Joe and Azat back

"As I said, Azat was a dreamer. But it wasn't that his ideas were crazy. He just always assumed that his ideas would naturally result in fortune and fame."

Lonergan spent several months with the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan and this account is loosely based on his time there. I'm never quite sure how autobiography can be loosely based on what actually happened but I'm presuming there has merely been some abridgement of events etc. as there's nothing contained within this work which seems embellished or over the top. In fact, it's somewhat the opposite and paints a rather mundane picture of life in the former Soviet republic led by the somewhat eccentric President (for life, of course) Turkmenbashy. What little I know of Turkmenbashy's various hair-brained schemes, touched upon at the start of this book for those people who are unaware of just how much of a crackpot he is, suggests Turkmenistan has rather a long way to go before its citizens enjoy any sort of meaningful level of prosperity. Not that a little thing like a complete lack of opportunities stops people dreaming of a better life, of course. And one person in particular, Joe's self-appointed guide, translator and new best friend Azat, seems to have raised it to an art form.

One elaborate scheme where Azat seriously considers turning his mother's front room into an arcade, only for Joe to bring his dreams crashing down after drawing up a very simple balance sheet of expected turnover versus costs sums the relationship up between the two perfectly. Azat is down for all of about five seconds at his friend's revelations, and then decides to go ahead and open the arcade anyway.

The whole book is actually a very loving and informative look at life in one of the former Soviet republics where, if at least there doesn't appear to be overt oppression of the populace, the poor education and lack of jobs, combined with complete political incompetence and the inevitable corruption at every level means the people are going to be poor for a very long time to come. And yet they survive, drawing what enjoyment they can from large social occasions such as weddings. Which brings us neatly to one of Azat's other big dreams, to win the hand of the beautiful Gulnara. This isn't ever going to happen if Gulnara's father has anything to do with it, but not to worry for Azat has a plan!! Whether it's got any chance of working however is a completely different matter!! Enjoyable stuff.

[For more on Turkmenistan and its incorrigible leader, please see Ted Rall's SILK ROAD TO RUIN. It's a revelation or twelve! - Ed.]