RELEASE NOTES:

Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Picked up at the UnConvention in Birmingham yesterday. I 'borrowed' this from Ponapon a while ago, so I can give him his copy back and add this one to Mt Tooby.

An extraordinary and unusual journey through a region that remains widely unknown. As the author discovered, there is good reason for its reputation as a fearful place, one with a dark history and a savage beauty. The beauty is hard to find though and I admire Thubron greatly for his tenacity in a place that, for most, would be all but impenetrable. He seeks out wild, remote tribes and villages, ignoring the dire warnings and obstacles that would put most of us off, and is rewarded with unusual stories and encounters. He also demonstrates an incredible skill at communicating the spirit of the places he visits, and for this alone the book is worth taking time over. In the final analysis, though, Siberia is not a happy place. Hardship and brutality mark its history, landscape and people, and there are few signs of hope, at least in the short term. It drew me in, but it wasn't an easy book to read, even though it held me spellbound from start to finish.

On entering Terminal 1 there is a staircase to a medium-sized lounge area where one can wait prior to check-in. I left the book on one of the coffee tables overlooking the lobby.

I found the book on the 17/10/08 on the second table from the left, upstairs at the waiting area of Ferihegy Airport 1, Budapest, Hungary. I noticed that the book was registered in Oxford, which I found funny, coz I was heading back to Oxford. However, I decided to read it. so I am working on it. It might take a bit of time though before I can release it back into the wild.