After visiting Uzbekistan last quarter, i was curious to read more about Central Asia, with an intention to visit the remaining countries that make up Central Asia. Kazakhstan seems like a good choice - from what i could gather culturally different from the others, well connected via direct flight from Delhi, and has decent tourist infrastructure. There aren't many books on or about Kazakhstan, from the ones i could find 'In Search of Kazakhstan' came well recommended and reviewed. I would have ideally preferred a book written by a local, but i couldn't find any. I was especially skeptical reading a white man's account of the country, but i decided to do best with whatever was available. 
I was pleasantly surprised with the book. It does not come across as ignorant or caricature-ish. The writer, self-admittedly, does not know anything about Kazakhstan and launches into the journey through the country with an open mind. I think he must be a great person to hang out with, as he manages to easily make friends and gets quite deep into the personal journeys of Kazakh's he meets. Together they explore the declining Apple orchards, especially the large apples local to Kazakhstan. They tell him the stories about their father's and mother's gulag journey's. I had no idea how repressive and brutal the regime was. There aren't many stories in popular culture, as much as there are about the Nazi concentration camps. Or maybe i dont know about them.
The most interesting part was the level of access and friendship that the author develops with the president Nursultan Nazarbayev. This makes for amazing story telling, and the president has a story worth telling, proper rags to riches, or more like framer's song to president. It is impressive to see the President's passion and vision that comes across via the writer's words. It looks like the president really has a genuine interest and what looks like the right plan to put the country as a leader on the face of the modern world. And the word modern is important, as the president acknowledges that the principles of secularism, equality, freedom of speech are important building blocks for any modern country. This is also where, he says, they stand apart from the other Central Asia countries. He also seems to be proficient in playing a local musical instrument which he claims most of Kazakhs are. Like i said, all of this is impressive to read. But i would take this with a pinch of salt. Kazakhstan, after all, has had the same president since the fall of Soviet Union (1991) till 2019. Elections are held but the president has always won with a majority of more than 95% (which the author calls the typical Central Asian election numbers).
The author has a casual style which shines, this is what made the book stick for me. It makes you want to stick with the story. But, despite the casual style, the context per page is high, which is what you want from a travel book. It makes you understand a page which you have no idea about. This way the book serves as a great 101 ind of introductory book on Kazakhstan.
What i found missing was that apart from a few paragraphs of prose about the Gulag', there are not many memorable sections of the book - nothing made me stop in my path just because of the language used. The writer has a good storytelling skill, but not the kind where you could just re-read a paragraph or a chapter just for the words, just for the way it is written.
I would still read another book by the author if the subject matter interests me. And hopefully can travel to Kazakhstan sometime this year or next.
