Lately I have been reading some travel books by Paul Theroux. If one can overlook his occasional negative comments about America (and he is an American) and his cynical views of a number of the places he visits, they are interesting books. I have to say, they have put me off of doing any traveling other than armchair traveling, but then he travels alone and wings it as far as finding accomodations and transportation--something most of us wouldn't attempt. His preferred mode of travel is the train, which is why I have persisted in reading his books. Train travel fascinates me, as does learning something about different countries and the people in them.
The books cover more than 30 years, so they are not up-to-date, but are interesting nevertheless, if you keep in mind when Mr. Theroux was making the trip he is writing about.
The four books I've read are The Great Railway Bazaar, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Old Patagonian Express, and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star (a revisiting of The Great Railway Bazaar trip 30+ years later).
In the first and last books mentioned, Mr. Theroux travels from London, through Europe, on to Central and Southern Asia, Japan, and across Russia and back to England. Riding the Iron Rooster covers travel throughout China, and The Old Patagonian Express follows a trip from Boston through Mexico and Central and South America to Patagonia.
If you like the idea of train travel and of seeing the world, you might check one of these books out from the library and see if you like them. You can also read the descriptions and customer reviews at Amazon, linked above.
Do you know of other authors who've written about train travel? If so, please share! I'd love to hear of some different books to try.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Do you want to experience the adventure travel by train? Why not? Perhaps you were thinking that trains are ideal only for passengers going straight to their main destination. Though it’s partly true however, there is also an adventure traveling by train. Train travel deals is for travelers who were looking for a great memorable travel experience. Since most of these kind of trains give opportunities to its passengers to explore the beauty of some places they passed by.
Post a Comment