Publication

2006 - Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts

Language

English

Word Count

57,500 words, Guess

Page Count

230 pages

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2005024728
  • LibraryThing372281
  • Goodreads413037

Classifications

  • DDC915.704/86
  • LCCDK756.2 .T39 2006

Description

In a custom-built boat, Jeffrey Tayler traveled some 2,400 miles down the Lena River, from near Lake Baikal to high above the Arctic Circle, re-creating a journey first made by Cossack forces more than three hundred years ago. He was searching for primeval beauty and a respite from the corruption, violence, and self-destructive urges that typify modern Russian culture. His only companion on this hellish journey detests all humanity, including Tayler. Vadim, Tayler's guide, is a burly Soviet army veteran whose superb skills Tayler needs to survive. As the two navigate roiling white water in howling storms, they eschew lifejackets because the frigid water would kill them before they could swim to shore. Though Tayler has trekked by camel through the Sahara and canoed down the Congo during the revolt against Mobutu, he has never felt as threatened as he does on this trip.

First Sentence

THE PLANE WAS HALF EMPTY, the air inside muggy and rank, redolent of sweat and latrines.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • River of no reprieve: descending Siberia's waterway of exile, death, and destinyHoughton Mifflin2006-01-01

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