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Paul Theroux
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Riding the Rails with Paul Theroux: The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star Kindle Edition

by Paul Theroux (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 77 ratings
The international bestselling author records his many insights and adventures traversing the world by train in these 3 classic travel memoirs.
 
The Great Railway Bazaar
In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on his now-legendary journey from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian.
 
The Old Patagonia Express
Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Paul Theroux takes a grand railway adventure first across the United States and then south through Mexico, Central America, and across the Andes until he winds up on the meandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine.
 
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
Thirty years after the epic journey chronicled in The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux retraces his 25,000-mile journey to witness and experience a landscape drastically transformed by the intervening decades. The Soviet Union has collapsed and China has risen; India booms while Burma smothers under dictatorship; Vietnam flourishes in the aftermath of the havoc America was unleashing on it the last time Theroux passed through.
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  1. Print length
    1302 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. Publication date
    June 19, 2018
  5. File size
    8.1 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07DKZM24V
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (June 19, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 19, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1302 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 77 ratings

About the author

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Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux

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Paul Theroux was born and educated in the United States. After graduating from university in 1963, he travelled first to Italy and then to Africa, where he worked as a Peace Corps teacher at a bush school in Malawi, and as a lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda. In 1968 he joined the University of Singapore and taught in the Department of English for three years. Throughout this time he was publishing short stories and journalism, and wrote a number of novels. Among these were Fong and the Indians, Girls at Play and Jungle Lovers, all of which appear in one volume, On the Edge of the Great Rift (Penguin, 1996).

In the early 1970s Paul Theroux moved with his wife and two children to Dorset, where he wrote Saint Jack, and then on to London. He was a resident in Britain for a total of seventeen years. In this time he wrote a dozen volumes of highly praised fiction and a number of successful travel books, from which a selection of writings were taken to compile his book Travelling the World (Penguin, 1992). Paul Theroux has now returned to the United States, but he continues to travel widely.

Paul Theroux's many books include Picture Palace, which won the 1978 Whitbread Literary Award; The Mosquito Coast, which was the 1981 Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year and joint winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was also made into a feature film; Riding the Iron Rooster, which won the 1988 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; The Pillars of Hercules, shortlisted for the 1996 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; My Other Life: A Novel, Kowloon Tong, Sir Vidia's Shadow, Fresh-air Fiend and Hotel Honolulu. Blindness is his latest novel. Most of his books are published by Penguin.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
77 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, with one review highlighting its thought-provoking commentary and another noting how it reveals both good and bad aspects of Theroux's experiences. Customers enjoy the book, with one describing it as very down-to-earth.

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4 customers mention "Insight"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fascinating, with one review highlighting its thought-provoking commentary and another noting how it reveals both positive and negative aspects of Theroux's experiences.

"...It’s also fascinating to read about places where I have traveled and wonder if the places he wrote about are places that I could have seen if I had..." Read more

"...of 31 years and notes what has changed, what has not and meets some interesting people - ordinary and celebrity writers." Read more

"...means of travel, the people he meets and the ones he avoids - just truly fascinating...." Read more

"...It reveals the good and the bad; the joys and trials of solo travel. A grand adventure and thought-provoking commentary on the human race." Read more

3 customers mention "Enjoyment"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, with one noting it is very down-to-earth.

"I’ve enjoyed this book a lot. There are some areas in the book that I’ve highlighted so that I can go back and learn more about the references...." Read more

"...Someone needs thanking for this, I am most appreciative, enjoying it so much and I will be lost when I finish it." Read more

"A great read..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • sw21212
    5.0 out of 5 stars I can see myself reading this book again someday
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I’ve enjoyed this book a lot. There are some areas in the book that I’ve highlighted so that I can go back and learn more about the references. Mr. Theroux mentioned authors I haven’t read, but I enjoy his references to works I know - and understand the points he’s making. It’s also fascinating to read about places where I have traveled and wonder if the places he wrote about are places that I could have seen if I had known about them. Perhaps they’ve been destroyed in the 40 years between his travel and mine. He’s erudite without being snobbish - very down-to-earth - a wonderful writer
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jammies
    4.0 out of 5 stars Meeting an old friend
    Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
    I first found "The Great Railway Bazaar" in the library of the NATO base at Keflavik, Iceland, forty years ago, and I fell in love. Since then I've read many of Theroux's books with varying degrees of enthusiasm. After reading "The Old Patagonian Express" I remember thinking that he should probably stop traveling for a while because it was making him cranky. I took off one star for that. I have not yet read "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star" but I hope I will fall in love again.
    The table of contents makes it easy to select the title and chapter you want, and the larger fonts accommodate my aging eyes. It's a nice addition to my Kindle library.
    19 people found this helpful
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  • Placeholder
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
    Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Very interesting, grippingly written. Theroux goes back on the same route he traveled on in The Great Railway Bazaar, after a gap of 31 years and notes what has changed, what has not and meets some interesting people - ordinary and celebrity writers.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Darlene
    5.0 out of 5 stars THEROUX NEVER DISAPPOINTS
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I just keep finding more and more of Theroux's books that I can't put down. His means of travel, the people he meets and the ones he avoids - just truly fascinating. And no one else captures these kinds of adventures with the surprising details and asides. His linguistic skills are a joy. You can't read just one!!!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Wenhamhome
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brought me a kind of peace
    Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I've been reading Paul Theroux's work for many years, and I think I have read them all. No matter. It's been a very long time, and I was ecstatic when I saw this up on the Kindle site. I'm just over half way through and it seems like new to me. Someone needs thanking for this, I am most appreciative, enjoying it so much and I will be lost when I finish it.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • T. M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars What a Ride!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    An interesting travelogue of rail journeys across Europe, Asia, Russia and Central and South America, spanning several decades. Interwoven with history, it provides a snapshot of widely diverse cultures. It reveals the good and the bad; the joys and trials of solo travel. A grand adventure and thought-provoking commentary on the human race.
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  • Walter A.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Paul, my old friend - keep writing please.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Even when he bores me, I am entertained. He takes us along for the ride - what more can I ask?
    One person found this helpful
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  • matthew
    5.0 out of 5 stars The master of the travelouge
    Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    The master of vivid description. When I need an esvape it is riding the rails on my own, but doing so ny reading one of these books is a close substitute.
    One person found this helpful
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