Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales: The Road Within: True Stories of Transformation

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

 

 

I didn't intend to buy this book, but (I swear) it jumped off a bookshelf and into my hands. Yes, it is true, I paid full price in a real world bookstore. The perils of impulse buying are rewarded sometimes by treasures. This book has chapter after chapter of interesting articles by a variety of travelers who find some spiritual message in their journeys. Amazon leaves out the part of the chapter that makes this sound like a spiritual book ("transformation", "soul"), calling it True Stories of Life on the Road, but I have the book in my hands, and the title is as shown above. There is no 'new age' feeling to the stories, nor are there tons of meetings with angels. Instead, there are true, perhaps slightly odd, stories of encounters with one's own inner being, through travel experiences. Each chapter is by a different, often well-known traveler or writer - the writing is of an excellent quality. In one chapter, a man far away from his wife through miles and emotional connection has a frightening event and calls his wife. But before he can tell her the details, she tells him of a dream she had. Her dream is not an exact rendition of his event, but so close that it is clear they were connected. Other stories may tell of spiritual adventures, ventures that changed a life, or life, death, worship practices in other lands.

I must regrettably agree to an extent with the complaint of the reader in Silverton. I am a great fan of the Travelers' Tales series, and have grown to relish having one of their volumes with me on the road. The stories usually provide me with not only vicarious pleasures in imagining others' experiences, but also enhance my receptivity to the potential for enjoyment and growth in my journey of the moment.

I bought The Road Within in the hopes that it would focus on those sorts of transformative experiences that only travel can bring. Unfortunately, while there are many stories here about transformative experiences, many of them have nothing to do with travel. Some are about conquering fears, finding religion, or taking up extreme sports, all independently of travel. Among the Thugs is a fine book that I have read separately, but there seems no logical reason for its lengthy excerpting in a book with this title.

The book has its moments: I particularly enjoyed Fire Beneath the Skin, Passing Through, and Luzvminda.

I must also say that I sense a strain of arrogance coming into the Travelers' Tales series: an assumption that readers don't necessarily gravitate to the books because of the fine travel writing, but share all of the personal topical interests of the O'Reillys. In my case, it isn't so.

An uneven book; very captivating in parts, but contains far too much extraneous material.

The Road Within contains an excellent collection of diverse essays about travel. It includes pieces by Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, and Lyall Watson. The prose is clear and the essays are all well thought out. The book does not just tell how the authors gained spiritual insight during journeys. Taken together, the essays show how travel is essential to the process of growing up.

There's so much in this book, it could be called Spirituality 101 except that would imply dryness and this book is anything but--a really terrific collection of stories about travel and the soul.

A collection of amazing stories that will re-enchant your world. Each rings with authenticity and heart. Great before falling asleep read. The seeds of rich dreams. Waiting for the next edition!

The stories in this book have a distinctly new age mysticism and eastern religious lean to them. Too many Zen "one hand clapping" types of stories for my taste and not enough TRAVEL.