Where the West Ends

Where the West Ends  Michael J. Totten 268 pp.

Michael J. Totten’s Where the West Ends is a collection of travel essays across the near east. Totten is clearly fascinated by the interplay of cultures on the border between the explicitly western European countries of continental Europe and the cultural sphere of Islam extended by the Ottoman empire. Specifically, Totten travels through three regions: Northern Iraq, the Balkans, and Georgia.

I was briefly put off by Totten’s emphasis on the otherness of the cultures in which he swas travelling, but quickly came around to appreciate his style. Yes, he does portray these cultures as alien to an American, but it quickly becomes apparent that he has subverted this in a meaningful way. Where the differences in culture are highlighted, it is not done so in order to set them aside as merely a strange group of countries on the fringe of “western” territory, but to emphasize the experience of an American traveller in a new land.

Totten’s charisma throughout the essays is infectious. His journeys are all by-the-seat-of-his-pants affairs, with a vague plan sketched out in advance which quickly falls to pieces in the face of new sights to see. Through these trips Totten is careful to maintain a lingering sense of danger in the back of the reader’s mind. This danger reaches its zenith in Georgia as Totten gallivants around the bleak, ruined countryside in the face of a Russian incursion. The Georgia essay did its work for Totten’s book as cultural study in a backhanded manner. Russia, not Georgia, is the focal point of this essay.

During Totten’s time in Georgia, the Russian army had pushed its way deep into Georgia, nearly cutting the country in half. The trembling emotions nearing apathy of the local population were particularly effective here. Reading this essay as an American, I felt a voice in my head asking, “If you know the Russian’s will come, why not make preparations to defend yourselves?” Totten answers this cleanly- the thought of Georgia fighting off the vastly superior Russian military is romanticism and nothing more. His portrayal of the Russian advance is carefully done- it happened, almost without resistance, and now that it has happened, it is the case. And that’s that. 

Lingering racial tensions form the core of the danger Totten focuses on in the first two sections of the book. In Iraq and Turkey, the Kurds are trustworthy and helpful, welcoming to the hapless American travelers. They are completely contrasted against the often hostile and officious Turks. In the Balkans, Totten is constantly nervous driving around in a car with Bosnian license plates outside of Bosnia. Lastly in Georgia, the overwhelming threat of the Russian army directly across the border pressures the locals with an air of lingering authority, despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Where the West Ends was a very enjoyable book. After I got used to Totten’s writing, it was a very easy and enjoyable read. I enjoyed being taken along on a loosely planned adventure around the fringes of the west, narrowly avoiding danger and unfortunate run-ins with governments and local populations.

Would I recommend Where the West Ends? Yes.

Score: 3.9/5

Would I keep this on my bookshelf? Yes.