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#travelogue
review
MommyWantsToReadHerBook
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Bailedbailed

I was excited to come across this book, plus there was a sequel on the shelf written something like 30 years later, but... The sex. I couldn't handle all the writing about prostitution and fellow travellers talking about their sexual adventures in these countries. I'm sad that I wasted 4 days of reading time before realising it was just going to get worse.

32 likes1 comment
review
Adventures_of_a_French_Reader
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Mehso-so

2.5/5
On the fence... It's written well enough, but during my reading I kept wondering what was the purpose of this book, what was the objective of the author.
Also, I guess the subject matter didn't captivate me: a homeless man traveling around the US in a kayak... Yes, he's a colorful man doing something quite unusual and impressive, but reading about him for 250 pages?!

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Dilara
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An insider's travelogue, originally written in English in the nineties (and published later). Ma Thanegi, an artist from Yangon, goes on a pilgrimage bus tour around Myanmar, and tells us about the people she meets, the food she eats and the places she sees. I learned a lot and it's also a good springboard for further research (because my knowledge of #Myanmar was abysmal). The photos in the French version were well chosen.

24 likes1 stack add
review
NatalieR
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Pickpick

Thanks to an incredible Audible sale, I recently purchased all of Neil Peart‘s nonfiction books. In this one, Neil joined a group through African villages for one month on his bicycle. The ride itself was physically and mentally challenging, and Neil shares the struggles of bike repairs, long rides up steep hills and treacherous terrain, and searches for food and drink.

Full review at https://abookandadog.com

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squirrelbrain
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#trainreading

On my way to York to meet Trish, Emma and Katie for a bookshop crawl.

Pic is of Knaresborough (not Japan! 🤣) - book is really interesting NF having just finished reading Butter for #camplitsy.

@TrishB @Oryx @youneverarrived

Crazeedi Have fun!! 5mo
youneverarrived Look forward to your review on this, it sounds good! 5mo
Cathythoughts Lovely photo ♥️ 5mo
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LeahBergen It looks like you all had a fantastic day! 🥰 5mo
squirrelbrain We did have a fantastic day @LeahBergen - apologies for the many many posts about it! 🤪 5mo
LeahBergen Haha! NEVER too many “fun book day” posts! 5mo
58 likes6 comments
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Texreader
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Ebook on sale for a very short time. Perfect for #readingoceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

BarbaraBB That‘s a good suggestion! Paul Theroux is always good! 6mo
Librarybelle Thanks for posting! 6mo
38 likes2 comments
review
KathyWheeler
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Pickpick

This is the low end of the pick scale for me. I liked it better than his book about China, a place he actively seemed to hate. Headhunters is different than his usual travel books, however; here Troost is following Robert Louis Stevenson‘s trip through the South Seas while also dealing with his own alcoholism, so this book is less fun than some of his others.

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Bookwormjillk
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Pickpick

This one was a little more serious than Troost‘s other books. Having faced his alcoholism and completed rehab Troost takes on another adventure- this time following the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson in Oceania. I actually appreciated his introspection and enjoyed this one more than Sex Lives of Cannibals. (He seems to pick his titles at random. They have nothing to do with the books.) #ReadingOceania24 @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle

Librarybelle Great review! I‘ve yet to read this one by him. Some day! 6mo
51 likes1 comment
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RobES
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Happy Saturday! I'm only half way through this book, but it is definitely a pick from me- it has me cackling with laughter!!!

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Robotswithpersonality
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Panpan

Travel Asia by train! Enjoy the way a white writer chooses to detail the many flavours of poverty, squalor, bureaucracy, civil unrest and corruption it has to offer! 🤦🏼‍♂️ The author then seems to be dismayed that things are not messy when he gets to Japan. 🤷🏼‍♂️ The part on Russia seems to devolve into a (really cold)fever dream, but I admit I was skimming towards the very end. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? When he's not being dismissive or appalled Theroux has a way with words. There are occasionally lovely descriptions of passing scenery, he can be flattering about nature, architecture and accommodations, but too often falls into generalizations, regularly unflattering when discussing the people of various countries/places, or those locations themselves, with varying degrees of cultural sensitivity. 9mo
Robotswithpersonality 3/? Always the question in the back of my head: would any of these places or people be as run down and discouraged en masse without a history of colonialism?
To the author's credit, he does ruminate in detail on the negative effects of the American occupation and subsequent abandonment in the context of the Vietnam War.
9mo
Robotswithpersonality 4/? Theroux experiences a wide variety of travel partners bouncing between first and second class: his fellow berth occupants/seat mates/dining companions range from a self-identified junkie, supposed cult leaders to engineers and an attorney general. He also interviews locals and gets into discussions with people he meets associated with his lecture tour. I'm just not sure he liked anyone he talked to. 9mo
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Robotswithpersonality 5/? Part of the information related seems to be practical observations...but it's nearly fifty years out of date at this point, so while it may or may not be interesting historical trivia, it's an aspect of the work that's lost its usefulness. 9mo
Robotswithpersonality 6/7 I got really tired, really quickly of the 'colourful insights' after recognizing that sexual objectification seems to be the main way women enter these accounts, if at all. The author isn't necessarily the one doing the ogling/telling tales of sexual exploits, but he seems happy enough to recount all instances by those (men) around him who do.

I could say this was published in 1975 and it was a product of its time, but I think that serves more as warning to prospective readers than an absolution.
9mo
Robotswithpersonality 7/7 I'll keep looking for unique travelogues, after a break I might even go looking for another on trains, but I don't think I'll be picking this author back up.

⚠️racism/xenophobia,misogyny, ableism, transphobia (? Managed two different anecdotes joking about sex with women with penises 🙄), black face (in theatre), mention of SA (in erotic art)
9mo
CatMS Paul Theroux is a favorite author of mine but I tend to read his fiction not his travel writing. 9mo
dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 9mo
Robotswithpersonality @dabbe Slow roasted. 😏 9mo
dabbe @Robotswithpersonality 🤩😂😍 9mo
6 likes10 comments