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September 1, 2004
"The Great Railway Bazaar" by Paul Theroux
Writer Paul Theroux goes on a rail journey that must be at least five
times longer than the one I just completed. He starts in London and
travels through Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, India, China, Japan and Russia. I disagree with Theroux's travel style, which seems to consist of taking the train just for the sake of taking the train. He spends little time in cities and towns along the route and spends most of the book describing the trains themselves and the people that ride them.
The best tale of the book comes in the first couple of chapters when he describes the other person in his compartment, Duffill, and then relates how poor Duffill gets left on the platform somewhere in Europe, while his bags remain in the compartment. Apart from that, there are few good bits in the book.
Theroux lapses into a description of every type of landscape the trains pass through and the various types of people he encounters, all of whom he looks down upon rather haughtily. It's worth a read, if only for the descriptions of landscape which many of us may never travel through. Just don't expect much of a plot or humor beyond the first couple of chapters.
Posted on September 1, 2004 at 12:56 AM