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Review
Gloriously luminescent, but always self-deprecating. Simon's physical powers are diminishing, but his writing just gets better. The wonderful portraits of the people he encounters, often redolent of Bruce Chatwin, are sometimes so enticing that, were this a movie, you'd swear they were a plant for later on (OBSERVER )
This book has barely left my side in the past few days. It is, by turns, sad, funny and immensely uplifting (TELEGRAPH )
A trip of dreams - and Ted Simon has done it twice . . . a terrific read (RTE GUIDE )
He was on the road for three years, and his new book, Dreaming of Jupiter, is a compelling account of the adventures en route, including breaking a leg in the middle of a vast plain in Ethiopia; a reunion with a camel rider he'd met 25 years before in Eg (SAGA MAGAZINE )
This book has barely left my side in the past few days. It is, by turns, sad, funny and immensely uplifting (TELEGRAPH )
A trip of dreams - and Ted Simon has done it twice . . . a terrific read (RTE GUIDE )
He was on the road for three years, and his new book, Dreaming of Jupiter, is a compelling account of the adventures en route, including breaking a leg in the middle of a vast plain in Ethiopia; a reunion with a camel rider he'd met 25 years before in Eg (SAGA MAGAZINE )
IRISH TIMES
'A sharply-written read of incisive observations . . . this book
is as much about where the boundaries of age and ambitions collide as it is
about the 48 countries Simon travelled through'
is as much about where the boundaries of age and ambitions collide as it is
about the 48 countries Simon travelled through'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As with the original Jupiters Travels extremely well written,this extraordinary book is imaginative, thought provoking and inspiring to any reader not just lonely adventure bikers. Reading the two books gives a great comparison of the developing world and reflects on the population expansion issues of our greedy western civilisation whilst from a biker angle reads with continual interest ..Well recommended ..you need never have worn leathers, dropped a bike or stripped an engine to enjoy! but you will need to have been in love at least once in your life to understand some of the deeper moments.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Let me say - and Ted, if you are reading this; please remember - I loved your first Motorcycling book 'Jupiter's Travels'.
I recommended it to many people, (my wife included) who loved it, and I have promoted that book to many other people who have also enjoyed it.
So, after enjoying reading the first book so much I was really excited about buying 'Draming of Jupiter' and reading it.
Big mistake. But, let me tell you why..
For those with a short attention span, who want a quick answer to `should I buy this book?' the answer is:
"only if you enjoy listening to the irritating moaning of a grumpy old Englishman on a repeat journey around the world to see if he is as important and famous as he thinks he might be, only to find out the answer is no".
To expand slightly, Ted brings us all on a literary ride where he visits all the places he went to 30 years or so ago and (in summary) reports that everything is essentially worse off and (surprise, surprise) is not as good as it was `back in his day', as judged from the lofty heights of the typical English post-colonial in-built superiority that views any country or person that isn't English with (mostly unconscious and well-meaning) condescension, ridicule and light pity. All the while attempting to cover this with a thin veil of being a `man of the world' and `curious and open to all cultures' while (almost without fail) criticising or disapproving of each one he encounters. It's a non-stop litany of whinges. He attempts all along to mask his innate grumpy-old-man nature with occasional self-deprecation and modesty but sadly it never quite covers the painful reality of the all-too-apparent subtext. It becomes so obvious that Ted's vision of how important and influential he is in the world, crashes head-on with the reality that ultimately he isn't really. No more than the rest of us anyway. Even with the god-like power of writing his own book he fails to mask the fact that the world turned without him and that he's now just an old guy that wrote a good book once about an adventure he had, but now is a bit too old and a bit too grumpy to enjoy any of that anymore. I kept myself entertained with the thought of how many instances he left out of the book involving him wandering into a place and saying "Hi, I'm Ted Simon". (silence). "I'm a pretty big deal in the motorcycling world you know". (Blank stare, shrug).
Now the really disappointing thing about it all is that he kind of gives a nod to his age and the challenges of the trip ahead etc at the start which leads you into a false sense of hope that somehow he is saying this to play on your expectations, set you up before amazingly turning it all around to reveal a transcendently stunning piece of insight into the nature of ageing and travel and the things that join people together. Sadly it turns out to be more of a prophecy for how the book unfolds. The digested read is as follows:
"I recognise that I am an old man about to undertake a difficult repeat journey retracing my steps to see if I am important or not, that may turn out to be fruitless.. so here we go. Oh, I'm not all that important actually.. it was fruitless. The end".
If that's your cup of tea - fantastic. Go right ahead an buy it, be my guest. For the rest of you, just do what Ted Simon should have done all along : re-read Jupiter's Travels and re-live the magic, rather than desecrate the memory.
I recommended it to many people, (my wife included) who loved it, and I have promoted that book to many other people who have also enjoyed it.
So, after enjoying reading the first book so much I was really excited about buying 'Draming of Jupiter' and reading it.
Big mistake. But, let me tell you why..
For those with a short attention span, who want a quick answer to `should I buy this book?' the answer is:
"only if you enjoy listening to the irritating moaning of a grumpy old Englishman on a repeat journey around the world to see if he is as important and famous as he thinks he might be, only to find out the answer is no".
To expand slightly, Ted brings us all on a literary ride where he visits all the places he went to 30 years or so ago and (in summary) reports that everything is essentially worse off and (surprise, surprise) is not as good as it was `back in his day', as judged from the lofty heights of the typical English post-colonial in-built superiority that views any country or person that isn't English with (mostly unconscious and well-meaning) condescension, ridicule and light pity. All the while attempting to cover this with a thin veil of being a `man of the world' and `curious and open to all cultures' while (almost without fail) criticising or disapproving of each one he encounters. It's a non-stop litany of whinges. He attempts all along to mask his innate grumpy-old-man nature with occasional self-deprecation and modesty but sadly it never quite covers the painful reality of the all-too-apparent subtext. It becomes so obvious that Ted's vision of how important and influential he is in the world, crashes head-on with the reality that ultimately he isn't really. No more than the rest of us anyway. Even with the god-like power of writing his own book he fails to mask the fact that the world turned without him and that he's now just an old guy that wrote a good book once about an adventure he had, but now is a bit too old and a bit too grumpy to enjoy any of that anymore. I kept myself entertained with the thought of how many instances he left out of the book involving him wandering into a place and saying "Hi, I'm Ted Simon". (silence). "I'm a pretty big deal in the motorcycling world you know". (Blank stare, shrug).
Now the really disappointing thing about it all is that he kind of gives a nod to his age and the challenges of the trip ahead etc at the start which leads you into a false sense of hope that somehow he is saying this to play on your expectations, set you up before amazingly turning it all around to reveal a transcendently stunning piece of insight into the nature of ageing and travel and the things that join people together. Sadly it turns out to be more of a prophecy for how the book unfolds. The digested read is as follows:
"I recognise that I am an old man about to undertake a difficult repeat journey retracing my steps to see if I am important or not, that may turn out to be fruitless.. so here we go. Oh, I'm not all that important actually.. it was fruitless. The end".
If that's your cup of tea - fantastic. Go right ahead an buy it, be my guest. For the rest of you, just do what Ted Simon should have done all along : re-read Jupiter's Travels and re-live the magic, rather than desecrate the memory.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ted Simon is a very remarkable man and, in his 70's, to undertake a 59,000 mile motorcycle journey visiting 47 countries is little short of astonishing.
And he did all this without back up teams of people to support him or arrange his visas or anything else, but on his own.
However, it is a very different book to Jupiter's Travels.
I think this is possibly explained by Ted himself in chapter 27 -'It seemed to me impossible to say anything upbeat and optimistic about the changes I had seen'.
Whilst Jupiter's Travels was full of optimism - indeed Ted describes himself seeing 'in the world of the seventies a kind of innocence' - the world of the new millenium is rather less so. Vastly improved communication has destroyed the innocence. The immolation of the twin towers, and America's reaction to it, has created a very different world.
So Dreaming of Jupiter is not an optimistic book, but may well give you much food for thought.
The good news is that Ted is an optimist himself, because only an optimist could have undertaken this journey, not once, but twice.
Highly recommended.
And he did all this without back up teams of people to support him or arrange his visas or anything else, but on his own.
However, it is a very different book to Jupiter's Travels.
I think this is possibly explained by Ted himself in chapter 27 -'It seemed to me impossible to say anything upbeat and optimistic about the changes I had seen'.
Whilst Jupiter's Travels was full of optimism - indeed Ted describes himself seeing 'in the world of the seventies a kind of innocence' - the world of the new millenium is rather less so. Vastly improved communication has destroyed the innocence. The immolation of the twin towers, and America's reaction to it, has created a very different world.
So Dreaming of Jupiter is not an optimistic book, but may well give you much food for thought.
The good news is that Ted is an optimist himself, because only an optimist could have undertaken this journey, not once, but twice.
Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dreaming of Jupiter
If you have read Ted Simon's original book, Jupiters Travels, and enjoyed it, you must read this. His experiences of travelling his old path are eye opening, particularly as the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Likeabika
Life in the old dog yet!!!
A great book if your a fan? A must read that answers all those questions from the first book Jupiters travels.
Published 21 months ago by 950Darren
great read
great book which is witty, interesting and a real pleasure. Not just for bikers will appeal to any traveller or anyone with a sense of adventure.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
Published 23 months ago by zixxer
My Dad is a biker ......
Bought this for a present for my Dad - he read Jupiter's Travels some years ago - and he enjoyed this follow up ....... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Lynlinrac
dreaming of jupiter
another great read from TED SIMON,retracing his journey from JUPITER'S TRAVELS.this time he rides a BMW not a TRIUMPH, i thought that perhaps he would have retraced the trip on a... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by road nomad
Not so much a dream ..
I ordered this book before I had finished the first one - I was enjoying the first one so much. I did not enjoy this one- perhaps because I read it immediately on finishing his... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2009 by dog FM
Different man, different book another good read
Reading "Jupiter's travels" first is a must. These are two books with different men travelling different worlds. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2009 by A. Notghi
i agree.. act your age
I had read an original copy from the 1970's of Jupiter Travels.. which was good but not as good as 'The Bone Man of Banares'. I thought when I was reading the original book... Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2008 by Mr. R. J. Paul
first few chapters depressing but then full of richness
I nearly put this book down in the first 80 pages-Ted Simons finds anti-climax at every corner-people he met in the 70s have gone-the world seems full of litter and is now built up... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2008 by Neil
Don't try to re-visit your youth
As a sequel to one of the seminal books of my youth I was looking forward to this hugely. I was very disappointed and eventually abandoned the quest for any deep insight, skimming... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2007 by K. Cowburn
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