DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS - Softcover

Newby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000741353X ISBN 13: 9780007413539

Publisher: HarperPress, 2010

Synopsis

'Whatever else we remember of our travels, we remember our departures and arrivals. Often they are the most enduring of all our memories of them.'

From one of Britain's best-loved travel writers comes a fascinating collection of incredible highlights from an eventful life.

Acutely observant, with an eye for quirky detail and a wit of charming self-deprecation, Eric Newby has delighted readers with his travels, whether to remote locations or his very own back garden. In this captivating collection of 19 tales, Newby invites the reader to join him as he navigates the globe, from the shops and streets of the pram-vantaged Barnes of yesteryear to a mysterious opal-mining town in Australia, and from the faded glamour of the Orient Express to a cycle ride along the Meridian Line, navigating rivers and ill-placed homes.

As a forefather of the modern comic travel book, Newby's insatiable curiosity and infectious enthusiasm have garnered him an incredible following over many decades. ‘Departures and Arrivals’ is a superb showcase of Eric Newby's distinctive storytelling and boundless energy that will delight both existing fans and new admirers.

About this title

Review:

Eric Newby may have been entitled to his pension for over a decade, but he is still globetrotting to his heart's content. In Departures and Arrivals, he brings us up to date on his latest world travels. Naturally, these no longer involve him navigating the length of the world's holiest river (Slowly Down the Ganges) or attempting to climb mountains with no previous experience (A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush)--but nevertheless, Newby'e endless curiosity for the world around him makes this book a worthy addition to his canon.

Beginning with his childhood memories of a Barnes that is long dead, he moves to evocations of the Orient Express, a lovely story from Calabria and a religious festival in Rajahstan which clearly moved him greatly. We also learn that Newby "discovered" the Meridian line, 2 degrees West, seven years before Nicholas Crane (Two Degrees West), when he sets off to cycle its length in 1991. In fact, this prescience, combined with his observant piece on Yemen which seems almost to foreshadow the great success of Tim Macintosh-Smith's Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land", goes to show that although Newby may be bowing gracefully to a younger generation of travel writers, he can still show them a thing or two. -- Toby Green

Review:

'Wit, charm and effortless storytelling ability' Time Out

'[Newby's] eye as sharp as ever, he remains the King of Wry, and this quiver of 19 stories from a travelling life a delicious entertainment in the understated tradition. . . . Newby is a true comrade in tenuous and uncomfortable places and plainly a good man to be with when you are down to the last bottle of rough peasant red' Trevor Fishlock, Daily Telegraph

'Wherever he is, he writes with an eye for strange details and with a strong conviction that whatever else it is, travel should be fun' Sunday Times Travel

'A kind of pointillist memoir, a series of charming snapshots from a fascinating life. Newby is one of the funniest English writers ... fans will find in this collection of pieces all the hallmarks that have made him one of our best-loved writers: the gentle humour, the unpretentious modesty and the self-deprecating charm' William Dalrymple, Mail on Sunday

'With Newby in charge, you are guaranteed a memorable moment every step of the way. No other writer engages his readers more wholeheartedly in his adventures, or views the world through fresher eyes ... Newby is a travelling companion sans pareil' Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail

'Newby conveys the quirks of his histories and the contours of his landscapes and cultures with infectious enthusiasm and a gentlemanly scholarship' Andrew Mackenzie, Scotland on Sunday

'This book is like a suitcase into which Newby has stuffed colourful oddments from his life ... A writer with a painter's eye' Clare Colvin, Sunday Express

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 000741353X
• ISBN 13: 9780007413539
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256