Strange Telescopes [Paperback]

This is an unusual travel story, written with a keen eye for human behaviour and a penchant for obsessive personalities. Daniel Kalder has a fascination with life and culture - Russian and ex-Soviet. So much so he has ventured there several times to meet some unusual people and to explore very off-the-beaten-track parts of this world. In essence this is a story about meeting several passionate and unusual men. Firstly he meets up with Vadim the Moscovite with a fascination for the urban subterranean world. Vadim is a man who knows the geo-spatial territory underneath Moscow like the back of his hand, who is paranoid and narcissistic. Meeting up with Vadim leads Kalder into some byways well-and-truly off the regular Moscow tourist map. Next he meets Edward, a gentle Christian man (Orthodox), who believes that exorcism is a constructive way of ridding the world of sin. Edward is an enthusiastic supporter of priests who continue to discretely conduct exorcisms. Kalder's connection with Edward takes him to the far reaches of the Ukraine. After that adventure Kalder goes off to elicit a meeting with Sergei Torop (aka Vissarion) in Siberia to see how the Vissarionite community of followers live and what is behind this man with messianic notions. Rounding off this unusual travelogue is lastly a visit to meet up with Nikolai Sutyagin, the architect (once was successful entrepreneur in the economic explosion that was 'New Russia') of the tallest wooden tower in Arkhangelsk.

All of these individuals Kalder meets are intense personalities obsessed with pushing the boundaries of thought and life. Kalder speculates that these actions are made possible by the radical social and economic changes in the ex-Soviet states; 'anything goes' so there is room for extremism. Most of the book is filled with observations about his travel and the people he meets. So, this thesis is not fully expanded upon. Though, worth noting, in the prologue Kalder says (with one suspects tongue firmly jammed in cheek) that the book should be read as any/all of the following: self-help manual for dreamers, myth or epic enthusiasts, spiritual journey for the soulful and/or [insert your own label]. He finishes the prologue with a cheeky quip: "I know I've told the truth. As for the other people whose words are recorded here - well, that's a different matter."

For those with a love of farce, the bizarre and the human condition... this is for you. This is not remotely anything like any other travel writing possibly imaginable... this is travel not just to extreme places but to meet people at the extreme of life.