Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue: Travels in Central Asia.

Posted on 03/08/2020 by awtytravels
It’s taken three years, five revisions and a list of rejections as long as Donald Trump’s comb over, but at long last Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue is here – or, rather, on Amazon. Here’s a little bit of a description of what you can find, carefully crafted to read like a fireside chat (you can almost hear the log crackling in the background).
So, what is this book about?
Let’s start with a disappointment. It’s not a description of how a car GPS’ instruction would be sounding like in a world where the USSR never collapsed. What it is, instead, is a tribute to Central Asia. Half travelogue and half chronicle, Turn Left follows my journeys through the lands stretching between the Caspian Sea and the Taklamakan Desert. It tells the stories of those who lived – and live – there: from Alexander the Great to long distance truckers, my purpose with this book has been to describe ‘what it means’ to be Central Asian.
Why did you write it?
Delusions of grandeur aside, the idea of writing Turn Left matured with time. I’ve been fascinated with this land ever since I could remember, even though it took about 30 years before I finally landed there, on a snowy day in Almaty. That first visit triggered another and then another and so on, unveiling a reality that was a lot more complex and intriguing than the post-Soviet drivel I expected to find. Eventually, all these stories coalesced into a single mission, which is also the ‘spine’, if you will, of the book: to describe this region through the stories of its peoples. To try and tell what it means to be Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uyghur and so on by letting the people describe their own realities, adding my experiences but without shoehorning my views into theirs.
Why should I read this instead of, say, Eat Pray Love?
To each his, or her, own I guess. But if you want to read something about relatively unknown places – and let’s face it, Tajikistan ain’t exactly Bali – and different peoples rather than the usual me-me-me that infests our lives, then this could be a good option. Plus, it’s got camels, archery, Uzbek footballers and goats. Lots of goats.
Where did you go?
The book documents a long series of rambles, a haphazard tour describing a loop with both ends in Almaty, a lovely city tucked away in the bottom right-hand corner of Kazakhstan. Inbetween are chapters dedicated to the Aral Sea, Bukhara, the Pamirs, Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang: anywhere opportunities, world politics and interesting stories steered me.

What’s the main message of the book?
Turn Left wants to be a rebuke of today’s tendency to reduce everything to caricature, to a strapline, to a 280-character summary. Central Asia is particularly prone to this, being alternatively described as a swamp of dictatorship, a hotbed of terrorism or a dystopian hell-hole. All of that can be true, as well as it’s true that Central Asia is where I found genuine warmth, true hospitality and selfless generosity. To cut the story short, the one message that Turn Left wants to convey is that reality is a lot more complicated than it seems and that’s not only fine: it’s what makes the world interesting.
One last question: what happens when you turn left at Lenin’s statue?
Well, a lot of things! But, jokes aside, you end up in a dusty courtyard with a dog, an abandoned Russian car and a great view over the Pamirs. See here.
Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue is available as paperback and Kindle e-book on Amazon from today.
Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Lenins-Statue-Travels-ebook/dp/B08F3CSXP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=turn+left+at+lenin&qid=1596384127&sr=8-1
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44 Responses to Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue: Travels in Central Asia.

  1. I. J. Khanewala says:
    03/08/2020 at 04:01

    Congratulations. Found it on Amazon, although it was a little disconcerting to be warned that “Price and other details may vary based on size and colour”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Anna says:
    03/08/2020 at 06:39

    It won’t ship to Australia! I dint have a kindle because I’m old school! 😞

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. J.D. Riso says:
    03/08/2020 at 07:32

    Huge congratulations, Fabrizio. It’s a work that deserves an audience and I sure hope you get a huge one. My favorite passage is about the Aral Sea. But I enjoyed your astute, compassionate, and humorous observations in each chapter. Hope you sell the hell out of it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Marco says:
    03/08/2020 at 08:05

    Just bought it

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Jolandi Steven says:
    03/08/2020 at 10:21

    Congratulations, Fabrizio.
    I love the map!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. lexklein says:
    03/08/2020 at 15:17

    Congratulations! I promise to read it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. Monkey's Tale says:
    04/08/2020 at 01:51

    Congratulations!! What a great accomplishment, I’ll look for it at Amazon. Maggie

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Manja Mexi Mexcessive says:
    20/08/2020 at 17:22

    Yeahh, it’s a alive! I love the cover, and what a grand Subject! 😀 How much did you have to pay for such a fitting surname? 😉

    I’ve read what Amazon let me for free and was immediately transported to that cold of the almond-eyed nation and it has stayed with me. Probably because it’s so hot here now. Great launch timing!

    I’m really happy for you and your first book baby. You’ve got so many more in you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Pingback: August 2019 – Manja Mexi Mexcessive

  10. Alison and Don says:
    23/08/2020 at 22:32

    It’s taken me three weeks to finally get to this. I just bought your book and look forward to reading it very much. The Stans have long intrigued me, and been a place I’d like to travel to precisely because they are not Bali or Venice. I looked at the Kindle version but decided that it would be really lovely to hold a book in my hands once again (especially missed since the libraries have been closed because of the pandemic).
    Meanwhile I’ll start with reading the bit available online.
    Alison

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. carolinehelbig says:
    24/08/2020 at 00:16

    Congratulations Fabrizio! Writing a book is a really impressive accomplishment. I’m going to order your book right now. I’m pleased it’s not like Eat, Pray, Love because I am not a fan, to say the least.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. Anna says:
    07/09/2020 at 11:13

    Ok so I “bought” your book, started reading, and it stopped after the first chapter. Realised that I had “bought” the free sample! Haha. Anyway really liked what I read so far! Now I will properly buy it to continue but my bloody iPad died and I need to buy a new one. I swear technology is against me in reading this book! Lol

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Pingback: Wrapping Things Up | Dreaming in Arabic

  14. Crystal M. Trulove says:
    20/09/2020 at 17:54

    Jolandi gave such a great recommendation that I immediately tried to find the book on audible.com (alas!), but then kept searching for the book and the first search return landed me here. How fun to find out you’re a fellow WordPresser. Congratulations on the publication and on gaining such appreciation from a traveler and seeker like Jolandi. I want to read it. I will consider the paper version, but I so very rarely sit still enough to read a book. I’ll keep fingers crossed that someone is dying to make an audio book out of it. :o)

    Like

    Reply

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