The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas

This book is almost exclusively about a train journey. PT tried to take train throughout the journey for the sake of it, even though everyone told him that bus was faster etc. But of course he was going to take the train so we read about him whining about its poor condition, its delay, how pathetic the people travelling on the train, how godforsaken the towns were etc.

PT had this high and mighty attitude that he scorned about comments by the common tourists (a lower and more superficial class of people on the road whom he was not associating himself with); he had condescending opinion on people reading main-stream books, books which he considered less literarily acclaimed than his own selection on the trip. Oh yes, you get to read about what he read on the trip, with some thoughts and paragraphs included.

Being strictly a journey book, PT travelled from point A to point B, with lots of observations and comments on the way, but don't expect him to write a bit about some of the sights he saw along the way (not even Machu Picchu) or some snippets of the history, culture and politics of the places he passed through. He did not even demonstrate a sense of humour! Worse, he was a first-class hypocrite, saying things he thought what the person would prefer to hear instead of his own unkind opinion.

PT wrote a very vivid account, a very detailed description on colours, sounds and scents of his journey. But there was something lacking. A story that scored high technically but failed in spirit.


Mean spirited at times   July 1, 2003
 7 out of 16 found this review helpful

It would be interesting for Mr. Theroux to make the journey again, 25 years later, to see what has changed and what has not. Altough it makes an interesting read, and occasionally he is quite insightful (in his observations about the Argentinians), one is never sure if he is excited about the places and people he meets or if he is just irritated. His opinions on Mexico were a bit unfair, same as in Panama. And his impressions about Peru, a country in decay, despite being relevant to some extent back then, nowadays are not exactly accurate (the country in the 90's experienced something of a revival). Same thing goes for Ecuador and Colombia. And his beloved Argentina? he would not recognize it right now, since it resembles the other south american nations (poverty, corruption, you name it). And by the way the meetings with Jorge Luis Borges confirmed the widespread opinion held in the spanish speaking world: that he was a anglophile snob that can hardly be considered a Latin American writer (but snobbery was a defining factor of the argentinian people); and also a right winger (the general Videla he praises was responsible for the murder of 30,000 people).


perceptions during train travel   May 3, 2003
 0 out of 8 found this review helpful

a journal of train travel through the americas ---north, central and south. i cant say that i loved this book and at times felt myself skipping through it


start slow   February 8, 2003
 4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Having read a few of Theroux's books, this one starts very slow...almost plodding along. It's very hard to read until he makes it through Central America. The characters (people) he meets from the time he leaves Boston until he reaches South America don't seem to add to the story. In fact, the author treats them in a seemingly condescending way. Once he reaches South America, however, the book becomes eminently more readable. I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as "Riding the Iron Rooster", but interesting in it's own way.


Experience by Rail   January 28, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

There is a timelessness to this odyssey that causes it to be worth reading more than 20 years after its first publication. In a way it is due to train travel not having changed during that period. But also it is the relative absence of change in the scenery or in the social and economic condition of the people along the way.

The concept is simple: Travel by train from Boston USA to Argentina and write about what you experience. The execution is something else, and it makes every page quite interesting.

Those who have experienced Paul Theroux's travel writing don't have to be convinced of the pleasant experience to expect from this book. For those unfamiliar with his work, this is a very good place to start.