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 enlarge | Author: Paul Theroux
Publisher: Pocket
Category: Book
List Price: $3.50
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $3.49 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 1934919
Media: Paperback
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 3.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0671836536
EAN: 9780671836535
ASIN: 0671836536
Publication Date: November 1, 1980
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| Customer Reviews:
 Train Through The Americas June 29, 1999
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent read. Theroux engages everything and everyone with a sort of biting-embrace. He doesn't mince words. He tells the story of the Americas as he experiences it. It's not necessarily pretty and it isn't always complimentary.Theroux's mixes observation with historical background and literary references that add to the text. Theroux's power of description can be breathtaking. "Flocks of white herons blew across the grass tips like flecks of paper in a breeze" It is this type of prose juxtaposed the poor living conditions of the people that adds allure to the story. I think Theroux's writing rests on the edge of what people find comfortable, but the reality is traveling to a third world country is not COMFORTABLE. One must fine riches and beauty amongst the squalor.
 Don't be such a whiner Paul! June 29, 1999
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Jesus, man! Are you always this annoyed with life? I liked your book but only because you met Borges and were Poe-obsessed throughout the entire trip. But my suggestion is to GO HOME next time you write a complaint filled travel book.
Theroux's most enjoyable travel book March 15, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Old Pantagonian Express is about 20 years old now but I still re-read it every couple of years. From the starting point in Massachussets, Theroux remarks on how his fellow commuters are merely commuting a short distance, whereas he is travelling to the tip of South America! There are many great moments and observations in this book. Travelling through Panama, Theroux finds himself with a repetitive fellow passenger who keeps pointing out the re-appearance of a pipeline that is coming in and out of view. Mundane stuff, but Theroux weaves it into the narrative in a way that only he can. Of course there are there are many interesting journeys through Mexico, Central and South America, but told in a unique way that was unlike any travel book I had ever read before. Theroux's many other travel books are entertaining and stimulating, but none so much as this book.
Cranky February 9, 1999
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Although some of the author's anecdotes were enjoyable, I became tired of his cranky observations of Latin America...
Travel adventure in the comfort of your home. July 31, 1998
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I loved this book. Having read most of Theroux's books this did not come as a great surprise, as far as being an eye opener. That is exactly the reason one should read travel journals - to go without going. The endless humour, the details and understanding of human nature is what makes PT a great travel journalist. He is at times a little bit naive about the way the world works but this is to be expected by an American. One should never expect a normal world view from an American. Knowing that going in, makes his books do their magic to me. The chapters on Central America were pure MAGIC. When is PT going to visit Iceland and write about that very strange place?
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