- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; New Ed edition (4 Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841151319
- ISBN-13: 978-1841151311
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.4 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,163,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #44 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Middle East > Israel > Jerusalem
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Many are the quirky literary tours of this Sceptr'd Isle (particularly since Bill Bryson's very individual take on the tour of Britain), but David Aaronovitch's Paddling to Jerusalem manages to be both highly original and highly entertaining. Subtitled An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country, Aaronovitch describes how in the last summer of the 20th century, a large man--the author--boarded a small boat (in fact, a canoe) and set out to find England, via its canals and rivers. His watery trajectory (from the Thames to the Trent and from Camden Lock to Skipton) produced not only the problems of getting out of the next lock and (given his size) even getting out of the canoe, but how to marshal his dizzying host of impressions after his punishing trip. Readers can be thankful that he managed all these tasks, and his wryly written odyssey describes a land of shopping centres, tattooed anglers, aromatherapy experts, drunken Manchester United supporters and a nation behaving as if it were part of a television soap opera. We're told in hilarious detail how the author had to survive the rigours of camping, dangerous rapids, equally dangerous yobs throwing stones, murderous attacks by swans and the Beaverbrook Hotel in Burnley.
But this is not just a panoply of modern day Britain: the ghosts of the nation's eventful past populate the tale, and everyone from Bad King John to eccentric prime ministers make an appearance. We know Aaronovitch from his appearances on TV as an award-winning journalist, and he doesn't spare himself in his descriptions of an unfit 40-year-old struggling to survive in what is (for him) a ludicrous method of transport. Ultimately, Paddling to Jerusalem is an archetypal British book: eccentric, wilful and full of the kind of energy that sees an idea (however wrong-headed) right through to the end. And some of the writing has the kind of self-deprecation that no reader can resist, as in his description of a humiliating immersion in the River Ouse at the age of 11:
The world was inverted. A moment earlier the water had been below me, and the sky above. Now I looked upwards at the river, at the ceiling. It was perplexing. My clothes, unexpectedly heavy, exerted a downward pull on my limbs. How odd this was, this immersion! How strange that my trousers and shoes should want to drown me! I broke surface, spluttering, with the strange taste of unprocessed water in my mouth and nose they made me undress in the open field. With my body temperature dropping this was no time for pubescent modesty, so, skinny and hairless as a shorn poodle, I stood and shivered while the whole group--including girls--gathered round me and (as I thought) took careful note of my stick insect limbs and supremely unintimidating organs of generation.--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘Deeply humane and often hilarious.’ New Statesman
‘Aaronovitch is naturally funny company…perceptive and touching.’ Independent on Sunday
•'A witty, compassionate, honest and ultimately optimistic man whose observations on everything are a delight to read' The Oldie
•'Aaronovitch approaches each layer of his book with an irresistible simplicity, directness and humour. I doubt there will be a more intelligent or engaging book written about England – hidden or otherwise – for some time to come' Scotsman
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An easy book to put down.,
By R. R. Lambert "Rob Lambert" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country (Paperback)
Mr. Aaronovitch's tale would probably be amusing after a few bottles of red wine whilst munching on ciabata and sun-dried tomatoes. As a book it's slow paced and hard work, unlike the journey, canoeing along canals and tame rivers isn't exactly a death-defying sport. Moaning about the hotels and guest houses he stays in and insulting about the people who offered him accommodation, he doesn't seem to realise that it's a lucky man who can afford the time and money to take a holiday like his. Condescending towards the working class, northerners, holidaymakers and sneering at the others he meets I'm not surprised David didn't have a very interesting trip. His opinionated views on history aren't enough to brighten up the few historical facts which seem to be copied out of leaflets collected on the way and since he failed to complete the journey (his wife had to come and collect the canoe) the book isn't even a story of an achievement. I'm glad he enjoyed his holiday though.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not an enjoyable read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country (Paperback)
I bought this book on the strength of the reviews of the hardback version - they must have read a different book to me. Having added the softback version to my wish list 6 months before the publication date maybe my expectations had been built up during the intervening period but I can quite honestly say that this has got to be one of the least humourous books I have read for a long time. The book is so slow that you could actually be sitting in the canoe with David Aaronovitch paddling your way along the waterways of England. I have never before felt the need to write a review about a book but unfortunately this book gets that honour from me !
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sad book by a sad person,
By Jezza (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country (Paperback)
I've not much liked David Aaronovitch's writing, though he is clearly a clever bloke with a nice turn of phrase. I bought this because I, like him, have developed a mid-life interest in kayaking and thought it might be fun to do a grand tour in a canoe of some sort. But though I didn't like this book much either, I have a lot more sympathy towards him.
What comes through really strongly, though I am sure unintentionally, is the depth of the author's self-loathing. He writes almost lovingly about his own fat, his bad parenting, and bad husbanding. He self-declaredly set out to write a cheerful book about how nice England is (in contrast to all the nasty books being written by 'people called Nick') but he self-evidently fails - he doesn't like the England he finds very much at all, though every so often he tries to sprinkle some positive fairy dust over his account. He doesn't like the architecture or the interior design, he doesn't like the feral proles, he doesn't like such embourgeoisment as he finds. Along the way we learn about the shattered relationships that underlie his birth family, and might also underlie his self-hatred. For me, it's hard not to wonder whether his role in the auto-destruction of the Communist Party in this country was an act of revenge, conscious or otherwise, towards the parents who dedicated their lives to th party. Just a thought, of course.
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