Riding the Iron Rooster :By Train Through China
Riding the Iron Rooster :By Train Through China
paperback
Published:
30 March, 1989
Popular Books by Paul Theroux
View All Books by Paul Theroux
Description
Winner of the Stanford Dolman Lifetime Contribution to Travel Writing Award 2020
Paul Theroux left Victoria Station on a rainy Saturday in April thinking that taking eight trains across Europe, Eastern Europe, the USSR and Mongolia would be the easy way to get to the Chinese border - the relaxing way, even. He would read a little, take notes, eat regular meals and gaze contentedly out of windows. The reality, of course, was very different.
In fact, Theroux experienced a decidedly odd and unexpected trip to China that set the challenging tone for his epic year-long rail journey around that vast, inscrutable land - a journey which involved riding nearly every train in the country.
'Wry, humorful and occasionally querulous ... as Theroux makes excruciatingly clear, travelling alone in the Middle Kingdom is not for the faint of heart or stomach' Time.
Prizes
Winner of Thomas Cook Travel Book Award 1989
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780140112955 |
| ISBN10 | 0207129711 |
| Number Of Pages | 512 |
| Item Weight | 359 g |
| Product Dimensions | 130 x 197 x 32 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
[Theroux's] books have enriched the travel literature of this century...China, with its guard down, its buttons undone, and its fingers greasy, looks even more magical with a little of its mystery revealed. USA Today [A] very funny, beautifully written, wonderfully observant, and deeply insightful description of the vagaries of life and politics in China. -- Conde Nast Traveler Fascinating...the portrait that emerges is a luminous, almost uncanny, and situationally accurate one. Theroux is particularly good at catching the surreal quality of China. The Miami Herald Theroux's genius is in his clear-eyed rendition of a fresh world and the deeper observations he attaches to it. The Chicago Tribune
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.