Los parroquianos de esta Atalaya sabrán de mi debilidad por este autor, y los libros de viajes en general:
comencé con el Gran Bazar del Tren, seguí con
más historias ferroviarias. I have just finished reading
this book, and
reviewed it in Amazon (my review should be on top). The best review I've read is
this one in the New York Times, as maybe should be expected. In fact,
in this interview in 1999, he mentions he is going to Africa in the near future.
Unluckily, the
books quoted in this book feature in Amazon is not enabled for this one; so here are a few that are mentioned, with some other links thrown in for good measure:
- Heart of Darkness is the main one. Theroux quotes it extensively, and reads it 13 times through the trip (it's a long trip, and a short book). It's an excellent book, anyways, and one that still reflects the attitude of us towards Africa.
- Rimbaud (voilà his complete works is mainly present during Ethiopia, and is the main reason for his trip to the holy city of Harar, the city of hyaenas.
- Throughout all the book, Theroux mentions an erotic short story that develops into a full-blown novella: The Stranger at the Palazzo d'Oro, which was published shortly afterwards.
- Paul Theroux's visit to Africa happens, for the first time, in the time of the Internet. his dinner party with Gordimer gets noticed by the Independent, July's people, a Nadine Gordimer book is considered racist, but I couldn't find the review Paul Theroux did for the Sunday Independent after that fact.
- A railway link: The Blue Train, and the Trans-Karoo.
Anything missing?
