The Great Railway Bazaar (1975)

by Paul Theroux

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
2,844	68	5,016	(3.82)	144
Biography & Autobiography. Travel. Nonfiction. HTML:The acclaimed author recounts his epic journey across Europe and Asia in this international bestselling classic of travel literature: "Compulsive reading" (Graham Greene). In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on a four-month journey by train from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In The Great Railway Bazaar, he records in vivid detail and penetrating insight the many fascinating incidents, adventures, and encounters of his grand, intercontinental tour. Asia's fabled trains�??the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express�??are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair tra… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by	DarthHusker, coldspur, TheCrownedKing, Ruby-Grace, David-Sh, mrbearbooks, Quizlitbooks, melmtp, NinaandShane, quincunx00
Legacy Libraries	William Gaddis, Juice Leskinen, Graham Greene

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Member recommendations

00
The Big Red Train Ride by Eric Newby (John_Vaughan)
00
Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby (John_Vaughan)
00
Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road (Traveler) by Stuart Stevens (yonderjack)
00
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux (Cecrow)
Cecrow: 'Ghost Train' is the sequel

▾Lists

Best of Travel Narratives (Trains) (1)

Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years (787)

501 Must-Read Books (308)

» 6 more

Books Read in 2019 (2,143)

Asia (47)

Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life Changing List (346)

Folio Society (699)

Swinging Seventies (125)

The Art of Manliness' 100+ Books Every Man Should Read (88)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 144 mentions

▾Member reviews

English (59) Dutch (5) German (1) Greek (1) Spanish (1) French (1) All languages (68)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 59 (next | show all)

A compelling and absorbing railway travelogue - highly recommended. (

)

sfj2 | May 8, 2024 |

Travel stories always work well when you're travelling. And I like the way he writes. I have read more of his (travel) books, but not until this one I realised how much he must have influenced me. Like I do, he can observe fellow travellers and make a whole lot out of nearly nothing. Which is interesting to read. His journey is nearly exclusive by train, starting of on the Orient express, through Asia until Japan and then back via the Siberia express. Very good literature. Recommendable for travel addicts as myself, but basically for everyone who likes a good book. (

)

privaterevolution | Mar 4, 2024 |

Ha-ha, perhaps, worst advertising for the Trans-Siberian Railway ever. Still it looks like the book failed even to dent enthusiasm of foreigners descending upon the legendary railway :) Liked his acerbic anyway :)

Den85 | Jan 3, 2024 |

first published in 1975

betty_s | Oct 1, 2023 |

Re-read from my time underwater. Looking at old journals, I must have mailed it home from Guam in 96 to clear up room on the boat. Mom had packed it up with ‘my’ stuff & stored, until she dug it back out this summer.

After reading it the first time I was able to experience the Japanese trains from Yokosuka to Tokyo, then honeymooned on the Southwest Chief from Topeka to San Diego.

Paul T tries to resist but occasionally lapses into his role as sahib, and gazes down his nose at extreme poverty.

A book of its time, you end up road weary as the author. (

)

kcshankd | Sep 1, 2023 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 59 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (17 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Theroux, Paul	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Abreu, Fernanda	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Godó Costa, Juan	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Hanssen, Toril	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Koreman, Kor	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
McLoughlin, Deborah	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Motta, Marisa	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Die Andere Bibliothek (365)

El arca de papel (174)

Grote ABC (322)

Penguin Modern Classics

Picador Travel Classics (6)

Is contained in

Riding the Rails with Paul Theroux: The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux

Contains

The Great Railway Bazaar; Book 1 of 2 by ポール・セルー

The Great Railway Bazaar; Book 2 of 2 by ポール・セルー

Inspired

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

Has as a student's study guide

The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux Summary & Study Guide by BookRags BookRags

▾Awards and Honors

Distinctions

The New York Times Best Books of the Year (1975)

New York Times bestseller (General – 1975)

Notable Lists

1000 Books to Read Before You Die

501 Must-Read Books (Emma Beare, 2006) (Travel Writing)

The Essential Man's Library: 100 Must-Read Books

Guardian Essential Library (Travel)

Notable Books List (1975)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

The Great Railway Bazaar

Original title

The Great Railway Bazaar

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

"To the legion of the lost ones, to the cohortof the damned,To my brethren in their sorrows overseas . . ."

And to my brothers and sisters, namely Eugene, Alexander, Ann-Marie, Mary, Joseph, and Peter, with love

First words

Ever since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Ping pong show

▾Book descriptions

Biography & Autobiography. Travel. Nonfiction. HTML:The acclaimed author recounts his epic journey across Europe and Asia in this international bestselling classic of travel literature: "Compulsive reading" (Graham Greene).

In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on a four-month journey by train from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In The Great Railway Bazaar, he records in vivid detail and penetrating insight the many fascinating incidents, adventures, and encounters of his grand, intercontinental tour.

Asia's fabled trains�??the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express�??are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair tra

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

The meeting of Theroux with Shiva Naipaul, in a hotel in India, is remarkable. His having sex with a women in Swtzerland , (Or it is some other countrt the the Eastern europe, where he withdraws his royalty money from a local publisher) is also remarkable.

Krishna Bhatt. Author.

Haiku summary