The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia (Penguin Modern Classics)

Theroux, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141038845 ISBN 13: 9780141038841

Publisher: Penguin, 2008

The Great Railway Bazaar is Paul Theroux's classic and much-loved homage to train travel.

The Orient Express; The Khyber Pass Local; the Delhi Mail from Jaipur; the Golden Arrow of Kuala; the Trans-Siberian Express; these are just some of the trains steaming through Paul Theroux's epic rail journey from London across Europe through India and Asia. This was a trip of discovery made in the mid-seventies, a time before the West had embraced the places, peoples, food, faiths and cultures of the East. For us now, as much as for Theroux then, to visit the lands of The Great Railway Bazaar is an encounter with all that is truly foreign and exotic - and with what we have since lost.

Praise for Paul Theroux:

'Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged' Observer

'One needs energy to keep up with the extraordinary, productive restlessness of Paul Theroux ... [He is] the most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban

'Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales, he writes lean prose that lopes along at a compelling pace' Sunday Times

Paul Theroux's books include Dark Star Safari, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Elephanta Suite, A Dead Hand, The Tao of Travel and The Lower River. The Mosquito Coast and Dr Slaughter have both been made into successful films. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

Review:

One of the most entertaining books I have read in a long while . . . Superb comic detail (Angus Wilson Observer)

He has done our travelling for us brilliantly (William Golding)

Book Description:

Paul Theroux decided to board every train that chugged into view, ‘from Victoria Station to Tokyo Central; to take the branch line to Simla, the spur through the Khyber Pass and the chord line that links Indian Railways with those of Ceylon; the Mandalay Express, the Malaysian Golden Arrow, the locals in Vietnam and the trains with bewitching names, the Orient Express, the North Star, the Trans-Siberian.’ The result is the story of an adventure fuelled by the romance of the railways. ‘In the fine old tradition of purposeless travel for fun and adventure . . . compulsive reading’ Graham Green ‘More than a rich and original entertainment. His people, places and asides will stay a long time jostling in the mind of the reader’ V. S. Pritchett ‘One of the most entertaining books I have read’ Angus Wilson