- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson; 1st Edition edition (5 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091925525
- ISBN-13: 978-0091925529
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 463,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
[Metcalfe's] book has many virtues, the greatest of which are courage and a keen eye for detail, plus an ability to convey the essence of a place through the briefest of anecdotes
--Independent
'Fresh, witty and full of quirky detail...the book is also a serious, sometimes moving account of environmental degradation, political repression and social isolation' --Financial Times
'A terrific read. Metcalfe writes with sensitivity and great flair ... I was totally absorbed' --Rt. Hon. Lord Paddy Ashdown
'This is an important book: a first hand account from an adventurous traveller who has ... reminded us why travel-writing matters'
Nicholas Crane, author of CLEAR WATERS RISING
--Independent
'Fresh, witty and full of quirky detail...the book is also a serious, sometimes moving account of environmental degradation, political repression and social isolation' --Financial Times
'A terrific read. Metcalfe writes with sensitivity and great flair ... I was totally absorbed' --Rt. Hon. Lord Paddy Ashdown
'This is an important book: a first hand account from an adventurous traveller who has ... reminded us why travel-writing matters'
Nicholas Crane, author of CLEAR WATERS RISING
Review
'This is an important book: a first hand account from an adventurous traveller who has ... reminded us why travel-writing matters'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the kind of literature of place you might believe had disappeared long ago. Out of Steppe relates a fscinating journey from Tehran to the Highlands of the Pakistani Frontier, by way of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. He is looking to preserve something in print of some of the peoples of those regions who may not survive much longer, either through emigration (the Kazakh Germans and Buhkhara Jews), eviction (the Sogdians of Takikistan) or religious assimilation - the Kalash of the North West Frontier. All well and good, and a very great cut above sailing across the Sahara with an elephant, or whatever supposedly hilarious trips we see so often presented as travel wrting.
What really sets Metcalfe apart is his learning,which, unlike some recent bestselling travel writers in the region (Rory Stewart, you know who I am talking about) he wears lightly and deploys very effectively. He is old school, but with a decidedly contemporary turn of phrase. There are not many Brits who speak Persian to the extent they can pass for Iranians. Those who can are unlikely to be able to speak Russian as well. We see these peoples unfiltered through translators or guides. What a poignant picture he paints. Are the Jews of Bukhara really on their last legs? The bucolic valleys of the austere Yagnobi may contain the very few last descendants of Alexanders old enemies the Sogdians. He paints a brief but very satisfying picture of the Hazara of Afghanistan, the custodians of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Perhaps saddest of all is the fate that may await the marvellous Kalash, the last of the pagans of Central Asia, already under threat from a somewhat aggressive Islam.
The one other complaint, certainly double edged, I have is that it left me wanting for more. Metcalfe conveys a sense of place better than any other young writer; with his clever deployment of history, literature and very occasionally his own personality he is strongly redolent of Thubron in his heyday.
It is highly questionable, with the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan growing daily, whether at least some of his journey could be done now. As things stand he has given the armchair traveller real hope that we have a new real travel writer on the scene.
What really sets Metcalfe apart is his learning,which, unlike some recent bestselling travel writers in the region (Rory Stewart, you know who I am talking about) he wears lightly and deploys very effectively. He is old school, but with a decidedly contemporary turn of phrase. There are not many Brits who speak Persian to the extent they can pass for Iranians. Those who can are unlikely to be able to speak Russian as well. We see these peoples unfiltered through translators or guides. What a poignant picture he paints. Are the Jews of Bukhara really on their last legs? The bucolic valleys of the austere Yagnobi may contain the very few last descendants of Alexanders old enemies the Sogdians. He paints a brief but very satisfying picture of the Hazara of Afghanistan, the custodians of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Perhaps saddest of all is the fate that may await the marvellous Kalash, the last of the pagans of Central Asia, already under threat from a somewhat aggressive Islam.
The one other complaint, certainly double edged, I have is that it left me wanting for more. Metcalfe conveys a sense of place better than any other young writer; with his clever deployment of history, literature and very occasionally his own personality he is strongly redolent of Thubron in his heyday.
It is highly questionable, with the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan growing daily, whether at least some of his journey could be done now. As things stand he has given the armchair traveller real hope that we have a new real travel writer on the scene.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What a tale - Metcalfe journeys through a land foreign to the west and brings to life the people of central asia with a vitality lost to most latter day travel writers. I couldn't recommend it more. Outstanding
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a keen traveller I often find travel writing irritating - who wants to read about someone else's smug adventures when you could experience it yourself? Out of Steppe is different - most of the places Metcalfe travels are too remote, too dangerous or frankly sound too bleak and miserable to be places you want to travel yourself. And yet... every page evokes the the magic and wonder (and sometimes mundane reality) of travel - the fascinating history you learn, the bizarre random encounters, the long bumpy journeys, the inevitable stomach problems... I strongly encourage you to read this book and dive into Central Asia... but be warned you may have packed your back-pack and bought a flight before you reach the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An alternately exciting and yawn-inducing travelogue to 'lost' lands
It's good to know Farsi and travel around Central Asia. People in a large belt of countries extending all the way to Afghanistan speak variants of the language, and if one can't... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Feanor
another Oxonian at large
and very good that he is. The travel writing niche is inundated with books every year and it is the style at the end which will win the readers and such is the case with Metcalfe's... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2009 by Nagihan Haliloglu
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