Always enjoy a good travelogue!
We may not get to travel everywhere, but get a chance to experience the world through the more fortunate.
And after all ,
Travel is flight and pursuit in equal parts.
So, I had bought a few books online to help with my book a month goal for the year.
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux, had some good reviews.
Liked that it did a round the world tour on trains.
Train journeys have always fascinated me as well,
traveling to and fro from college to home, the long 2 night journey to New Delhi from Chennai, the Goa to New Delhi experience!!
The book was first published in 1975
That probably explains the sad conditions of many a trains.
What surprised me was the ease of drinking on the trains!! and the ease of getting tickets!
He had a destination in mind and an itinerary. He was also familiar with some of the places he wished to travel.
He travels from London, Europe and parts of Asia.
Beyond this, the book fails to impress.
He talks in length about the passengers, none of whom he engages with wholeheartedly and most of them he holds in contempt!
He talks about the sad conditions of the trains, the berths, the sleeping arrangements, am sure things have changed since then.
He describes poverty like it is a sin, he explains about the platforms, never really experiencing the cities or country he travels through.
He loves a drinking partner and spends most of his journey drinking!!
His goal is achieved, touching stations, buying tickets, eating railway food, cursing the poor.
A little bit of humour is seen at places, but not worth a read for those few insights!
Once he reaches Japan, he becomes self righteous, contemptuous, pompous, flaunting rules and money easily.
He has a strong opinion on places, people, cultures!!
He also has a few lectures to deliver across the globe, wonder how he manages to organise them in some of the most far off places!!! This covers the cost of most of his travel!!
After a while ( the book is long- about 380 pages) you lose interest, it becomes predictable, get on, get off,haggle, curse, drink, sleep!
If you want a travelogue, give it a miss!
What made it worse was Amazon's quality of print!
It made reading difficult. What could have been a 3 week read, made for an uninspiring , let me get done with this book. Happy it ended!
I do have one more of his book to read, will wait it out before I reach for it!
Not a memorable read!!!
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