uransa aikana on toiminut. Tarinat herättävät kiinnostuksen kuulla lisää ja Campbellin tyyli on myös hillityn humoristinen.
February 10, 2020
Admittedly, I read this for the title. A little misleadingly, it's mostly about China and Russia... though I don't argue that they're 2 of the weirdest places in the world. It starts off quite strong, lulls in the middle, and has a strong ending. If anything, it's worth reading for the ending.
March 25, 2020
Always interested in learning about the world we live in, I thoroughly enjoyed this journey behind the news reports and having the opportunity to share some of a foreign correspondent's 'life moments'.
May 6, 2019
Truth!
Great to see the true picture as seen through the eyes of one who was there!my sincere thanks for your efforts.
Great to see the true picture as seen through the eyes of one who was there!my sincere thanks for your efforts.
September 12, 2020
excellent read!
February 10, 2021
Did not finish.
October 23, 2022
A fascinating memoir by a former foreign correspondent for ABC. 4.75
February 25, 2025
Fascinating! Best book I ever found on the side of the road
May 2, 2021
Fantastic book, I would pay good money for another one on your latest adventures
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