Customer Reviews

The Gringo Trail

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This author writes "By 1492, after trying for 800 years, Ferdinand and Isabella had finally expelled the Moors from Spain." Wow. That and the reference to Japanese "Banzai trees" marks this book as not so much poorly written as poorly edited. No surprise that when I went back to look at the gushing blurb on the cover, I found it was quoted from a soft-porn lad-mag.

This book is candy. It might be interesting to people who have never done this sort of travel, and who are fascinated by the idea of giving it a try. But for the tens of millions of us who having done it for ourselves, the journey this book describes is very ordinary. Here is yet another little band of angry, self-righteous British slackers, who escape work by puking and quarrelling their way across the 3rd world.

And this book is nothing more than the diary of the trip. Episode after episode, one wonders, "what was the point of that little story?" The author at one point ponders splitting off from his two companions, but it is clear why he doesn't: most of this book is about his interactions with them. Without someone to spat with, he would have little to fill the pages.

To give his work gravitas, he follows the formula of interleaving his personal narrative with leftish social-historical-political commentary. He even includes a bibliography of all of 20 books! It is just added gloss on the basic pretension that this trip is some sort of spiritual pilgrimage, an anthropological exploration into recondite psychedelic shamanic practices. He is flattering himself. He and his friends are just a slightly more educated breed of yobs, going where others have gone before.

He could aspire to be a chronicler, at least, of the yob backpacking scene. In a sense, he is. Realising that all the above still doesn't amount to an interesting story, he continues his wanderings until all the risk-taking behavior (dangerous buses, big doses, getting drunk with strangers, etc. etc.) leads to the predictable tears. A tragedy provides the book's climax--and an opportunity to quote Pink Floyd lyrics. In the final paragraph we see him setting off for yet another dangerous country with his remaining companion. Perhaps he will publish a sequel...if only he can manage to kill off just one more traveling companion....

I must admit I had to read this in one sitting. Not for the fact that I liked it, but unfortunetly I have a habit of once starting a book, no matter how bad, I have to finish it. And I needed to finish this one pretty quickly. I did like Marks love of the continent, but that wasn't enough to keep the story together. It was almost like reading my sisters diary when a child, but without the secrets, gossip and intrigue. And that's all this was - a diary, speckled with historical snip bits. The trouble with diaries that are published as stories is they lack the beginning, middle and end needed to satisfy the reader. To be fair, I could have forgiven him for missing the first two out. The Gringo Trail is a collection of experiences that fail to deliver on their promises of excitement and discovery, and makes you end up wishing Mark had made it up instead. Which I'm sure he is very capable of doing. Some true stories are well worth telling, and this is one of them... but more in the pub than published sense.

DJ Wheeler needs to get a life (see review below), girlfriend or both.
The Gringo Trail is one of the most interesting books I've read in ages. OK, so some of the jokes are a bit corny but it livens up the (interesting) background info on the Andean countries Mann and his travelling companions visit.
I couldn't put it down and friends who've read it agree that this book has really captured the spirit of backpacking, more so than The Beach.
I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of visiting South America. And, like me, if you've been to some of the places Mann mentions, you will really be able to relate to what he has written.

I don't often read a book that I think is really bad. I feel a bit disrespectful to the author's late friend who this book is a kind of tribute too, but it is really laughable. Unsophisticated jokes ("I tried to take a picture of Melissa holding a can of "Bimbo" / "what are you trying to imply?" she asked?" - how old is this man?), a lot of unnecessary drug references, and cringy lines like Melissa's "the sea looks quiet after a kill",...

This is such a shame as the book contains many very interesting bits of factual and historical information about South America. It might be worth reading for this if you have any interest in the continent. You can save yourself a lot of pain by just reading the bits in italics.

Recommended to me by a couple of back-packers from the UK. Enjoyed it so much I bought five copies for friends. If you've travelled and still not found - then you'll love this book.

I enjoyed the book, having travelled to South America myself and visited many of the places that he mentions. His political ramblings detract a little from the book. The travelogue portions were excellent.

Entertaining
Educating

I rated it to 5 stars

While the book did read much like a travel diary at points, it was very insightfull and introspective. It really gave me the feel of extended traveling around South America.

Those of you who have the vaguest interest in travel and are keen to stray further adrift than the resorts of Costa del Sol will find that this book seriously inflames such ambitions. It would not surprise me if this book were the sole cause of the 'grown up gapers' trend that's apparently sweeping the nation.

From start to finish the sheer scope and breadth of historical content is staggering. Not only is such content woven into the narrative in discrete snippets, but entire sections of chapters are dedicated to revealing the astonishing tale of the conquest that shaped South America centuries ago. It is a common belief that genocide has not been committed on a greater scale in recent times than in Auschwitz at the hands of the Nazi's. This belief is actually a myth as the book tactfully points out.

The book is a vast oasis of vibrant escapism that temporarily blots out the dull realities of your 9 - 5 office job but at the same time is ordinary enough in its approach that it implies that such an experience is within everyone's reach. Fuelled by a style that incorporates dry wit and gentle drug humour, the book gnaws its way through a landscape of polar opposites in which the troublesome trio are frequently hindered by unpredictability and their own quirky incompatibility, which eventually turns to solidity and comradeship.

The theme of freedom runs throughout the book and is strongly embodied within Mark's flamboyant expressionism and Melissa's humble soulfulness. Traits used to contrast against a background of poverty and hidden racism. A truth which the conquest did little to change.

A must read for any budding anthropologist and a should - read for any self respecting literate human.

For those of you who like your travel experiences to be wild and exciting, 'The Gringo Trail' has to be worth a read. Mark Mann cleverly strings together his experiences of travelling in Latin America, with astute cultural observations and hair raising experiences. From hold ups on public transport, to drug fuelled mayhem and Shamanism, Mann gorges himself on all the diversity that South america has to offer. An enjoyable read, sure to be exchanged on the travelling circuit for many years to come!!!