Lost and Found in Russia: Encounters in a Deep Heartland

by Susan Richards

Far from Moscow and St Petersburg, there lies another Russia. Overlooked by the new urban elites and almost unknown to the West, in the great provincial hinterlands of the Volga River and Siberia, Russians struggle to reconcile their old traditions with the new ways of living. Returning again and again to the deep heartland of this rapidly evolving country from 1992 to the present, Susan Richards struck up some extraordinary friendships.With Anna, a questing journalist struggling to express her passionate spirituality within the rules of the new society. And Natasha, a restless spirit, transplanted from Siberia in a bid to escape the demands of her upper class family and her own demons. And Tatiana and Misha, whose business empire has blossomed from the ashes of the Soviet Union but who, despite all their luxury, seem uneasy in this new world. Through their stories and her own experiences Susan Richards demonstrates how in Russia the past and the present cannot be separated. "Lost and Found in Russia" is a magical and unforgettable portrait of a society in transition.

Genres: Russia, History, Nonfiction, Travel, Politics, Russian History, Biography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2009

About the author

Susan Richards is a founder of openDemocracy. She has produced a number of feature films and written a prize-winning book, 'Epics of Everyday Life', about the lives of ordinary Russians in the transition from communism. 'Lost & Found in Russia', 'Encounters in the Deep Heartland', which covers the period 1992-2008, was published by IB Tauris in May 2009.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three-star rating has such a wide range. This was a high three. The interesting parts were very interesting. The political parts were... political, kind of a snooze, but necessary for understanding these lives. I love reading about real people in other places and countries. Those parts of the book were fascinating to me. The book itself was well written, though sometimes a bit disjointed. It's a good and worthwhile read if you're interested in the subject.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the concept was interesting, the book could have used another draft and a good editor. Many of the chapters felt repetitive and disjointed, and some of the conceits used to tie the book together weren't fully developed. But if you're interested in modern Russia, it's still a good read.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did like this book. It just seemed to lag in a few portions. The most interesting parts to me were when Richards discusses Russia's relationship to the Ukraine. It just shows that the events taking place right now have been building up for almost as long as the Ukraine has been a sovereign nation.
Richards points the finger at the Putin regime, and this seems to be spot on. Of course I'm sure that this might have happened anyway, because Russia's fleet is based in the Ukraine until 2017. This is in just 3 years and it's unlikely that Russia is going to want to find a new home for its fleet when it just stay where it is and gain back the Ukraine in the process. That is just my estimation.
I think I might have viewed the last portion of this book in another light had the events of the last few weeks not taken place. I originally picked this up during the Winter Olympics just because I'm well versed on Russian events.
I do suggest this book for anyone interested in current events. It puts a human spin on it that won't be seen in the media.

[Leilani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard-to-categorize book. The author is writing in a very personal, eccentric way - a sort of British Impressionism. Instead of trying to seem as objective as possible and downplaying her role in the narrative, she lets you know how she felt about and interacted with all the vivid personalities she is describing. Parts of the book are fascinating, such as the Old Believers and the section describing the long-standing tensions in Crimea, but in others she seems to be uncritically accepting and passing on a bunch of mystical nonsense. Still, worth reading for how she describes her friends' ongoing struggle to adapt to and survive in a constantly changing Russia.

[Genessa]

I feel like I've read this before, but I didn't finish it. funnily enough, that's the feeling that runs all through the book, that sort of 'this seems familiar but who knows where it's really going.' the author doesn't really come to any conclusion about the way Russia is now, or has been, or will be. (probably wise on her part; I can't think of any plausible predictions, or pattern with which to make them, either.) overall, a fascinating glimpse into the lives of her Russian friends, Russian culture and mindset that's hard to get from any Western sources, and that a lot of Russians might be reluctant to share on a scholarly rather than a personal level.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the subject matter was outstanding, I felt, like many of the other reviewers on Goodreads, that it could have benefitted from another edit. It just felt choppy and I had a difficult time getting through it and yes, I'm very sad to admit this since I had such high hopes for this title.

[Thomas Bodenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, but not a deep portrayal of life in post -Communist Russia. It tended to jump around, could have been a bit more tightly edited.

[Logan Streondj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well it was a pretty good book a longitudinal study of some western leaning couples, individuals and families in various parts of Russia. Following the ups and downs of the place. Certainly it seems that much of the statistics of improvement under Putin affected largely the top 15% but lack of social security nets kept the rest in dire conditions, and with a fear of expressing themselves particularly in the realm of politics. Russia and Putin seem like they have a long way to go before they genuinely improve the lives of the average citizen where the book leaves off. I know there have been some improvements like the homesteading act since the book was published but also some worsening of conditions as with the Yarovaya Law that further suppressed freedom of expression this time in the realm of religion.
Altogether a lot of prayer is needed for these people and this country to help them have good lives in future.

[Lexi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what this was supposed to be. I agree with the other reviews, in that it requires a good edit (or two, or three). The tone is consistently patronising toward the Russians profiled in the book. It bounces around and is hard to keep track - not helped by how astonishingly boring the writer makes such a tumultuous time in Russia's history.
This book made me regret my inability to put down a terrible book without finishing. Reading Lost and Found in Russia was a trial.
Read Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time instead, it's immeasurably superior.

[GreyAtlas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated the writing of this. It just gave me no sense of credibility for the stories. It was so watered down that I skimmed alot. It read like someone who had no experience in Russia and was discovering it first hand. Yet the biography of the author reveals an educated writer who has connections with Russia. I'm not a fan of the rambling small person journalism of stories from people that don't really matter to me and are only useful cause they lived during the time. I live in America, does that mean I should get interviewed for a book on American culture?

[Alex Moskalyuk · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author visits a few key characters in provincial areas of Russia over the decades to journal their attitudes, well-being, feeling about tomorrow and everyday life. We get to live through the grim crime-ridden 90s in Saratov and Novosibirsk, are taken on a journey to Siberian forests, where new religious communities are proselytizing living off the land. We follow one of Susan's friends who now owns a fairly large sunflower oil operation, from his early ideas to operating a large business within the grifting environment that's Russian local government.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give this a slightly higher rating because the content was so thought-provoking. It was eye-opening to hear about life beyond Moscow, to be reminded at how large a country Russia is and how diverse it's populations must be. I really liked all that. However, the writing at times was a bit dry or clumsy, almost in part it seemed because the author was so close to her material. Still, it's definitely a worthy read.

[Stacy Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the lives and culture in Russia. The book did have parts that seemed to drag. My main beef is with how the author would describe some people. She comes across as fat-shaming. On several occasions, she felt it necessary to describe overweight people with terminology that I felt was degrading and downright mean. I was left wondering why she even felt it necessary to tell me about their weight which was completely unrelated to the story she was telling.

[Elena (bookinistka) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only picked up this book cause my hometown was dragged out of obscurity by this so called journalism (what are the chances!). I actually know some people the author writes about, though not personally. I understand that it's her subjective take on their lives, but seriously? In case it has to be mentioned, it cannot be further from truth. For shame!

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd love to get back to this someday--it seems like a great way to get to know the Russian people and mindset--but it just feels hopelessly out of date in light of current events. Maybe not out of date, so much, as just momentarily less relevant than other times. Sorry, Susan Richards.

[Spencer Willardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the lives of ordinary Russians as they navigated the fall of the Soviet Union and the changes taking place in Russia. There are interesting insights for those who are familiar with Russia and plenty to learn for those who aren't.

[Sarah loves books 😻😻😻 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very insightful and informative - 3.5 stars

[ems · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting story about interesting people ... just maybe not written as well as it could have been. (& a little fast and loose with some facts, imho.)

[Susan Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, a real eye opener into life after the Soviet Union.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should have been slated into the "memoir" genre because it is not journalism or history or anything else. It's the writer writing about herself amidst the changing political and social landscape of random places in Russia that she decides she "needs" to see (without explaining clearly why).

The book is discomfiting on many levels. First is the lack of objectivity, the use of which might have served to make this book valuable, or at least readable. When journalists or writers seek out their stories, they are not the story. The people and places should come first, and the journalist should only offer herself as a vessel through which to tell these stories. Even in good travelogue, though the traveler may feature in the story, the woven tale is often about what the person learns about places (and sometimes themselves) rather than simply about what they did and felt.

The second problem with this book is the look at Russia through the perspective of colonialism. At one point the author even cringingly uses the word "civilizated" unironically to describe not-Russia. And her hopes for a "better" (i.e., Westernized) Russia are pinned on . . . you guessed it, help from the West. The book begins with her unexplained motivation to seek out the Russian Germans who may rebuild a community with help from outside sources (though the reasoning behind this and the background to this community is so scanty, the reader is thrown into this ill-conceived voyage feeling disoriented). And then she proceeds to be surprised at what she finds: people struggling to find food, provide for their families, or even secure their own place in the world. The reader is left with the impression that what is being conveyed is not up to "standard" and hopeless without influence from the "civilized" world.

I had been fascinated, as I imagined she had been, by the idea of this pieces of countryside having an ongoing, supportive connection with Europe, through the Russian Germans. we both dreamed, as Catherine the Great had once done, that this rural region would become a haven of prosperity and civilized values.

At least she does, at one point, admit to this arrogant outlook, though it still seems curious:

How absurd the premise with which I had set off on my travels. I had come here expecting the Russians to behave in a Western, indeed Marxist way. I had assumed that they would be rebuilding Russia on a Western model, too. How arrogant!

Third is the retelling of the strange choices that the writer makes, which she includes for the sake of having a "funny" story to tell. Borrowing someone else's passport to enter a city you didn't know was a closed one is simply naive and dangerous, even if you're traveling in the "Wild West" of immediately post-Soviet Russia. Maybe this story would belong in a memoir--but it would only be palatable if it was accompanied by the writer admitting to putting herself and her friend in danger--but probably it is better left to filling silences as a party attended by close friends draws to a close. As a journalist, focusing on others, you probably leave out this anecdote or at least use it as a cautionary tale.

This book seems like a work that cobbles together stories that weren't used elsewhere--maybe as a way of capitalizing on experiences that would otherwise be "wasted." How very Western?

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An English journalist travels through provincial Russia from 1992 to about 2008.

Russia is even crazier and darker than I thought. And Richards is a brave traveler. She seeks out experiences that are hard to describe and still sound like a rational, analytical person.

Short chapters cover unusual ground. Examples: (1) a sort of Russian “X Files” with small closed cities believing in UFOs and aliens, and state-supported “mediums” and researchers into mind control; (2) remote communities of “Old Believers,” who descend from a 16th or 17th century schism in the Russian Orthodox Church and sound a lot like the Amish/Mennonites in the U.S. (Richards compares them to Quakers); (3) a hodge-podge of non-mainstream religious beliefs, such as in singing cedars, faith healers, and back-to-the-land eco-movements. And that’s not even touching the gangsterism and the not-slowed-down-for-a-minute corruption at the top.

Richards loves Russia, clearly. She knows its language, history, literature. Her friends are genuine friends, not merely the contacts a journalist keeps. One friend describes Richards as "a little bit me" to show how closely connected they feel to each other. Richards follows her friends' ups and downs over many years and at close range, almost the close range of a psychotherapist. Her descriptions of the countryside are beautiful, poetic.

Nonetheless, parts of this book feel like a circus parade, or worse, more like the grotesques in ancient Roman frescoes. Monsters, deformities, and fantasy-like experiences. According to one Russian quoted in the book, westerners can’t understand what it feels like to live in “an entire country [that was once] a concentration camp.” Whether that's an appropriate metaphor, I don't know, but it caught my attention. A recurring theme in the book, voiced by the Russians themselves, is that they don’t know what to do now with their freedom.

Shocking to hear how much Russians suffered immediately after the USSR ended. Perhaps not as bad as they’ve suffered at other times. But I had no idea that they were so desperate, they were selling each other poisonous food, murdering each other on trains, etc. Maybe that didn’t happen really, and the author is repeating the rumors to show the reader what the hysteria and chaos felt like. Or maybe it did happen, and worse.

By far one of the most unusual books I've ever read about any country.

[Max de Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting to see how real people react to the cataclysmic economic and political events. The communist economy collapsed completely and brought down the Soviet Union in 1991. Russians who had suffered greatly under communism found themselves much worse off under Yeltsin and the new oligarchs. Prosperity emerged under Putin. Are most Russians better off? They certainly appear to be. I recently returned from Russia where I was surprised to see that people seemed to be quite prosperous. Conspicuous consumption was evident in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Discerning the truth in current history is always difficult because the villains are still around busily protecting their interests and promoting their political agendas. This book interleaves undisputed historical facts with personal stories that provide points of view, experiences and political interpretation. It focused on rural areas. Those that I visited seemed to be still relatively poor. I suppose that is true of most countries. Even so, it was fascinating to see how people in the book adapted to the radical changes around them over an eventful period of their history.

Richards ends her story in 2008 when Russia suffered another recession along with the whole world. The recession coincided with a spike followed by a sharp drop in oil prices. Obviously this was a shock for the Russian economy but it has since rebounded more quickly than western countries. Recovery has been weak in the US. Europe made matters worse with austerity and has yet to recover. Falling oil prices and rising import prices now threaten Russia's economy in the near term. Its future is uncertain. A sequel to this book would be most educational.

[Tom Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a happy ending, don't look here. Over a 16-year period (up to 2008), the author took numerous trips throughout Russia, making fast friends and mordant observations. The proud, intelligent, hopeful people she introduces us to struggle to find meaning in a new Russia riddled with corruption, hamstrung by a history of oppression, unprepared for democracy, and daunted by the prospect of capitalism. Businesspeople and bureaucrats conspire to silence a free press, corrupt the judiciary, imprison the opposition, and perpetrate grand larceny. Textbooks are rewritten to laud Stalin as "the most successful leader of the USSR." A bleak past, a bleak future. No mystery about the popularity of vodka!

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is an interesting personal reflection on Russia from about 1992 through 2008. Written by a British woman traveling at different points during this time, it tries to open up what was happening to individuals, civil society and the state during that time. Unfortunately, the author accepts too uncritically the narrative of Russia as a wild, Oriental, mystical, unknowable, irrational place. She obviously loves the country and its people, but slips into the kinds of stories and tropes that Westerners have been telling for centuries about the country. She does seem to struggle a bit against this, but never really succeeds in shedding it. Still an interesting read, but one to be looked at critically.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book, both to Russophiles and to those who just enjoy a good story. Richards invested significant time traveling through post-Soviet Russia, documenting the culture and the people she met. And it certainly was worth it! She lives through some unbelievable adventures and paints fascinating characterizations of her acquaintances. She writes thoughtfully, even when pushing the boundaries of belief (i.e. writing about UFOs or mysticism). She generally tries to be sensitive to her subjects, though I'm not sure she always succeeds. A great historical snapshot of a place and time. Four stars instead of five, because I found it lagged a bit/lost some focus in the end.

[neyann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books captures life in the post-Soviet states extremely well. As someone who spent half of my life living in Eastern Europe, I can confirm this account of events is very accurate and fairly un-biased on Richards' part. It's a very well-written summary of how and why Russians think and behave they way they currently do. Although some historical knowledge of Russian history is necessary to fully understand what Richards is talking about, she also makes a very good attempt at explaining the socio-political situation to somebody who is new to the subject. All in all, it's a very good and interesting read!

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book out of my profound interest for post-Soviet Russia, which the author captured very well. She made and accompanied several friends in the aftermath of the USSR's dissolution, and managed to keep in touch with them for more than 20 years. The chapters are built up following a timeline, starting in 1992. Each chapter started with a short factual description of the current state of the country and continued with the experiences the author made during her stays in various locations in the country. I really enjoyed the stories about rural, "old" Russia and its inhabitants, as well as the glimpse into the emotional world of the Russian population after the collapse of socialism.

[Meg Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book aims to answer the question of what Russia is like after the fall of Communism. The author befriends a number of regular Russian citizens in various small cities (mostly depressing places that used to have factories to make arms) and follows their lives for 16 years. Bottom line: Russia is depressing.

The other bottom line is that this book is not terribly readable. There are portions where she's talking about Russian legends and singing trees and UFOs and it doesn't all seem to tie back together. I spent a lot of the book feeling rather lost.

[David Chabot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jeez that book was tough to finish. Although you'll find some interesting nuggets of info about Russia through the post-USSR transition, it's mostly boring stuff about people you finally never care about. I get what the author tried to do, namely give us a sense of ordinary Russians through time, but it's not good. I'm disappointed, I had such high expectations for this book. The topic and the approach were both interesting and original. Oh well, Putin won again.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Interesting but a bit disorganized. While I do think that some of the tangents she went on we're useful in understanding the context of her friends' lives, I do think that they could have be incorporated into the main narrative a bit better. The background she gives is a good tool for understanding some of what's going on in Russia today as well as Putin's surprising popularity, especially for someone such as myself who only has a cursory knowledge of the country.