Customer Reviews

The Size of the World

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think it's interesting that the reviews of Size of the World presented here are either 5 stars or 2 stars, indicating that people respond very strongly to this book, in either a very positive or negative way. Personally, I loved it. It was great taking a journey with a travel writer who seemed so much more like a real person than the usual omniscient guides in more traditional books. Jeff Greenwald the author has flaws, true, but don't we all. He's not presenting himself to be an all-knowing master guide to the Universe. He acknowledges the discomfort and loneliness as well as the joy and wonder of his travel experiences and communicates them without that holier-than-thou attitude so many travel writers seem to wallow in.

As a result, I think people who respond to real, sincere, honest writing will love this book. If you're looking for someone cool and hip that will help make you feel cool and hip, go read someone else.

I think this book has probably touched many lives in a deep and spirtual way. It's also hilariously funny and as I stated in my one line review, thoroughly entertaining. Please don't let some of the negative reviews expressed here prevent you from checking this book out.

Patty S.

This is perhaps one of the best travelogues ever written. Contrary to previous reviews, Mr. Greenwald's grasp of Buddhism is quite solid, not resembling a "flirtation" whatsoever. As a fellow buddhist and world traveler myself, I found his trip hilarious and awe inspiring. Travelogues too often times fail in their attempts at being effective personal essays, but Mr. Greenwald hits the nail squarely on the head with this one (as he does with most of his books). Read this and buy his other works too. You won't be disappointed.

He sets himself up for a karmic tumble and of course his fall from grace is hysterical. Fortunately there wasn't far to fall so he survives with some great stories to tell. I enjoyed this book so much I gave it to my husband and kids (of the adult variety)in turn. For a month, it seemed someone was always erupting in laughter somewhere in our house. Unlike Paul Theroux (whom I enjoy in spite of his crankiness), Jeff Greenwald's most humorous revelations are usually at his own expense. As generally happens, travel highlights the contrast between the romance of the idea with the reality of the voyage and visa versa. This isn't a trip I'd take myself, but I'm very glad Mr. Greenwald did!

Jeff Greenwald brings the enormousness of the world to our minds and imagination. His personal perspective and his tribulations and dilemmas are very well shared without him sounding too self-centered and absorbed with his own opinions. The best part of the book was his unannounced visit to the American expatriate-writer Paul Bowles in Tangier, Morocco. His visit (not his first) to Nepal and Tibet was a little overstated, but given his personal convictions, this is understandable. We may not all have the same degree of time, resource, and ardor that Jeff has for traveling, but this book is a beautiful reminder of the mystery, intrigue, and wonder the world out there has in store for us who are willing to appreciate it. And all this talk about global village, cyberspace, communication by email, internet, fax, cell phone, and quick transportation by airplanes have not diminished the lure of travel and the delicious danger that may lie ahead!

There is a great quote from this book: "Strange travel suggestions are like dancing lessons from God." Take the quote to heart and you will find that, like Jeff Greenwald, your travels will be full of wonderfully uprising twists and once in a lifetime experiences! I can't say enough good thins about the book. It enthralled me from cover to cover. I have loaned out my copy so many times that It has come back tattered, full of margin notes, and dog-eared. If travel literature is your thing, this is bound to be a favorite.

In a longish career of reading travel writing, this book still tops my list. By turns wise, hilarious, bizarre, and inspiring, it was the book I read just before I began to travel. It's a classic of the genre, so lovely and entertaining you want to hug it - a nearly perfect little gem. That it's out of print is a national disgrace. Hope springs &c.

After Reading Jeff Greenwald's The Size Of the World I was exhausted! I felt as if I had personally travelled with him to all of the exciting places he had ventured to...his honesty of what it is really like as a foreign traveler was very refreshing. Too many writers try to mystify a place, when in actuality it is often a hard road to travel in foreign territory. Jeff Greenwald tells it like it really is, without destroying the unique beauty of a place or its people. This book made me laugh so hard, made me cry, and made me a little homesick -For anyone who has been attacked by the travel-bug, or anyone seriously considering doing any extensive travel overseas, or anyone wanting to try traveling "off the beaten path"...this is it! Throw away your Lonely Planet Guide and take jeff along with you!- this is the book to cure your itch! A definite keeper!

This book describes a voyage around the world that I probably will never be able to take, but am nonetheless intensely interested in. For anyone who wants a glimpse of the earth as a unique and cohesive organism. Along with the author I was able to find, literally, what the size of the world is, traveling it's girth by land and sea once around. It was as if I were along for the ride, experiencing the awe and splendour of far-off reaches plus the dredges as well. The author has a wonderful gift for humor and poinancy, never taking himself too seriously even when in some very serious situations. Never too many words nor too little, it was easy to picture in my mind the places and people he was describing, with all their beauty and flaws intact. The underlying current of a spiritual quest was never over-stated which could have lent a feeling of self-righteousness. Pilgrimages are very personal things, but the way Greenwald wrote of his own could be very easily related to by any thinking person. A book I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in the world and her people.

Several interesting things happen to Greenwald on his marathon, round-the-world trip. Unfortunately, Greenwald surrounds his amusing anecdotes with long-winded navel gazing and obscure references to Eastern philosophy and religion. Even boring stretches, like cargo-ship rides across the ocean, don't deter him from describing them in eye-glazing detail. Periodically, the author engages himself in wishy-washy self-talk about where to go next. How about somewhere where something actually happens, preferably with a little dialogue? Perhaps a better editor would have helped him cut to the chase. This book is like a photo album of a family trip where half the pictures are of interstate rest stops and kids fighting in the back seat.

The author decides to take a trip around the world without ever setting foot aboard an airplane. He takes a ship, hikes, hitchhikes, takes trains, ect... Greenwald shows the good, the bad and the dirty of long-term travel.