The Way of the World [Paperback]

Nicholas Bouvier (Author), Robyn Marsack (Translator), Patrick Leigh Fermor (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

A Cult Classic, "The Way of the World" is one of the most beguiling travel books ever written. Reborn from the ashes of a Pakistan rubbish heap, it tells of a friendship between a writer and an artist, forged on an impecunious, life-enhancing journey from Serbia to Afghanistan in the 1950s. On one level it is a candid description of a road journey, on another a meditation on travel as a journey towards the self, all written by a sage with a golden pen and a wide infectious smile. It is published here for the first time in English with the Vernet drawings which are such a dynamic part of its whole.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1953, the author and an artist friend left Yugoslavia and worked their way across Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Bouvier's recollections of their 18 months of travel captures the timeless nature of what happens when different cultures interact regardless of the events surrounding them. Originally published in 1963 under the title, L'Usage du Monde, the book became a cult classic in France and was translated into several European languages. Because it covers countries that have become accessible to all peoples through world events and the media, it seems appropriate that the book is available for the first time in English. For large travel collections.
- Elizabeth Loftus, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Lyrical reminiscences of a footloose journey from Yugoslavia to India, undertaken 40 years ago by the then-25-year-old author of the enchanting The Japanese Chronicles (1992) and an equally young companion. Traveling in a distinctly fractious Fiat, the two friends, appealingly optimistic and resourceful, make their way ``on the cheap,'' settling in at peasant inns, earning their expenses by writing articles, delivering lectures, and organizing exhibitions. Perhaps because of their winning ways, they attract a colorful band of cohorts as they wend their way eastward--beggars and brigands, muezzins and Marxists. In recounting his adventures, Bouvier frequently provides thought-provoking insights: At one point, discussing the shortcomings of US humanitarian aid programs, he observes that ``practicing charity demands endless tact and humility''--qualities he finds lacking even in well-intentioned Americans; later, he points out that, ``like a mirror, an intelligent face is the same age as what it reflects.'' Wherever he travels, Bouvier displays an artist's eye for the image-conjuring detail: a moustache ``like a furled umbrella''; a Tabriz cinema in which the projectionist, eager to get home, speeds up his machine until ``the story would take on a disturbing pace: caresses looked like slaps, ermine-clad empresses hurtled downstairs.'' Throughout, Robyn Marsack's translation from the French is a model of lucidity and smoothness, capturing the author's unique blend of humanity and humor, and, as a bonus, there's a gracefully appreciative introduction by travel-writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. Travel writing to be cherished and reread. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: Marlboro Press; 1 edition (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 091039587X
• ISBN-13: 978-0910395878
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,342,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Open Road" meets "The road less traveled" in a Fiat., July 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way of the World (Hardcover)

The Way of the World takes me back to when a generation traveled the world with backpacks, motorcycles and VW buses. It is a travel log set in the late fifties, of two casual travelers in their early twenties, who set off on a trip from Europe to India to explore the backroads and see life in its essence as lived by the local people. The book paints the pictures of gypsys, artists, mountain families and ancient cities with bazaars, using local color and the eye of an artist. Those who have traveled with similiar resources will enjoy the challenges of the innovative repair of an old Fiat in the middle of a desert, the capricousness of venturing into another country with only pocketchange, and the discovery that most people in the world do have a love of strangers.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid, January 11, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the World (Hardcover)

I envy him. I envy his travels and his writing. For me Bouvier writes the best travel novels. It s something different. He doesn't describe the country. he simply lives country's life. Stays somewhere in Anatolia for a month, then suddenly one day decides it is time. Time to go, time to travel.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literature beyond category, March 22, 2010

By 

Robert Dubose - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way of the World (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

A remarkable little book that doesn't fit any category.

It is hardly a travel essay. Bouvier gives no overview of the cultures he visits. His descriptions of sites and scenes are often minimal.

Nor is it a chronicle of a personal journey. Bouvier provides little internal monologue. Although he occasionally makes philosophical pronouncements, his tone is distanced and impersonal, curious and objective. He looks outward, not inward.

It reads more like a series of impressionistic short stories. I enjoyed most the literary snapshots of people in the 1950s in Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Against a remote backdrop of religious extremism, bribe-taking officials, and tyranny in one form or another, Bouvier finds individuals who love life, seek pleasure, chase irrational dreams, and give unselfishly to needy travelers. More than anything else, it is a book about hospitality in an inhospitable world.