Travels through old history and new landscapes
Rehnuma Sazzad is cheered by a work of sophistication and wit
11 January 2008, 18:00 PM
New Europe
Michael Palin
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
The blurb of New Europe could not have introduced the book better. It is classic Palin in action, Palin the writer that is. I would assume that Palin is well-known as an actorremember Monty Python's exciting comedy, Life of Brian? In Britain, however, Palin is acclaimed also as a TV presenter. His travel documentaries for the BBC ('Around the World in 80 Days', 'Pole to Pole', 'Himalaya', to name a few) have been great favourites. In fact, New Europe is based on his travels for the BBC to the East European countries, newly freed from Cold Wars and Iron Curtains. No need to mention that like the other ones, this documentary ended triumphantly; to be specific, the last episode created a record of at least a million viewers. Palin the writer is no less entertaining.
Palin sets out to discover a Europe filled with optimism through the newly found freedom. What he sketches through the expedition is not only politics and economics; he brings out also the life of the lands through the histories, sights, sounds, arts, cultures, music, sculptures, dramas, fashions and so onin short, life as lived by the Eastern Europeans now. Reading Palin is like feeling the vibrant Eastern European life; you can relate to so much of the experiences described.
As I said, Palin wanted to discover his continent, with something of Tagore's spirit: 'dekha hoi nai chokhkhu melia'. He admits: 'I thought I knew my own continent, but I realised that almost half of it had been closed to me, by politics and ideology, for most of my life. The closer I looked at the eastern half of Europe the more I felt that it had been misrepresented, or even ignored during this time, lumped together in a great blur called Eastern Europe.' So his voyage takes place to lift the 'blur'; as he goes from one unknown border to another, he realises the attractions and mysteries of places and discovers an overpowering hope pervading the Eastern countries for a brighter future, more open way of life and much better unity in Europe.
The first leg of his journey called 'War and Peace' covered Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Albania. Palin aptly begins the tour from the peaceful Alps: '… I'm here 8,000 feet up in the Julian Alps, looking optimistically east, waiting for the cloud to lift so that I can see what the new Europe looks like'. The cloud does move and he uncovers not only the rocks and boulders, but also the snowfield slopes, an exceptionally beautiful lake in the middle of which rises a piece of land with a church on it that looks like a ferry on the move. Croatia, however, is full of fun as he observes the largest omelette being made, believe it or not, with full-scale ceremony! In Bosnia, Palin faces the land-mine fields and other signs of the recent war. And guess what? He interviews a visionary, who claims to have been regularly visited by the Virgin Mary for 25 years! There. Did I not say that you could relate to some of the events? In Albania, though, Palin meets up with a mayor who does 'politics with colours'. Edi Rama, the mayor of Tirana, who was voted 'World Mayor of the Year' in 2004, gets the buildings in the town decorated with shades of colour. Maybe it is time Dhaka imported the idea for its skyline.
The second phase of Palin's journey is 'Eastern Delight' that touches on Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Palin pays visits to some of the most remarkable churches of the early Christian period and listens to delightful music on Sofia's streets. Then he spends days revealing Turkey's heritage. You can feel the weight of time in Turkey more than any other Eastern European countries, it seems to me. But Palin's departure from Turkey is stylish, if not Turkish: he leaves the country in a balloon while viewing 'this uniquely weird landscape, highlighted by a blanket of freshly fallen snow'.
The 'Wild East' includes Moldova, Trans-Dniester, Romania and Serbia. Palin travels from Trans-Dniester, a breakaway state from the Republic of Moldova, to the valleys and gardens of Romania. He joins 80 lumberjacks as they board a wood-fired steam train, discovers the power of local artistry, and finally ends up at Bran Castle in Transylvania, the ancestral home of Vlad the Impaler, who is a national hero allegedly turned into Bram Stoker's Dracula! Not just the Dracula, Palin picks up Ceausescu's 'Unification Boulevard' and the second largest administrative building in the world; he leaves through the waterway while watching on the shore a gigantic stone-carving that is to uplift Romanian nationalism.
From 'Danube to Dnieper', Palin visits Hungary and Ukraine. Certainly, the imperial sculptures and beauty of cities are the pride and joy of Hungary; but the 'House of Terror' is the scar of history left behind, as it 'graphically records the worst horrors of the communist period.' But Hungarian prairies soothe Palin from the shock as he bikes along and works with the cowboys on the vast prairie. In Ukraine, at any rate, people seem to be reconciled with history: Lisa Mikova justified the non-removal of Lenin's statue in her home city of Yalta with the wise words, 'You can't tear a page out of history'.
'Baltic Summer' comes with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. Palin travels from Tallinn in the north to Lithuania and then sails on to the Baltic from Kaliningrad. Tallinn may be flourishing with arts, but leech treatment still survives here and Palin is sure to undergo the treatment! In Latvia, he visits one of the most secretive Communist places, the astronomical telescope. He asks his guide, Juris, about the success of its surveillance.
[Juris goes] 'Well, they knew about the death of the Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq in an air crash six hours…'
[Palin exclaims] 'Before it happened?'
[Juris retorts] 'No… no … six hours before the rest of the world knew about it'.
The 'Baltic Summer' ends on the coast as a huge structure rises among the pines: 'An entrance 100 feet wide and 50 feet high leads into a 200-foot long net which funnels down to a line of cages', where birds are held for research purposes. Nevertheless, in Poland, Palin meets up with the legendary politician Lech Walesa and confronts an ominous little town, Auschwitz, where the Nazis built two of their largest concentration camps. The experience is surreal, to say the least: 'It makes a mockery of civilization.'
The 'Journey's End' is reached through Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany. High in the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia, Palin experiences untarnished rural life. In the Czech Republic, he seizes an opportunity to act while visiting Turba's famous mime school in Brno. Travelling in a DC3, used during the Berlin airlift, he overlooks Rugen Island, where Hitler built a tremendously oversized and at present useless holiday camp. Hitler apart, it is evident from Palin's journeys that Europe is getting united through realising the value of human freedom.
Palin remarkably makes you part of this living history of co-operation in Europe. But as you perhaps have already noticed, no price can be put on Palin's ready wit. His humour marks almost each page of the book, which makes the reading so much rewarding. He visits a restaurant whose owner cooked for President Bush when the latter was at Riga in Latvia. 'In the end George W., who doesn't drink, ate crayfish with brandy in the sauce, beef with red wine… and reserved his most appreciative comments for the ice-cream. 'Wow!' he'd said and asked for more…'
Palin's marvellous descriptions are absorbing as they are accompanied by Basil Pao's numerous immaculate photos. Pao, a notable photographer based in Hong Kong and the US, has been a successful collaborator with Palin on many occasions and this time he is also at his best. Pao faithfully captures Palin's vision and together they create this best-seller. New Europe is a 'vintage' collection.
Rehnuma Sazzad will begin a Ph.D programme in English literature at Warwick University this year.
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