Here we go again… mad English person does crazy walk. This particular walk crosses France from La Rochelle on the west coast to Lake Geneva on the eastern border with Switzerland. It’s hard to know what to say about this book. It’s gently amusing and mildly frustrating. Fifty-something Kelly chooses not to explain the circumstances… Read More
Tag: travelogue
The covers of my edition of this book are littered with accolades from impeccable sources. A cynic might notice in the acknowledgements that Nobel-nominated author Doris Lessing appears to be a family friend and wonder whether Jason Elliot merely has good literary connections. Frankly, whether he does or not, this book is still outstanding and… Read More
What do you know about Bhutan? Probably not very much, apart perhaps from it being a Himalayan kingdom somewhere up around Nepal and Tibet. Even now Bhutan is a remote and inaccessible corner of the world. There is no British embassy or other representation – the nearest consulate is in Kolkata (Calcutta) – all visits… Read More
This book is simply magnificent. All of Theroux’s travel books that I’ve read have been engaging, but this one stands out above the rest for me. The premise here is simple: Theroux wants to travel overland through Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town. The cultural, geographical, and political contrasts he experiences are all brought to… Read More
This is an account of an eccentric journey by an eccentric Englishman. Nicholas Crane is the man who, a few weeks after getting married, left his wife at home while he spent 18 months walking along the watershed of Europe from Galicia to Istanbul. Five years later, in 1997, equipped with his trademark umbrella and… Read More
Bryson well and truly returns to form with this book on Australia. It is the best of the self-deprecating and exaggerated humour that won him his fans in the first place. But he also steers clear of overdoing the sermons on how places have changed – and never for the better when viewed through BrysonVision.… Read More
It is hard to believe that Tim Moore is quite the couch potato he would have us believe. Although anyone daft enough to attempt to tackle the route of the 2000 Tour de France with even some training must be a sprocket short of a chainring. Moore claims less training than this and thus is… Read More
Starting your book, “I’m not, by nature, a betting man. I’m not, by nature, a drinking man”, raises a certain level of expectation in the reader – and happily Hawks’ book lives up to this. Englishman Hawks takes off on a one-month quest to hitchhike around the circumference of Ireland with a 2’x2′ foot fridge… Read More
Theroux exports his acerbic wit to the Mediterranean for this reconstruction of the Grand Tour. It is pointless berating him – as many do – for his constant criticism and disparaging remarks. What is more remarkable in this book is the contrasts he throws up, both in his own writing – the tone of which… Read More
While the pantheon of travel literature is filled with accounts of journeys in, to and from Asia and the Silk Road, Latin America is less well covered. Perhaps it’s because writers have only ventured there more recently, or because it is perceived to lack much of the exoticness of India, China, Afghanistan et al. Trail… Read More
This may be McCarthy’s first book, but his ample writing experience is clear in this extremely well written, funny, and touching account of his travels in his mother’s native western Ireland. Oh yes, and of his quest to drink Guinness in bars called McCarthy – a laudable aim of any trip. Studiously avoiding any of… Read More
It’s hard to reconcile the Madagascar of Murphy’s 1985 travels with the tales of dispute verging on civil war that have been emerging from the country in mid-2002. The ravaging effects of the recent disputed election are at odds with the relaxed, apolitical country that Murphy presents. But 15 years is a long time, and… Read More
India in the mid 19th century was not a safe place to be, with violent resistance to the British Empire growing in strength. But more worrying for the traveller was the growth of the thuggee cult. This sect, so the legend goes, would befriend groups of travellers and lull them into a false sense of… Read More
“Oh no”, I thought, “Not another crazy travel writer doing something offbeat. Still, s’pose I better read it.” And I am glad I did. Llewellyn’s trip with his girlfriend Rohan may have been born out of a premature mid-life crisis and a desire to see Russia, but ends up being an enjoyable and fast-paced story… Read More
Theroux on a train – nothing original there. This is the second of his railway epics, and was many people’s introduction to the irrasicble American. From his home in Boston all the way down to Patagonia, Theroux undertakes the ultimate American (rail)road trip, and brings us all along for the ride. The narrative really picks… Read More
I’m not a nautical person; and I had worries early on in this book that it would be too technical, and too boring for me. I was very wrong. Severin’s attempt to prove that Irish monk Brendan could have crossed the Atlantic in the 6th Century in what amounts to little more than a leather… Read More