| |  | Author: Paul Theroux
Publisher: Books On Tape
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Media: Audio Cassette
Number Of Items: 1
ISBN: 5553672597
EAN: 9785553672591
ASIN: 5553672597
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| Customer Reviews:
The Old Patagonia Express May 28, 2000
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Theroux is one of my favorites. "Riding the Iron Rooster" initiated me to his books; the "Patagonia Express" was a good follow-up. He is an intellectual fellow, I suspect, whom I'd enjoy meeting one day. Theroux writes a reliable read. Get it, and enjoy him.
 Theroux hits the mark March 21, 2000
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I very much like Theroux's writing. To me his sometimes acerbic observations get towards the truth of a place AS HE PERCEIVES IT. When I read travel books I likt to hear the author's point of view. That may or may not accord with my own or others'. I like also to compare them to other writers' experiences of the same place, whether it somewhere I will travel to by aircraft or mind's eye via the armchair only. How does Theroux strike up conversations with such odd collections of people? Partly because he travels alone, and partly because he is open to hearing the stories of others. Either he hits on the most interesting people in every place, or he endures more mundane conversations than anyone in order to cull the best! He must keep assiduous notes - really WORK at travelling to be able to relate in such detail. I know he gives us glimpses of his working modus operandi -references to the books he is reading, and the note-taking. A few times on the train I wished he had looked up longer i9n order to be able to tell us a little more about what was a bit further away from the track.
ideosyncratic but powerful descriptions March 19, 2000
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The descriptions of what Paul observed while on the trains, under varying conditions, are what I enjoyed the most- they are clear and powerful. Better yet, he lets you in on what he is experiencing while he is describing, so you can perceive his state of mind at the time (which often has a very strong influence on how he describes various places), and what he is reading. He also focuses in on the most quirky "characters" that he meets in the towns and on the trains. His writing style is highly entertaining thoughout the entire book. I liked the fact that he didn't travel first class, but "mucked in" (as Michael Palin said in his TV travel series).
 SAVOUR SLOWLY October 31, 1999
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Reading Theroux is like drinking whiskey - it is an aquired taste. Sipped slowly it can be very pleasant but there are times when too much be quite nauseating.
This is the book that got me hooked on travelling October 1, 1999
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
First book I read by Paul Theroux and was blown away by his refusal to play the all-too-easily-pleased and polite traveller/tourist. Theroux is a thinking traveller not afraid to mix it up with the locals or allow people to make fools of themselves. I just wished he had taken another route home and written another book about that.
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