The Old Patagonian Express

Posted on 02 July 2018 by Paul Theroux

Award winning travel writer Paul Theroux invites you aboardThe Old Patagonian Express by Train through the Americas packed with powerful descriptions and portraits of the many colours of humanity, The Old Patagonian Express is an unforgettable read.A witty sharply observed journey down the length of North and South AmericaBeginning his journey in Boston, where he boarded the subway commuter train, and catching trains of all kinds on the way, Paul Theroux tells of his voyage from ice bound Massachusetts and Illinois to the arid plateau of Argentina s most southerly tip Sweating and shivering by turns as the temperature and altitude shoot up and down, thrown in with the appalling Mr Thornberry in Lim n and reading nightly to the blind writer, Borges, in Buenos Aires, Theroux vividly evokes the contrasts of a journey to the end of the line.American travel writer Paul Theroux is known for the rich descriptions of people and places that is often streaked with his distinctive sense of irony his other non fiction titles, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Happy Isles of Oceania, Sunrise with Seamonsters, The Kingdom by the Sea, The Tao of Travel, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, The Great Railway Bazaar, Dark Star Safari, Fresh air Fiend, Sir Vidia s Shadow, The Pillars of Hercules, and his novels and collections of short stories, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize winner The Mosquito Coast are available from Penguin. Download The Old Patagonian Express – kino-fada.fr Apart from the occasional quick dash on the Metro, I haven t had much of a train life, as never really needed them I do however recall the nostalgic memory of my first ever train ride aged about five, sitting on board just prior to departure I was excited and couldn t keep still, waiting for something extraordinary to happen, but the most euphoria I got was when the train shot through a tunnel for all of 30 seconds, other than that I gazed out yonder at the passing English countryside, munching Apart from the occasional quick dash on the Metro, I haven t had much of a train life, as never really needed them I do however recall the nostalgic memory of my first ever train ride aged about five, sitting on board just prior to departure I was excited and couldn t keep still, waiting for something extraordinary to happen, but the most euphoria I got was when the train shot through a tunnel for all of 30 seconds, other than that I gazed out yonder at the passing English countryside, munching on a bag of sweets wondering what all the fuss was about.Reading Paul Theroux s epic rail journey from a snowy Boston all the way down to the vast emptiness of the Patagonian plateau has certainly opened my eyes as to what s possible, it was a great pleasure, but not without pitfalls Writing in his introduction he says that some people view a travel book as a type of novel, and that others who have turned little trips into huge odysseys where self dramatization or inventi...I suppose Paul Theroux s travel writing isn t for everyone If you don t like his traveling persona you aren t likely to enjoy his books That being said, I like his traveling persona, so every travel book is a pleasure and there are still books to be read But I decided to read The Old Patagonia Express because a friend reminded me that he travels to ...I am willing to change my mind Someone said that they liked the descriptions of this travel novel but would hate to have to go anywhere with this author I would prefer to hear about these places through the perspective of someone else Theroux is hard to read not due to the complexity of his prose, but because of his voice He...Yes, he is a curmudgeon but I still love his books.This one in particular fed into my wish to someday travel I was a poor student who thought travel was only for the rich I didn t realize you could do it cheaply if you don t mind a few discomforts It gave the information I needed to take journeys that expanded my world view.The book reads like a diary of his travel from Boston to Tierra del Fuego, most of the time by train Along the way he meets both ordinary famous people mos Yes, he is a curmudgeon but I still love his books.This one in particular fed into my wish to someday travel I was a poor student who thought travel was only for the rich I didn t realize you could do it cheaply if you don t mind a few discomforts It gave the information I needed to take journeys that expanded my world view.The book reads like a diary of his travel from Boston to Tierra del Fuego, most of the time by train Along the way he meets both ordinary famous people most of whom he dislikes At the beginning of his train trip he meets a self centered young woman who gives him a rundown of her dietary needs and sensitivities She is a the first of many people who will annoy and confound him He also manages to meet luminaries like Jorge Luis Borges Even Borges doesn t distract him from train schedules , breakdowns, people, and misunderstanding that he thinks exist only to thwart his enjoyment He hates every...My third Paul Theroux book Last year I first came across Theroux s non fiction work The Happy Isles of Oceania Paddling the Pacific 1992 which I thoroughly enjoyed Theroux was travelling through almost all of the Pacific nations and went paddling here and there Then I read his fiction work The Mosquito Coast 1981 Theroux s voice sounds radically different in fiction compared to his non fiction, which I think is a good thing Now I ve returned to another of his non fiction work, namely My third Paul Theroux book Last year I first came across Theroux s non fiction work The Happy Isles of Oceania Paddling the Pacific 1992 which I thoroughly enjoyed Theroux was travelling through almost all of the Pacific nations and went paddling here and there Then I read his fiction work The Mosquito Coast 1981 Theroux s voice sounds radically different i...I hate not finishing books, but this might be one of those I cannot finish Or perhaps I ll finish it just to cement my bad opinion of it.I first read Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux and must add that this was several years ago I absolutely adored it at the time I thought I would like this one just as much, and have been dying to buy it for a long time now The author walks you through every place he travels, leaving you with a good sense of orientation and geography of the place he s travel I hate not finishing books, but this might be one of those I cannot finish Or perhaps I ll finish it just to cement my bad opinion of it.I first read Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux and must add that this was several years ago I absolutely adored it at the time I thought I would like this one just as much, and have been dying to buy it for a long time now Th...There are parts in this book which I find brilliant, funny, entertaining, and even deep A description of reading Lovecraft on a train full of people that probably thought the name referred to something naughty is quite good for example It s just a little too much of this book I think I might have liked itin shorter form because in the end it was starting to feel like challenge to finish Maybe it was just too long a trip for the book Or maybe I didn t feel like going all this way with There are parts in this book which I find brilliant, funny, entertaining, and even deep A description of reading Lovecraft on a train full of people that probably thought the name referred to something naughty is quite good for example It s just a little too much of this book I think I might have liked itin shorter form ...This is probably my second re read of Paul Theroux s travel classic of a railroad journey from Boston to as far south as he could go in the Americas By now, many of the trains he describes no longer exist so he has produced, at the very least, a valuable historical document The Old Patagonian Express By Train Through the Americas is an unusually snarky look at Latin America and its people, but...why anybody would want to waste their time reading this judgmental, curmudgeon of a book by a guy who doesn t even want to visit anything, yet is so cocky in calling himself a traveler and not a tourist, is beyond me reminds me way to...I had arrived in Patagonia, and i laughed when I remembered I had come here from Boston, on a subway train that people take to work Call me a fanatic of Theroux s work, but travel writing isn t always about Sugar coating your experiences with Wows and Awes Paul is undoubtedly the Best in his class and he is never afraid of calling a place what it actually is.In The Old Patagonian Express, Theroux takes us on a Journey and literally a journey with the starting point and destination just pos I had arrived in Patagonia, and i laughed when I remembered I had come here from Boston, on a subway train that people take to work Call me a fanatic of Theroux s work, but travel writing isn t always about Sugar coating your experiences with Wows and Awes Paul is undoubtedly the Best in his class and he is never afraid of calling a place what it actually is.In The Old Patagonian Express, Theroux takes us on a Journey and literally a journey with the starting point and destination just posing as ancilliary for this whole book I will never get to see the South America Theroux described when he traveled, with poverty and only a mild tinge of modernisation, which in present times might make all the places quite...

English
02 July 2018

Paul Theroux