
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Railway Bazaar
(2008)A non fiction book by
Paul Theroux
An unmitigated treat for the hundreds of thousands of fans of the first Bazaar.
In The New Railway Bazaar, Theroux recreates an epic journey he took thirty years ago, a giant loop by train (mostly) through Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, China, Japan, and Siberia. In short, he traverses all of Asia top to bottom, and end to end. In the three decades since he first travelled this route, Asia has undergone phenomenal change. The Soviet Union has collapsed, China has risen, India booms, Burma slowly smothers, and Vietnam prospers despite the havoc unleashed upon it the last time Theroux passed through. He witnesses all this and more in a 25,000 mile journey, travelling as the locals do, by train, car, bus, and foot.
His odyssey takes him from Eastern Europe, still hungover from Communism, through tense but thriving Turkey, into the Caucasus, where Georgia limps back toward feudalism while its neighbour Azerbaijan revels in oil-driven capitalism. As he penetrates deeper into Asia's heart, his encounters take on an otherworldly cast. The two chapters that follow show us Turkmenistan, a profoundly isolated society at the mercy of an almost comically egotistical dictator, and Uzbekistan, a ruthless authoritarian state. From there, he retraces his steps through India, Mayanmar, China, and Japan, providing his penetrating observations on the changes these countries have undergone.
Brilliant, caustic, and totally addictive, The New Railway Bazaar is Theroux at his very best.
In The New Railway Bazaar, Theroux recreates an epic journey he took thirty years ago, a giant loop by train (mostly) through Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, China, Japan, and Siberia. In short, he traverses all of Asia top to bottom, and end to end. In the three decades since he first travelled this route, Asia has undergone phenomenal change. The Soviet Union has collapsed, China has risen, India booms, Burma slowly smothers, and Vietnam prospers despite the havoc unleashed upon it the last time Theroux passed through. He witnesses all this and more in a 25,000 mile journey, travelling as the locals do, by train, car, bus, and foot.
His odyssey takes him from Eastern Europe, still hungover from Communism, through tense but thriving Turkey, into the Caucasus, where Georgia limps back toward feudalism while its neighbour Azerbaijan revels in oil-driven capitalism. As he penetrates deeper into Asia's heart, his encounters take on an otherworldly cast. The two chapters that follow show us Turkmenistan, a profoundly isolated society at the mercy of an almost comically egotistical dictator, and Uzbekistan, a ruthless authoritarian state. From there, he retraces his steps through India, Mayanmar, China, and Japan, providing his penetrating observations on the changes these countries have undergone.
Brilliant, caustic, and totally addictive, The New Railway Bazaar is Theroux at his very best.
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Used availability for Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
September 2008 : Hardback
| Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of 'The Great Railway Bazaar' Author(s): Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-241-14253-9 / 978-0-241-14253-0 (UK edition) Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
September 2008 : Hardback
| Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar Author(s): Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-7710-8533-8 / 978-0-7710-8533-8 (Canada (English speaking) edition) Publisher: Mcclelland & Stewart Ltd Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
August 2008 : Hardback
| Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar Author(s): Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-618-41887-3 / 978-0-618-41887-9 (USA edition) Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
June 2009 : Paperback
| Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Railway Bazaar Author(s): Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-547-23793-6 / 978-0-547-23793-0 (USA edition) Publisher: Mariner Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
August 2008 : Paperback
| Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of The Great Railway Author(s): Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-241-14254-7 / 978-0-241-14254-7 (UK edition) Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
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