- Unknown Binding: 384 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books (1 Jun 2000)
- ISBN-10: 0140293787
- ISBN-13: 978-0140293784
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,589,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
One of the most entertaining books I have read in a long while . . . Superb comic detail (Angus Wilson Observer )
He has done our travelling for us brilliantly (William Golding ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
He has done our travelling for us brilliantly (William Golding ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Bewitched by trains since childhood, this is Paul Theroux's account of an epic train-hopping journey in the 1970s from London to Japan and back again. His perceptions and anecdotes transport the listener beyond the unfolding landscape into a world of traveller's tales and mysterious events.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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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
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
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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!
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!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book came highly recommended to me and I was expecting much more than I got.
First, the things I liked: Theroux is a very good storyteller and this book carried the narrative well. His descriptions of the trains he travelled on, the places he travelled through and the people he met were very realistic; especially during his descriptions of weather and landscape I felt as though I were present. He has a gift for observation and description, and this book was no exception.
However, I was very disappointed in the author's attitude. I found the tone and manner in which he describes people different to him as dismissive and condescending; in some cases his mannerisms are borderline racist. This work seems to carry a superior attitude and describes other human beings as might a scientist working with dried insects in a lab: dismissing entire populations with a mere paragraph does nothing for the work's reputation.
I also was quite disappointed by the disdain with which the author generally regards all sorts of sightseeing; he seems to regard it as beneath him and his dignity. I understand the importance of the journey and the mode of transport, but the utter dismissiveness and contempt in which he held anything outside of the actual train itself was quite a let-down.
First, the things I liked: Theroux is a very good storyteller and this book carried the narrative well. His descriptions of the trains he travelled on, the places he travelled through and the people he met were very realistic; especially during his descriptions of weather and landscape I felt as though I were present. He has a gift for observation and description, and this book was no exception.
However, I was very disappointed in the author's attitude. I found the tone and manner in which he describes people different to him as dismissive and condescending; in some cases his mannerisms are borderline racist. This work seems to carry a superior attitude and describes other human beings as might a scientist working with dried insects in a lab: dismissing entire populations with a mere paragraph does nothing for the work's reputation.
I also was quite disappointed by the disdain with which the author generally regards all sorts of sightseeing; he seems to regard it as beneath him and his dignity. I understand the importance of the journey and the mode of transport, but the utter dismissiveness and contempt in which he held anything outside of the actual train itself was quite a let-down.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Travel as indulgence
When, some thirty years later, Paul Theroux repeated the journey that he had described in The Great Railway Bazaar, he declared travel writing to be `the lowest form of literary... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Philip Spires
A treat revisited
I first "read" this as an audiobook so Paul Theroux will for me forever have William Hurt's voice. When I saw it was available for the Kindle I couldn't resist re-reading it and it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Robert Knight
The Great Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux
The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia
Theroux is a great writer, detailed, intricate and compelling. Read more
Theroux is a great writer, detailed, intricate and compelling. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Scorpion Scribbler
buy it's sequel!!!
There are some very vivid descriptions in this book for example he says of Vientiene in Laos:
"The brothels are cleaner than the hotels, marijuana is cheaper than pipe... Read more
"The brothels are cleaner than the hotels, marijuana is cheaper than pipe... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by Swampy
Clear and evocative
The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia (Penguin Modern Classics)
Travels by train through Europe, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Japan and Russia. Read more
Travels by train through Europe, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Japan and Russia. Read more
Published on 19 July 2009 by Halcyon
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 on 16 April 2009 by Greshon
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 on 30 Jan 2009 by Donald Mitchell
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 on 30 Jan 2009 by Donald Mitchell
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 on 14 Nov 2008 by Wigan Guy
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 on 14 Aug 2008 by Demob Happy
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