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There Are Other Rivers by [Alastair Humphreys]

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Alastair Humphreys

There Are Other Rivers Kindle Edition

by Alastair Humphreys (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river.
Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in the homes of welcoming strangers or in small towns and villages, he experienced the dusty enchantment of ordinary, real India on the smallest of budgets.
There Are Other Rivers tells the story of the walk through an account of a single day as well as reflecting on the allure of difficult journeys and the eternal appeal of the open road.

Nominated for National Geographic’s ‘Adventurer of the Year’

Reviews for previous books:
- “Believe me, he can write, and rather well” - Geographical
- “...displays a tendency for Big Hairy Audacious Goals that is almost unnerving.”

on Amazon:
- “This book has it all: it’s a great travel read, a look into the human soul and how most people, given enough determination, could attempt something like this.”
- “No expensive equipment or ‘fastest, strongest, quickest’; just a brilliant, understated story.”
- “Simply outstanding.”
- “If you prefer the comfort of your armchair these books will still stir your imagination and curiosity for the world.”
- “An absolute must-read or any passionate traveller.”

on GoodReads:
- “Wow... another great book by Alastair Humphreys.”
- “One of the best adventure travel books I’ve read.”

Print length

83 pages
Language

English
Publication date

November 21, 2011
File size

268 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alastair Humphreys is a British Adventurer, Author and Blogger. He spent over 4 years cycling round the world, a journey of 46,000 miles through 60 countries and 5 continents. More recently Alastair has walked across southern India, run 6 marathons through the Sahara desert, completed a crossing of Iceland, and participated in an expedition in the Arctic, close to the magnetic North Pole. He is currently training to row across the Atlantic Ocean as well as for a return journey to the South Pole. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006BJ5E1E
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 21, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 268 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 83 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #200,611 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #58 in Two-Hour Travel Short Reads
- #96 in Two-Hour Biography & Memoir Short Reads
- #176 in Adventure Travel (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
255 ratings

About the author

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Alastair Humphreys

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Alastair Humphreys is an Adventurer, Microadventurer, Author and Speaker.

Alastair Humphreys, a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, cycled around the world for four years but also schedules a monthly tree climb. He has crossed the Empty Quarter desert, rowed the Atlantic, walked a lap of the M25 and busked through Spain, despite being unable to play the violin.

Alastair has presented to organisations ranging from Google management to Special Forces soldiers, including Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and England Rugby.

He was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for his microadventures - simple, local adventures perfect for people's busy lives.

www.alastairhumphreys.com

www.instagram.com/al_humphreys

www.twitter.com/al_humphreys

Living Adventurously Podcast: https://livingadventurously.transistor.fm/subscribe

Customer reviews

5 star		60%
4 star		24%
3 star		9%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Don Kidwell

I Can't Hope to Ever Dream to be This Adventurous, But Book Truly Spoke to me Nevertheless!

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

Don't know where to even begin describing this novella after underling some 42 passages so how about the simple statement "Because every day on the road is new." From striking mixed metaphors like "This feels like a happy town, a happy morning, except, I guess, for the goat who is about to be butchered on the roadside", the humorous as example "I'm getting old and soft: the weight saving gained by cutting my toothbrush in half is now outweighed by its irritation factor" and deep, meaningful insights such as "the ageless river reminds me that my own time is fleeting" - I just have to say I loved the manner in which this story was told. Author admits at the end this is not so much a travel book, but "an attempt to articulate my fascination with the open road and the magnetism of the next horizon" and all I can say is he most assuredly succeeded and had me entranced as well.Great book for discovering "the intoxicating cocktail of wanderlust and the freedom to explore" and I moist definitely recommend!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

S Beth Rogers

Banging your head against a brick wall to enjoy stopping

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2019

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That sentence is how the author's friend described his adventures, and it also describes my experience reading the book. I finished it because I'm in a book club discussing it, and because I hoped he might eventually get to a substantive point. He talks much of living each day with a sense of purpose, but I agree with the passages when he describes his own "quest" as pointless and masochistic. Finding purpose, challenge, and suffering is easy enough in any life without artificially manufacturing replacements that help nobody. There are many causes and challenges worth embracing, and this heroic adventurer chose to apply his significant talent and resources to none of them.

On the positive side, I like his writing. Many pithy passages are inspiring when divorced from the silly quest context.

I realize this lone 1-star rating is immersed in a sea of 5-star praise. I'm the outlier, and I may very well have missed the point in my increasingly irritated skim. Not my cup of chai.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael R

In search of yourself, beyond your known limits

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2011

Verified Purchase

I ordered on a whim, "hmmm, travel. I'll read the Kindle version and maybe get a printed one for my wife for Christmas"

Within two pages the author's skill shined through and a paper copy was ordered as a present. I'm now off to read the rest and return here with a full review.

A few hours later ...

The promise of the first two pages was fulfilled through the ends.

Do not enter here for a description of India. There are glimpses of the country, but the focus lies elsewhere.

Do enter here for a meditation through the course of a composite day of a quest fulfilled through walking from coast to coast in India. Alastair somewhat impulsively decides to walk across India. He is familiar with extended physical challenge. Through his writing you can (re)experience meeting a challenge that may or may not be within your abilities.

The honest writing of There Are Other Rivers allows you to vicariously go on such a quest. It's time well spent.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Just buy it!

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is a beautiful book that I would recommend to any introspective person who loves adventure (reading or doing). It's a quick read, and organized thematically more than chronologically. In the chapter "Struggle", I started to worry that the author was getting a little too precious about his own experience...and then the narrative changed in a completely unexpected way that blew my concerns apart. The end is multi-stage and poetic. I just loved it!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jeffrey Fritts

Not just another adventure/travel book...

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

One of my favorite authors and one of my favorite adventurers, Alastair Humphreys has once again penned a story so strong in emotion that I was packing my kit to go out and find an adventure of my own even before I had finished the book. Following in the path of Moods of Future Joys and Thunder & Sunshine Alastair Humphreys’ walking journey across India allowed the reader to experience the sensations of the real India and its people. The walk ended too soon and I look forward to stories of his next adventure.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jimmy Murphy

Different/Unique Perspectives

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2019

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One of my favorite books. Losing my kindle gave me the excuse to buy it in paperback form and reread. Alastair has a beautiful way of writing. He puts a unique journey into a format that’s completely different from other travelogues. Not only takes on the “whys” of the open road, but also the “whys” of normal life that send him their in the first place. Highly recommend reading before a journey of your own.

Helpful

B. McEntire

Romantic wanderlust with a clever structure

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

I read this while I was on a trip and it kind of enhanced the whole adventure. Humphreys is a good, solid writer and he does take you along with him on his walk beside a river in India. The book is cleverly structured, too. It follows a day-in-the-life of his walk as well as the adventure as a whole. I got caught up in the romantic wanderlust of the piece. Would make an excellent gift book.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

LeanaGreen

Beautifully written and incisive commentary on challenge and adventure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

I loved this book. The writing sums up some really poignant points about adventure and life and challenge in such a simple and clear way that really spoke to me, and I felt like I was lost in the journey in India too. It made me look around and appreciate being present and enjoying everything you can deliciously devour in the day- the smell of the damp ground, the feel of the wind, the joy and struggle of working hard. My favourite quote is below, as I think it sums up well why we like to adventure (in whatever form), how it can define us, and why leaving your comfort zone is one of the best things you can do to grow, after all, we are what we repeatedly do... Thank you for writing and inspiring me to live life to the full Alastair!

"Committing to something difficult is like stepping into a furnace, to blaze brightly and to emerge forged hard into someone distinct. It may not necessarily make me a better person but it does sharpen my focus on who and what I am".

2 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Not a Pilgrim.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Although the author mentioned that he felt at times like a pilgrim, justified by his simple life style; eating rice, sleeping under stars, and daily gruelling miles of walking, this is not a pilgrimage. He dips in and out of temples, ashrams and local festivals, staying for a moment, and then ducking out and on his way to the river source. He play acted at prayer, (a self confessed aetheist) while waxing lyrical at the divine, enchanting and uplifting chants of the monks and worshippers. I have not read his other books but no doubt they are worthy of their praise. However, it appears that celebrity may have trickled into his psyche enough to produce a typically introspective monologue on all the reasons we are here. Written thousands of times before, by every adventurer who ever walked this planet, thoughts, sensations and feelings,...all the same and yet repeated, as if brand new. Having travelled thousands of miles by bike and on foot, in the last 20 or 30 years, I am bored by reading the same introspective self analysis of 'why am a I here?'. Compared to all the other gushing reveiws no doubt mine will be in the minority.

4 people found this helpful

J. Atkins

Different, inspiring and well recommended.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2012

Verified Purchase

I've read countless adventure and travel books and the majority fail to address the psychology of why we love to travel - a genuinely interesting subject matter. This book manages to explore our constant desire for travel in a clear and tangible way by following a simple walk across India.

The journey itself is not as spectacular or 'epic' in comparison to his other adventures, yet it manages to perfectly capture the essence of an adventure. He really emphasizes key elements such as the 'get up and go' factor and I love it.

Simple chapter headings, 'sunrise, dawn, challenge, alone' etc will keep the reader entranced and enthralled in this journey. As with all of Alastair Humphrey's books they are beautifully written, a rarity for this genre, it really does make such a difference to read, for the simple element of expression.

If you are a 'traveller' (I use that expression reluctantly), or a more noble adventurer, then this is the book for you. I myself have done cycle touring and I could now comfortably settle down to life of cups of tea and heated car seats, this book reignites the spark in me to get back on the open road, and when I do, the first thing I do will be to pack this book.

15 people found this helpful

Noel

Inside the mind of a solitary man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

Right at the start of this book Alastair Humphreys lists three things this book is not about.
1. A book about India
2. A chronological account of a coast-to-coast walk across southern India
3. An epic adventure tale

This a very short book, about 100 pages, and it is none of the above-mentioned though elements of each of them do crop up in the narrative. It is easier to say what this book is not about than what it is about. I think it is about a journey into the mind of this adventurer who happens to be walking across India following the course of a river, coast to coast.

Anyone who has travelled alone, outside their comfort zone whatever that might be, will very quickly get in tune with the mind, musings and thoughts of this book. The question why? is confronted from different perspectives. The seeking out of a challenge for its own sake, physical and psychological striving, and the achievement of the End.

I was hooked from the I read the Author's Note referred to above and found it a thought-provoking read. It is a very personal insight into the mind of a solitary traveller and worthy of a second reading.

5 people found this helpful

Eengland

Zen and the art of travel maintenance

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

To quote a passage from the book 'This book is not a chronological narrative across India...........it's like an adventure haiku and a few excerpts should suffice to recount the walk'. There then follows twenty four brief points that do that so well but what sort of book is it?

This is an extremely well written book by a well travelled, knowledgeable and educated person. Whilst he has previously spent four years cycling around the world, for this trip he chose to walk instead. The opening author's note states that the trip's objective was 'to attempt to articulate my fascination with the open road and the magnetism of the next horizon (plus) strike a chord with anyone restless and yearning for a long journey'.

Whilst I am not 'restless and yearning for a long journey' I do get itchy feet and need to find a beach, a mountain or an exotic environment whenever and as often as possible (preferably requiring an air ticket). India, especially Mumbai, is a regular trip and I was not disappointed with the people, sights, sounds and smells depicted in this book. The real India is captured in many enchanting, descriptive passages which are poetic in their simplicity. This alone would give the book its recommendation.
For me Alistair Humphreys has also met his other objective as I now have a better understanding of what drives a person to become an 'explorer'.

This is an interesting book on many levels but for me is at its best when capturing the light and shade of India, which so many writers find it difficult to do.

One person found this helpful

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