or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas [Paperback]

Paul Theroux
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

List Price: $15.95
Price: $11.23 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.72 (30%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 18 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Thursday, June 20? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

November 7, 1989
Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Theroux winds up on the poky, wandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine, which comes to a halt in a desolate land of cracked hills and thorn bushes. But with Theroux the view along the way is what matters: the monologuing Mr. Thornberry in Costa Rica, the bogus priest of Cali, and the blind Jorge Luis Borges, who delights in having Theroux read Robert Louis Stevenson to him.


Frequently Bought Together

The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas + The Great Railway Bazaar + Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown
Price for all three: $35.26

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PAUL THEROUX is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include The Lower River and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.

From AudioFile

American novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux takes us on a fascinating journey through the Americas by rail. To the long tradition of such fare, he contributes considerable descriptive power, strong characterizations, humor and informed humanity--all of which William Hootkins communicates in an expressive, listener-friendly voice. There is much to interest anyone who wishes to glean insights from a keen mind and stout heart. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 404 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books; Reissue edition (November 7, 1989)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 039552105X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0395521052
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, Hotel Honolulu, My Other Life, Kowloon Tong, and The Mosquito Coast. His renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and The Happy Isles of Oceania. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 63 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars you can forgive Paul Theroux February 9, 2006
Format:Paperback
A remark that one reads often about Paul Theroux is that he is grouchy, critical of the people he meets, and generally unpleasant. Some readers seem to suggest that this makes him a worse traveler, not being pure-of-heart or sufficiently open-minded. On the other hand, some others suggest he is worth reading as a travel writer precisely because he's not afraid to tell-it-like-it-is. I think it is likely that both of these ideas are wrong.

When Paul Theroux writes a travel book, he is not a journalist writing simply to produce a faithful depiction of the places he visits. He is not a social crusader writing in order educate the reader about the lives of the poor or to stimulate the reader to see the richness of life outside of North American. He certainly is not an egotist like Thomas Friedman who writes in order to put himself in a positive light. He is simply an intelligent man who has enough humility to try to write down what he has experienced without drawing too many clumsy conclusions or false symmetries. When he writes that he didn't like a certain person sleeping in his train compartment, he doesn't expect the reader to sympathize with either him or the unpleasant companion. I don't think he means to argue that his dislike has any special significance beyond the fact that it was part of the travel story that he is telling. I like the fact that when Theroux narrates an encounter with someone in his travels he doesn't smooth out the details to make the encounter unambiguously positive or negative. For example, when he describes meeting Jorge Borges, the Argentine writer, he clearly admires Borges' memory and sensitivity and yet he doesn't avoid commenting on Borges' stuttering and his clowning smile.
... Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In 1979, Paul Theroux departed from his childhood home in Medford, Massachusetts, and began his train journey from the East Coast of the United States to Patagonia, on the southern tip of Argentina. A seasoned traveler, fluent in Spanish, Theroux brings to life his trip through the northern and southern hemispheres, traveling without a schedule and observing his fellow passengers on the train and people at stops along the way.

In Texas he is astonished at the contrasts between Laredo on the Texas side of the Rio Grande and Nuevo Laredo across the border in Mexico, commenting on society and governments. Traveling through Mexico and Guatemala, he observes the poverty of the Indians and their lack of opportunities. In El Salvador he attends a soccer game and gets caught up in the melee and riots which follow it. In Costa Rica, the cleanest country he has visited, he finds himself stuck on the train with Mr. Thornberry, a New Hampshire tourist so boring that Theroux cannot wait to escape him--only to have Mr. Thornberry "save his life" by offering him a place to stay upon his arrival in Limon. In Panama he meets the "Zonians," from the Canal Zone, and in Cali, Colombia, he meets a married "priest" who cannot tell his devout mother in Belfast that he has "left" the church to marry and have children.

Throughout his trip, Theroux reads classics, particularly enjoying Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson and Edgar Allen Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, both of which provide ironic reference points for his own journey. For literature lovers, the most fascinating section occurs in Buenos Aires, where Theroux spends many days visiting blind writer Jorge Luis Borges, who persuades Theroux to read to him.
... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
37 of 43 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An obnoxious but fun book. June 2, 2000
Format:Paperback
As a venezuelan I thank god that there is no train to my country and that Paul Theroux didn't stop in Venezuela because almost everywhere that he went , including part of the U.S.A, he had the ability, the gift to find only the negative things. So you should ask me, then why did I give this book 4 stars, because its fun to read. Paul Theroux, a young writer in the seventies, one day decides to leave his wife and kids in their home in London, go back to his parents house in Massachussets and from there take a train to the Patagonia: the farthest south that he could go. Sounds fun for an adventurous man, but all the time, all the places he keeps bitching about everything: The people on the trains, the people in the cities, how he misses his family, what is he doing there, about the food, about the hotels. Well you name it, but in the middle of all this bitching you can almost find yourself in the forest, in the middle of a civil war, in the top of the mountain, meeting Borges, every day completely different from the other.Paul Theroux can be real obnoxious, but he sure can write.
Was this review helpful to you?
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Crisp prose but disappoining observations June 27, 2005
By PS
Format:Paperback
When I saw the title and read the introduction on the back I thought this was the travelogue I have been waiting for. I also like to travel and enjoy the process of travel much more than collecting souvenirs or boasting material. I find walking through the main street of a strange place and observing the public behavior of the people and sometimes overhearing their conversations much more interesting than visiting museums or other tourist locations about which I can read from any book sitting at home. When I got this book I wanted a third party confirmation of my ways. But this book disappointed me.

It is about Theroux's travel from one end to the other end of Americas by train. He hardly feels anything interesting or appealing on the many trains he takes or the people he meets. He takes all in as a necessary evil so that he could write a book. When ever people offer him opportunities to get out of his self absorption he rebuffs them and if this is not enough calls them idiots. While spending a great deal of time in interpreting his enlightened reading material for us he seems content to call poor miserable and hot weather unbearable. If I believed that calling the poor miserable would make them rich I would have enjoyed the content of his descriptions much more.

Here comes the best part of the book. His clear, precise prose and his ability to work with short dialogues to give as a prejudiced but clear picture. In this sense this book is a very interesting read and you feel compelled to finish it once you start. If you are one of those people charmed by clear precise prose with a bit of exotism thrown in this is the book for you.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Armchair Travel
I've read the book several times and lost my old hardcover. I just want to have the book nearby to continue to read over again. It's live I'm traveling but do it in my armchair!
Published 9 days ago by Letitia W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great train travel story.
I read this a few years ago and loved it. Glad to get a chance to read it again. Best real travel adventure story. Good description of poor sections of Latin American countries. Read more
Published 1 month ago by selina
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read
Planning a trip to South America and this book got me right in the mood. Even though it is a few years old it captured the spirit of the region. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Philip Chronican
3.0 out of 5 stars Paul Theroux always tends to be negative. It gets old.
Paul Theroux has undoubtedly had the opportunity to travel to some beautiful and exciting places. It's just burdensome to have to slog through his adventures when they are... Read more
Published 10 months ago by tom regan
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Solid Effort from Theroux
It seemed The Old Patagonian Express Theroux was the only Paul Theroux travelogue I never heard about. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Troy Parfitt
3.0 out of 5 stars Too many boring bits!
I bought this book because I have travelled by train in both North and South America and was interested to see how things have changed since then. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Geraldine Jordan
3.0 out of 5 stars Grumpy man in South America
The book, which I picked up at the airport on a whim, is about Paul Theroux's travel by railway from the US to Patagonia.
Paul Theroux is an acquired taste. Read more
Published on February 12, 2011 by Christian Kober
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyably abrasive
This is the third of Paul Theroux's travel books that I have tackled, (after Dark Star Safari and The Great Railway Bazaar) and all three have a similar tone - Theroux, who it... Read more
Published on November 14, 2010 by Peter Monks
2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing trip with Paul
I enjoyed the Dark Star Safari with Paul very much and carried that level of expectation with me on this trip through the Americas. Read more
Published on October 15, 2010 by John Augsbury
4.0 out of 5 stars Paul Theroux
I like the way this rather sour-puss writer tells it like it is on his travels, on a shoe string budget. Read more
Published on April 24, 2010 by Adriannah
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Want to discover more products? You may find many from american express travel deals shopping list.