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Eastbound
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
13 posts | 15 read | 6 to read
In this gripping tale, a Russian conscript and a French woman cross paths on the Trans-Siberian railroad, each fleeing to the east for their own reasons Perfect for fans of Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles Eastbound is both an adventure story and a duet of two vibrant inner worlds. In mysterious, winding sentences gorgeously translated by Jessica Moore, De Kerangal gives us the story of two unlikely souls entwined in a quest for freedom with a striking sense of tenderness, sharply contrasting the brutality of the surrounding world. Racing toward Vladivostok, we meet the young Aliocha, packed onto a Trans-Siberian train with other Russian conscripts. Soon after boarding, he decides to desert and over a midnight smoke in a dark corridor of the train, he encounters an older French woman, Hlne, for whom he feels an uncanny trust. A complicity quickly grows between the two when he manages to urgently ask--through a pantomime and basic Russian that Hlne must decipher--for her help to hide him. They hurry from the filth of his third-class carriage to Hlne's first-class sleeping car. Aliocha now a hunted deserter and Hlne his accomplice with her own inner landscape of recent memories to contend with.
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Kazzie
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
Pickpick

Beautiful, tense novel. Compassion and kindness from unexpected places

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Gleefulreader
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

I‘ve been on a real small press/translation kick lately, and this slim volume did not disappoint. This is set in modern Russia on a train traversing the country. Two strangers meet - a French woman leaving a relationship and a young man recently conscripted into the army and travelling to his post with a group of conscripts. A stifling view of modern Russia where freedom is still incredibly limited.

Suet624 I liked this one too. 3mo
18 likes1 comment
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CatMS
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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This short book kept the anxiety up till the end. This is the April bookclub pick by my friend Peter. Thank you Peter for another engaging selection.

15 likes1 stack add
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Suet624
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

A Russian conscript trying to flee from his duties and a woman leaving a man behind meet on a train. Can the soldier escape his fate with her help? This is a very short book and like @Bookboss I‘m not sure why I‘ve heard so much about it. It was a pick because of the tension provided at the end but otherwise it was just okay.

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Lindy
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

Two people on a trans-Siberian train are looking for escape: a French woman in her thirties and a young Russian conscript. Their lives cross paths in a way that reminds me that we all need to look out for each other. Short, quiet and compelling. Translation by Jessica Moore. The audiobook read by Jennifer Pickens is only 2 hours and 20 minutes long… so I listened to it twice.

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Lindy
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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He leans close to the glass. His gaze goes out past the reflection of his own face.
The outside is compact and shadowy. Oceanic. The Siberian forest is there. To sink into it would be like entering black water with stones in the bottoms of his pockets. And Aliocha wants to live.

28 likes1 stack add
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Floresj
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

Fantastic novella about a Russian trying to escape conscription with a French woman leaving her relationship as they travel on a train across Siberia. Perfect pacing of plot makes this well written book a quick and enjoyable read.

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Bookboss
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

A woman hides a Russian soldier in her train compartment so that he can avoid military service. This is a novella focused on language more than plot. The descriptions were interesting, but I struggled to understand why the book has garnered so much acclaim. Perhaps I need to read it again.

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BookishTrish
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

I liked it

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Hooked_on_books
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

A Russian conscript, an employee on the Trans-Siberian train, and a French woman come together on a consequential train journey wherein the conscript is desperate to escape the Russian army. This is an interesting story and I enjoyed it, but one of the 5 best fiction books of the year (according to the NYT)? No. Let Us Descend will haunt me for a long time, while I will have mostly forgot this by tomorrow.

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Chelsea.Poole
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

I get list-frantic this time of year. A solution to the problem of “how am I going to read all these books!?!” is choosing shorter titles to listen to. Eastbound was first up from the #NYT top 10 list, one not on my radar. A book in translation written years ago but feels very “now” as a Russian solider meets a French traveler on a train. It felt like being on a train: chugging along at a fast pace, full of people and sights and sounds.

TheKidUpstairs I'm so excited to read this one. It took me by surprise in the NYT list because I'd never ever heard of it! Glad to see it got a pick from you! 11mo
70 likes1 comment
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swynn
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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Pickpick

(2023; French original, 2012)

A young French woman meets a Russian conscript on the trans-Siberian railway. Both are fleeing something: the woman is escaping an unfortunate relationship, and the soldier is desperate to desert. On an impulse, the girl lets him into her cabin. It's a short literary thriller with lovely prose and brisk pacing.

Tamra Sounds thrilling! 1y
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
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shawnmooney
Eastbound | Maylis de Kerangal
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https://youtu.be/8U-8QJvDGjc

Chat #1: with Joseph from Calgary

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal
Jessica Moore (Translator)

Chat #2: with Nancy (The Literate Quilter) from Metro Detroit

The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen

Chat #3: with Nyambura from Nairobi
(they/them/Elle)

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

Chat #4: with Regina from New Orleans

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden