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Title: The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux ISBN: 014024980X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.19
Rating: 4
Summary: Theroux disappoints
Comment: One long railway journey from England to Turkey to India to Japan to Russia and back to England passing through various countries along the way. If you like to read about lands and their people, this book is not for you. If you want to experience the customs of Asian countries, you should skip this book. In fact, if you expect anything other than a description of a railway journey, trains and a few co-passengers, you are bound to be disappointed. When you have finally convinced yourself that you are going to get nothing more out of this book other than trains and passengers, you can settle down to read it and find it fairly enjoyable. Paul Theroux describes some of the passengers characteristic of each country well, but omits describing some of the customs and traditions of the people themselves which would have made better reading, thereby loosing the 'travel' flavor I was expecting.
Rating: 4
Summary: A series of interesting vignettes.
Comment: I recently re-read Theroux's Great Railway Bazaar and immediately was awash in memories of innumerable train journeys across the length and breadth of my native India. This is an excellent read both for train lovers (whom the exotic trains Theroux rides will captivate) as well as readers who enjoy travelogues. To be fair, this is less a travelogue than a series of vignettes covering Theroux's journeys through various Asian countries. Theroux makes no attempt to develop an understanding of the cultures he travels through but is content to describe the train itself along with a handful of anecdotes about the people he meets on each leg of his journey. Fair enough, this is not after all a sociological text but a travel diary of sorts.
And it is in description that Theroux's strength lies. He has the ability to make an anecdote seem so real as to make the reader a part of the scene. The pace of the book varies with the stop and start of each journey and I guess every reader will prefer some parts to others. Plus of course, it is a bit jarring when one reads this book today, since the tide of history has greatly changed many of the countries Theroux traversed. Still, culture is slower to change than politics and that keeps much of the book relevant even today.
Rating: 3
Summary: Great Opportunity Wasted
Comment: A great opportunity wasted.
This is my first Theroux. I am envious for he had the opportunity to travel all around the world that too in train. But, I am disappointed to see such a piece of work from one of the famous names in travel writing. As an Indian, I know how interesting a long train journey is. You meet people from a cross-section of society, of different background, professions, lifestyle, religions, languages, habits and hopes. The author is satisfied with watching the mannerisms of people than understanding a bit of these.
I find him to be a racist. Also, why does he mention about prostitutes so much, that too in a train journey? Rather than enjoying a trip of such magnitude, depth and scope, the author slips into complaining too often and has a certain contempt for anything non-western. With such a closed mind, I don't know why one should take the pain of travelling so much. If one needs to see and hear what he wants see and hear, better write fiction than travelogues.
All said, the book is a good read if you don't think too much. His descriptions of the landscape are fantastic and his writing skills are beyond argument. Don't expect to learn about people, culture or lifestyle from this book. But you come to know about the great trains that ply in different continents. The contents are out dated, but still you can keep it in your shelf.
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Title: Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0804104549 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: April, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: The Old Patagonian Express : By Train Through the Americas by Paul Theroux ISBN: 039552105X Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: November, 1989 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0449910857 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Dark Star Safari : Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0618134247 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: To the Ends of the Earth: The Selected Travels of Paul Theroux by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0804111227 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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