Jupiter's Travels [Paperback]

Ted Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 1981

In the late '70s, Ted Simon rode 63,000 miles over four years through fifty-four countries in a journey that took him around the world. Through breakdowns, prison, war, revolutions, disasters and a Californian commune, he travelled into the depths of fear and reached the heights of euphoria. He met astonishing people and was treated as a spy, a welcome stranger and even a god. For Simon, the trip became a journey into his own soul, and for many others - including bikers Charley Boorman and Ewan McGrergor - it provides an inspiration they will never forget.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A compelling narrative that moves, sometimes at breakneck speed, over some of the world's most beautiful and mysterious terrain ? packed with fascinating detail, splendid characterizations, and hair-raising adventures. (Boston Globe )

Vivid description of driving under conditions that were often ferocious. (NY Times )

Extremely readable, full of keen observation, perceptive insight ? conveying action, drama, tension and danger. (LA Times )

The best motorcycle travel book ever written. (Motorcycle Sport )

By all means TAKE THE PLUNGE. (Rider Magazine ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Brought up in England by a German mother and a Romanian father, Ted Simon found himself impelled by an insatiable desire to explore the world. It led him to abandon an early scientific career in favour of journalism, and he has worked for several newspapers and magazines on Fleet Street and elsewhere. Ted Simon is also the author of Riding Home and The Gypsy in Me.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (February 26, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140054103
• ISBN-13: 978-0140054101
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,716,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books ever written, July 7, 2002

By 

sir_isaac_newton (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jupiter's Travels : Four Years Around the World on a Triumph (Paperback)

This book captures first hand the now little known adventure of a British journalist who set out to ride around the world on a motorcycle. It is an incredible story and something any reader should enjoy. Every teenager/student should be issued with this book so that they can understand what adventure is [they should also be issued with Ernest Shackleton's story]. It is also a period piece capturing something of the flavor of the early 70s -- although not so obtrusively that it would offend those who scorn that period. The writing is direct and honest. The author does not shy away from ridiculing himself at times -- the linen suit incident still stays with me 15 years after I first read this book. This book provides insight into not just the authors thinking but the behavior of people in different cultures across the world (Ted came to accept problems calmly as help always seemed to come along). I read this book while in hospital and sadly gave it away to a fellow patient who I had been friendly with. It probably changed my life, as I still sometimes think of some of the incidents described. I will buy a copy for my son one day so that he will understand what adventure is. [Contrast this to that dreadful "Zen & the Art of..." book]. Ted travelled around the world on a Triumph Trident (perhaps the last ever made) -- not a BMW or a Harley. No support team, cell phone or GPS satellite navigation. This book let's you share the experience.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Four years on two wheels condensed into 447 pages., August 22, 2003

By 

Allen Hall "AllenH" (Corn-Country, Midwest USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jupiter's Travels : Four Years Around the World on a Triumph (Paperback)

Hard to determine how to rate this book. I just finished the last page...

I have to admit that it's truly a travel book. ZMM by Pirsig is much more of a philosophy than a book about travel. Simon instead takes you through Africa and the Atbara desert, roads that had channels cut through them deep enough that he had to keep his legs up near the handle bars, various bribes at numerous country borders, and tea stops along the way for rest. He also intrigues you with a prison escapade in Brasil and a fever in India as well as waiting for rivers to drop in Austrailia while drinking stubbies and eating steaks with truckies at a local outback cafe.

My negative comments are relatively simple: 1) No hard description of what he's up to in the beginning, just jumps right in, and all of a sudden you're in Africa. 2) A great lack of description of most of the mileage (runs from place to place sometimes). Perhaps this is a given for such a long trip. [Please don't be deterred by this... he's very descriptive for most of the journey.] 3) Lack of a map showing the whole trip. [Small maps are given in each "Chapter"- if the chapters could be called that.]

Writing style compared to Pirsig is very different and much less refined, but in a way this also allows us to go along with Simon on his great adventure. The writing and the road-miles seem to roll together. And in this way I think it's true to form. I have to admit that it was a great book even with the minor faults above. And as far as the god-talk previously mentioned, it's easy to forgive someone who can recall his experiences, in most of the major countries on the globe, first hand a slight misplaced grandiosity. :^) Especially with how much he's been through by the end.

From one rider to the other, my hat's off to Simon.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run Out and Buy This Book!, June 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jupiter's Travels : Four Years Around the World on a Triumph (Paperback)

JupiterÕs Travels stays with you long after you close the book. it is a classic travel narrative which belongs with the finest: ThesigerÕs Arabian Sands, NaipaulÕs An Area of Darkness, ChatwinÕs In Patagonia. Ted SimonÕs motto should be Carpe Diem. One day he decided to stop what he was doing to travel around the world on a Triumph motorcycle. The trip took him four years to complete. Ted shares with us his thoughts and feelings during the journey and his insights into many different cultures. What impresses me most, however, is TedÕs openness towards the people he meets and their different modes of life, and his honesty with himself and with us, his readers. Best of all, before our eyes, he grows and becomes a wiser person. He changes and so do we!