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The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 

The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Paul Theroux (Author) "EVER since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics (27 Mar 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141189142
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141189147
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,905 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #67 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia

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Product Description

Product Description
The Great Railway Bazaar is Paul Theroux’s account of his epic journey by rail through Asia. Filled with evocative names of legendary train routes – the Direct-Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Delhi Mail from Jaipur, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Hikari Super Express to Kyoto and the Trans-Siberian Express – it describes the many places, cultures, sights and sounds he experienced and the fascinating people he met. Here he overhears snippets of chat and occasional monologues, and is drawn into conversation with fellow passengers, from Molesworth, a British theatrical agent, and Sadik, a shabby Turkish tycoon, while avoiding the forceful approaches of pimps and drug dealers. This wonderfully entertaining travelogue pays loving tribute to the romantic joys of railways and train travel.

About the Author
Paul Theroux was born and educated in the United States. His many books include Picture Palace, which won the 1978 Whitbread Literary Award; The Mosquito Coast, which was also made into a feature film; Riding the Iron Rooster, which won the 1988 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; The Pillars of Hercules, shortlisted for the 1996 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; My Other Life: A Novel, Kowloon Tong, Sir Vidia's Shadow, Fresh-air Fiend and Hotel Honolulu. Most of his books are published by Penguin. Paul Theroux lives in the United States, but he continues to travel widely.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
EVER since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it. Read the first page
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Around the world in a train, 5 May 2004
I read this book during a couple of train rides through India. It really captures the meatings you encounter on a train ride in such a country and the feelings you have both before, during and after the trip. The trip kicks off on Victoria Station in London and the authour has this idea about travelling around the world in train, since he realises that they all connects to a giant network. In the beginning he is very enthusiastic about everything, but as time passes by he gets tired and bored. This is especially clear in the last couple of chapters where he simply crosses Russia by almost not mentioning is and all off a sudden he is home. The core of this trip is the meetings with the people and the description of them in the book. The authous is very good at capturing the details and discuss them inside and out.

Overall this book captures a great trip and is both fun, teaching and interesting to read. Entertaining.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Theroux, 9 Mar 2002
By J. Mcgregor "jiy126" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
From London to Tokyo by train (where possible) and back through Siberia - it's one hell of a journey, and sometimes it feels like it. The latter chapters especially are written in a kind of "Oh, let's get this over with" style, and you don't learn much about either Russia or Russians, except that there's so much snow and cold it drives everyone to drink. The earlier chapters are more enjoyable, and his account of Japan's sex and death fascination is quite an insight. The chapters on Vietnam and India are also enjoyable, and you have the impression that he wasn't as bored and lonely in these places as he becomes later.
Although this book was written in 1975, there are very few references to contemporary events, so I didn't have the feeling (reading it in 2002) that it was nearly thirty years old. No doubt everything has changed since then, and I'd like to read a more up to date account of the trip. Having read quite a few of Theroux's travelogues, I think he's mellowed with age and maybe if he went the other way 'round next time, London - Moscow - Tokyo - Calcutta - Kabul, he'd be kinder to many of those that he meets. Of course, it wouldn't be quite as entertaining then!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An intruiging fly on the wall account on a lot of trains!, 2 Feb 2001
By Jkholubecki-france (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Theroux sets off again in search of a distant destination - back home again - with the aim of observing life at all levels on the way. Leaving London, with a touch of intrepidation and a group of oddball passengers as companions, Theroux embarks on a trip involving stamina, audacity, several timetables and an insatiable nosiness. He penetrates into individual lives as if they represent newsagents magazines - picking them up, describing 2 or 3 pages of colour and animation, as well as the occasional irreverent advertisement - before leaving them unopened, picking up another. This window into the lives of those he stumbles across gives us glimpses into each culture encountered, though his questioning becomes a little repetitive, unifying some of the answers artificially. Overall a fascinating book, if only for the accounts of the terrifying nature of having to share a railway compartment with others, especially at night....
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Travel writing uncluttered by the need to see anyhting
After being bowled over by Mosquito Coast (1980), which is a terrific novel, I went on to read two of Theroux's travel books - first The Happy Isles of Oceania (1992) and then The... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Greshon

4.0 out of 5 stars Grumpy Travels of a Fine Writer

I recently read Ghost Train to the Eastern Star (which re-creates the trip described in The Great Railway Bazaar and comments on the earlier trip). Read more
Published 5 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

4.0 out of 5 stars Grumpy Travels of a Fine Writer

I recently read Ghost Train to the Eastern Star (which re-creates the trip described in The Great Railway Bazaar and comments on the earlier trip). Read more
Published 5 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

4.0 out of 5 stars Gloriously Grumpy
He writes marvellously - the evocations of places and people are beautifully pitched. I've been to some of the parts of India Mr T went to, and his writing took me straight back... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Wigan Guy

5.0 out of 5 stars Journey to the ends of the Earth (and back) - 9/10
The fifth Paul Theroux travel book I have read, `The Great Railway Bazaar` is in fact his first and arguably most rewarding. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Demob Happy

4.0 out of 5 stars The best travel writer around
I've had a long standing aversion to travel writing, but having read some of Theroux's fiction and autobiographical writing before, I decided to give this a go when I saw it lying... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ian Shine

5.0 out of 5 stars Dream like
This is much better than I expected it to be.
The narrator has a spectacular voice that transports you to the Orient Express and makes you forget he's there. Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2004 by Frozen Books

3.0 out of 5 stars Grumpy on the rails
Grumpy but readable. Maddeningly self-centered but tolerable. This is a travelogue of Theroux's 1970s travel across Asia mostly by train including rides on the Orient Express and... Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2003 by Nijik Sonata

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite travel book, bar none
OK, let's get it out of the way, Theroux is sometimes pretentious... Sometimes, though, he pulls it off; for instance, describing the horrors of urban Calcutta with a passage from... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2002 by bobrayner

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