From Booklist:
*Starred Review* Realizing that many travel writers never retrace their steps, Theroux decides to travel as he did in his landmark book The Great Railway Bazaar (1975): east, across Europe and Asia, by train. Taking detours due to political unrest—Iran refuses a visa, and Afghanistan seems risky—he still manages a reasonable approximation: Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan, and, finally, back across Russia, on the Trans-Siberian Express. Some places are hardly recognizable, while others seem not to have changed at all. (In the former USSR, he sees scenes that look authentic to czarist times.) As thoughtful and observant as ever—his unerring skill as an interviewer despite the somewhat difficult personality he presents to readers remains a fascinating paradox—this trip finds Theroux reflecting not only on changes to the landscape but also to himself. And where in Dark Star Safari (2003), Theroux seemed out of sorts, upset with tourists and aid workers alike, here, headed east through a West-looking world, he’s in heaven despite—or because of—the lack of creature comforts. A wonderful book infused with the insights of maturity, this succeeds on many levels while also doing what the best travel writing can’t help but do: make the reader want to hit the road. Moreover, it’s a reminder that in this age of increasingly homogenous urban centers and easy air travel, those who really want to discern national differences should stay on the ground. --Keir Graff
No comments:
Post a Comment