Caution! This is a powerful and disturbing book, and not for the fainthearted. Ostensibly about a gruelling road trip across Siberia, it is - more accurately - a diary account of the striking individuals the author meets en route. Their harrowing personal stories present a haunting picture of physical and moral decline - the dark side of the Russian soul - that you'll never hear about in Russia Today broadcasts.
Beyond the oil-rich oligarchs and the urban middle classes, lies a huge underclass. It can be found in the tower-block estates, and in the countryside, across huge swathes of the former Soviet Union. Here, we see true poverty. Alcoholism and drug abuse are endemic. HIV and Aids are commonplace. Lives are short, sometimes brutish and often tragic. The author meets former hippies, once persecuted for their non-conformity. He visits communities blighted, then all but destroyed, by the horrific nuclear tests of the 1960's. He sees poisoned grazing lands; landscapes transformed by the bomb blasts; the uniquely horrible effects of radiation sickness in young children, and pathetic orphaned survivors confined to institutions which are unspeakably inhumane. (Were animals to be treated in a similar fashion in Britain, there would be an outcry.)
I defy any reader to remain unmoved.
Which brings me to the title, White Fever. It's the name used to describe the effects of vodka poisoning on the indigenous people of Siberia - reindeer herders, hunters and trappers - who once numbered hundreds of thousands, but are disappearing fast. It's all down to vodka - and cheap and nasty substitutes like rectified alcohol - which their bodies can't cope with, thanks to their genetic disposition. Even small amounts of these toxic substances induce in them a form of dementia - a self destructive craziness - which makes them perform acts of extreme irrationality that are usually fatal. The tragedy is that they powerless to prevent it - such is the power of addiction.
Despite book's general pessimism, there are many up-beat moments. The author meets Shamans and Shamanesses - some would say witch-doctors - who perform bizarre and amusing ritual healings when state medicine fails. And he meets a self-styled Jesus named Vissarion, with a large and growing following, who presides over a commune in the wilderness. Here, the author sees Russians who seem genuinely happy, for the first time on his epic journey. And often, along the way, he encounters shining examples of humour in adversity - moments to be savoured for the light relief they bring.
In short, White Fever is a book for the intellectually curious armchair traveller who can stomach almost anything. Don't expect a conventional travelogue when you read it. The author deals with the itinerary briefly, in the opening chapters. From then on, it's all about the people he meets. (Sometimes, I lost the sense of a road journey being taken, but I referred to Google Maps to locate the various place names mentioned. The aerial shots of landscapes and towns - and the street views - help it all makes a lot more sense.)
But it's not a part of the world I'll be visiting anytime soon.
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