5 comments about Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana.

1. 
   Ay, caramba!
   
   AROUND THE BLOC is more than a coming of age story, dear Readers.
   
   The following is a laundry list of what you're genuinely missing when you ascribe such facile titles to this amazing little read:
   
   1) The wonderful (and many) impactful lines of prose that emanate from the pen of someone so young, yet with so much on the ball (at the time of writing, that is -- the "young" part, not the "on the ball" part). Griest is possessed of an awareness that few individuals of mixed ethnicity and/or race choose to properly acknowledge. Inside the pages of this book, Elizondo Griest attacks this concept with a doggedness and reckless deliberation that's so downright inspirational! I would like to travel in her wake.
   
   2) There were several passages which I came across where I just had to place the book down beside me to take a deep "resetting" breath. How author managed to touch so many sensitive chords within me, I'm positive the effect was similar on the others. Ms. Elizondo Griest doesn't hold punches. When she refers to things like love, lust, heartbreak, depression, devastation, and sex, she does **precisely** that. When Griest refers to how pained she was when the man who meant everything in her life dropped her for the second time (in as many chances), you hurt right along there with her. If you don't, you don't have much of a emotional bone within your body. Someone so outspoken and delightful doesn't deserve to get hurt like that. At least this was my initial reaction.
   
   3) This is a young woman who has criss-crossed the world and back again, all in an attempt to seek the answers for the most essential life-donning questions which those of us who take such things for granted are never inclined to ask. Essential burning questions of indentity. Of the need and desire to understand who she really is at her core--not as a by-product of some consumerist collective--or where she really came from. By dipping into the collective unconsciousness of several nations of which she herself wasn't a descendant (Russia, China)...then beginning to relate these lessons to the things she knew and loved about herself (which came about more in Havana). Just gorgeous. In several spots the narrative, the author delivered up this story with a dramatist's expert flourish.
   
   ~~~~
   
   The pages just turned. I never **once** felt a need to stop reading (the only time I had was because I'd been interupted by something other than the read).
   
   Intentionally, I believe, Griest constructs the narrative with a rising crescendo. The story commences in Moscow, Russia and moves through Beijing, China. As the journey concludes in Havana, Cuba, in a country closest to her US home, Stephanie comes face to face with a daemon which has been dogging her for most of her early adult life.
   
   When she least expects to find the answer which has been plaguing her mercilessly, as she describes it, it confronts her hard. It hammers her when she finds herself doing an activity which one might consider enough to pull her thoughts away from such critical existential questions. Dancing the rhumba, or talking with a couple of Cuban college students on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
   
   Rather than writing AROUND THE BLOC and ending things with a question mark, Elizondo Griest is even more convinced by the book's end about the righteousness of her choice of having travelled around the entire world, steadfast in her desire to want to know more about her essential self.
   
   Like a highly sympathetic character in a novel or a film, you really want this person to succeed--dareisay win (?)--because the righteousness of her mission is just so important. It becomes as important to you as it initially is to Stephanie.
   
   Haven't we all had such dilemmas in our life?
   
   In this age of mixed identities, to be able to claim a purity of a connection to one's ancient or not-so-ancient culture is indeed a complicated decision, rife with paradoxes.
   
   Even those who are "so-and-so"--how much of that "so-and-so" can they really be in the face of an environment which pulls them into defining themselves as something much more general than merely the binding specificity of one particular race or (former?) nation-state?
   
   There are so many things which lay claim to our selves, at our cores. Griest cannot be blamed for having been sucked into this simplifying evening-out vortex, too. So deep has she been submerged into the commonality of the "Western experience," that it has become a compelling struggle to pull herself out. Like it is for others in her situation, who have written about things similarly.
   
   It has been an honour and a privilege to follow her along her path. I can't thank her enough for having made me a part.
   
   It's been to a gift to witness the changes, as she wrote about them, and as the book appears to be the culmination of many months and years of introspection and sometimes piercing self-doubt.
   
   I've cherished each and every one of these pages. Thank you Stephanie.
   
   If there ever were a sixth Amazonian star, it would go to Stephanie Elizondo Griest.
   
   --ADM in Prague



2. I guess when you're 59, like me, you shouldn't be buying books written by people under 25. Around the Bloc is sort of the tale of somebody's junior year abroad. Unfortunately, it takes more than a year to learn anything valid about somebody else's culture. So here's a woman who's reaped the affirmative action benefits of being Mexican in gringo America, and when a Cuban asks her what country she's from, she says "Canada." That's when I tossed the book into the box for the used book store. This woman needs to go live in the third world someplace for 15 years, without the benefit of a paycheck from the US. Then she can write a book.



3. This book energized me. Reading this book was almost as fun as traveling. I can't wait to visit Cuba. But this story is not just about travel. It's also about identity, family, language, and everything else important. Every traveller and every young woman must read this book. Keep your eye on this author! She's going to make it big. She's going to show us the world with fresh eyes.



4. I could not put this book down. Her voice is refreshing and honest. I learned a lot about all of the places she lives in. I found the part about the censorship in China to be especially revealing.



5. My mom and I both recently read this book and our reactions were the same as we discussed our thoughts. When we were finished with the book, there was a sense of something missing. The sub-title of the book - "My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana" - is misleading. It should have been "My Visits to Moscow and Beijing and My Spur-of-the-Moment Holiday in Havana." Ms. Griest didn't really have a life in any of those places. It would be like me writing a book called, "My Life in Thailand, Germany,and Puerto Rico." All places I have spent some time, but my "life" is where I have resided for many years. I agree with the reviewer who said this should have been a MySpace page - which is exactly where I put the (amusing and insightful!) tales of my adventures in foreign countries.
   
   Don't get me wrong, this book is not without some merit and Ms. Griest does relate some interesting experiences. The most interesting part to me was her short trip to Havana. Cuba is a mystery to most of us and I was surprised to hear that the people aren't quite as depressed and miserable as I had imagined. When they can't do anything about it, people tend to make the best of whatever situation they are in. But, all in all, it was just a light-weight travelogue for us.

1 comments about The Street Book: An Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins.

1. When people think of the street names of Manhattan, they probably think of the grid and its numbered roads. WRONG! Manhattan, especially the older neighborhoods from Houston Street south to the Battery, are filled with twisting little streets whose names resonate with Manhattan's history. This is where you'll find out why Houston Street is pronounced "HOW-ston". Where did Maiden Lane get its name from? Who was Barclay? This book will tell all. My only complaint (which prevented from giving this five stars) was with the binding: it cracked almost immediately upon opening and, right now, several pages are precariously clinging to the spine. Maybe it was only the batch that mine came out of which is so weak.

   Still this is a very informative book. If only it can tell me why New Yorkers pronounce Avenue of the Americas as "Sixth Avenue".

No comments about Insight FlexiMap Moscow (Flexi).

2 comments about Moscow and St. Petersburg (Fodor's Guides).

1. The book is very comprehensive, but to the type of tourist I am, 300 hundred pages of just descriptions is not good. For tourist that can only dedicate 4 to 5 days to each city, we would like to see lots of pictures of the most important places we should not miss in the city. The book doesn't have any pictures. it is also helpful to mention that the Peterhof palace needs to be (ideally) visited during late spring or summer. The gardens of the palace are absolutely fantastic, with the highlight of the springs of water flushing from every statue, step, and fountain. and the ponds and springs are closed at other time of the year. So you can not appreciate them in its full beauty and glory. We went to St. Petersburg in October and the fountains were closed in Peterhof, but the garden is worth visiting, even if they are not working in full. just remember to wrap up well!



2. This guide was OK however I there are much better ones out there. Not enough background-history & culture, no pics, just not close to being the best guide I've used. Rough Guide & Let's Go are much better. Eyewitness Guide is great for history & visual.

1 comments about Moscow, St. Petersburg & The Golden Ring, Third Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide).

1. Russia, despite its many recent upheavals continues to be an intriguing country. Masha Nordbye's just published "Moscow St Petersburg & The Golden Ring" is the perfect travel guide for those planning to visit Russia, or for those interested in Russia's rich culture and history. The book, beside being an incomparable travel guide, is also embellished with many relevant cultural and historic quotes that together with beautiful photographs and maps, make it an intellectually appealing volume.
   An added bonus to the book is the addition of detailed information about the now popular region around the Volga basin--the area called "The Golden Ring" where many of Russia's well preserved old churches and monasteries are located and where most other travel guides to Russia seem to ignore.
   Finally, a kudos to ODYSSEY BOOKS & GUIDES for publishing what appear to be the best travel guides in the market.

3 comments about The Time Travelers Academy.

1. Wow!!! I purchased and read the book in its entirety and loved it!!! Before I purchased the book I read the synopsis and utilized the search inside option... Just what I was looking for in a time travel book. This book is perfect for young adults or those who just love a good time travel book. Its a mixture of romance, action and adventure.
   
   The story line is very easy to follow from start to finish. Professionally written and professionally edited. A great book that would make a great movie.
   
   "The Time Travelers Academy"
   
   A secret training academy that teaches time travel. The hero challenges the grandfather paradox to go back in time and save his fiancé from a tragedy but an unknown aspect of the grandfather paradox stipulates: Something in nature will stop the time traveler from changing the past.
   
   I loved the story line about the "eliminators" entities that will stop a time travelers from changing the past. The hit movie called the Langoliers had similar but very different entities. The Langoliers' job is to erase moments in time that have already passed into history very different from the "eliminators" but a very good concept.
   
   You'll love the characters they are very believable. Each character was out to achieve something. I cant tell you how it ends all I can say is you will not be disappointed...I highly recommend this book.
   
   
   



2. I do like time travel stories, but time travel plays a smaller part in the plot than I expected. Also, the author resorts to a few "deus ex machina" and, at times, the action reminds me of early Flash Gordon comics. Yet, the book is not bad and kept me reading till the end, unexpected twist after twist.



3. This book was not at all what I expected. It is not just another "star trek" sci fiction book. Dark, Complex, and Fun, this novel takes you on a journey that not only creates time travel but explains how it is possible. It is fiction, fantasy and physics all rolled into one. I loved it.

1 comments about Berlitz Moscow and St. Petersburg Pocket Guide (Berlitz Pocket Guides S.).

1. So our first day in Moscow we lost our dictionary and our big travel guide and had to resort to this little thing I had picked up. It was full of everything we needed and got us through 2 weeks of trolling around Moscow and St. Pete on student budgets.
   
   The train maps were extremely useful. I was constantly pulling this thing out of my back pocket to find out what exit we needed to take. The city maps are pretty good too.
   
   All the suggestions were great and pretty easy to find. Thanks to this book, I was finally able to see a Russian circus with dancing bears and bears driving motorcycles with dogs on the back, which is really the only thing anybody ever wants to do over there.
   
   The vocabulary section is kinda useful, but you may have to resort to just showing them the words. If you're ordering food, I reccommend the shotgun approach we took: just point to stuff on the menu. It'll all work out in the end.
   
   I wouldn't say that this should be your only resource for preparing your trip, but it's definitely the only thing you'll need on you while you're actually walking around the country. That and your passport. Those Russian cops are crooks.

5 comments about Moscow (Lonely Planet City Guides).

1. I took this book with me to Moscow this summer. Except for prices and museum hours (which change rapidly), the guide was very accurate. It offers lots of great budget restaurants and shopping places. It has very clear and easy to follow maps of the center of Moscow. However, it has very poor, tiny, black and white maps (if any), of the outer sections of the city (Such as Sparrow Hills). If you plan to spend any time in the outer fringes of the city, you may want to consider purchasing an additional map. Overall, the guide was excellent and rarely left me stranded.



2. This has been replaced by an updated edition. Search for 1864503599, or look under "Our Customers' Advice" above. It is still a great guide for your journey of Discovering Russia.

   We always tell clients and other visitors to Russia that you should get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THE INFORMATION!

   Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York




3. The Lonely Planet Moscow guide was extremely enjoyable to read and provided excellent maps, though a magnifying glass was necessary to read the details. My only qualm with the book was that despite having a recent publication date of March 2003, some of the details were out-of-date. Specifically, the Metropol Hotel was listed as part of the Intercontinental chain with an intercontinental e-mail but when I called Intercontinental I was informed that they sold ownership of the hotel several years ago (current e-mail is metropol@metmos.ru). Thus, I recommend the book as good reading but for detailed planning caution is necessary.
   
   PS: This problem was not unique to this volume. We experienced a similar problem with other books in the series.



4. I traveled to Moscow in 2003 and 2004 and took this book both times. I honestly don't think I could have survived without it. Since I spent numerous weeks in Moscow I covered a lot of territory and especially took advantage of a lot of the information provided in LP, including the info on sites in outer Moscow. Moscow is a wonderful city, but can be confusing and sometimes a little dangerous. However, I found the maps very helpful for making my way around, and especially the map of the metro. The restaurant listings are helpful as well (the descriptions of Georgian food are dead on, it's really that good), though because I lived in dorms I didn't have much experience with the hotels. Prices for museums or other attractions are iffy since they do change a lot but this book was a must for both of my trips.



5. Good book to give you the general idea of what to expect in Moscow. The book did some what explain that the Russians have figured out how to milk you of your money part of capitalism The subay section is right on the money as well as the Arabat section. I stayed in the Arabat section of Moscow so I can not comment on the other location descriptions. However one would thing that the other sections were just as good. Pick up a week or two before you leave and spend an hour or so each day and read it and plot your days. Lots to see and not enough day or night in your time to see it all.

5 comments about Moscow (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. Its up to the minute information is invaluable as you travel around St. Petersburg. But, its AAA apearance is so dull you hardly want to use it. My recommendation is to buy this for the current info. and the EYEWITNESS GUIDE for its intelligent and beautifully illustrated usability.



2. These are by far the best travel books out there, because of the detailed picture maps and the specific historical info for each area of the cities.



3. This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting Moscow.



4. I have used this series for other cities and have found them always excellent, the best at what they do.



5. I really like the new edition of the book. It is quite accurate, and easy to use while exploring Moscow. As with all these DK guides, the photographs and accompanying text offer a unique companion to your travels. My only complaint is the sections on sites outside and around Moscow are weak. More people need to explore outside the city.

4 comments about Frommer's Moscow & St. Petersburg (Frommer's Complete).

1. With that said, I have been to Russia only once (about 10 years ago) and it was with a tour. I am planning my second trip this Fall (2006) and was pleased to see that Frommer's finally put out a book for Russia. The matter of fact reviews as well as prices cited for absolutely everything give you a snapshot of what it "might" cost. I say "might" because there are so many variables that a book can't truly predict (i.e. fluid exchange rates, supply/demand, the "current will of a taxi driver", etc.) but this book gives you at least a starting point to evaluate if you are overpaying or getting a deal. I am planning to go this Fall without a guide and my confidence is building, as result of this book. I should say that I can read & write in Russian and speak a little, but it was still an intimidating country for me 10 years ago. I can read a Frommers book anytime even if I do not have trip planned. I've just started reading this one and I already love it. Good job (again) Frommer's!



2. I was very disappointed by this book, which feels largely like a cut-and-paste job. It opens with a bunch of general travel advice and then goes on to describe a few things to do and see in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Many blocks of text are repeated in various parts of the book and I felt the actual amount of information about things to do and see in these two amazing cities was pretty limited, especially given the number of pages I carried around with me. I found all the hotel info I needed on the Internet (see tripadvisor.com) and would have liked this book better if they'd left out all the hotel info and left out the repetition.
   
   I feel like I could write you a better travel guide after spending just one week with natives in each city. Surely somebody else has done a better job!



3. I think the guide is useful and concise, very much to the point and touches on many interesting and relevant topics. I've lived in Russia most of my life, so far, and I think the guide more than does it justice.



4. Many of the main attractions in St. Petersburgh and Moscow are museums and the like.
   
   Museums in both cities tend to be closed at least one day during the week. It is different days for different museums.
   
   There were a significant amount of attractions (probably about 1/3) in both cities where the book had incorrect days. So we'd show up on a day it was supposed to be open, and they were closed. Or the hours were wrong. Or the book would say that they had english tours and they did not.
   
   I was extremely disappointed at such a major oversight.