Summary of Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I wanted to travel by train from London to Tokyo. I found passengers who were willing to travel with me. Duffill was one of them. He was old and his clothes were far too big for him, but he had many oddly shaped parcels wrapped in string and brown paper.
#2 The train was speeding through Clapham. I had left England behind. The sky was old. Schoolboys in dark blue blazers, carrying cricket bats and school bags, were smirking on the platform at Tonbridge. We didn’t stop at the larger stations.
#3 I boarded the Paris Express, which was floodlit. I was comforted by the thought that I could get to the Kurds without getting into a packet again. I sat down with the roll-shredding couple, who explained that I'd have to ask the wine waiter.
#4 I was shocked by the cost of the meal, which was about ten dollars. I had my small revenge by leaving my newspaper on the table in the dining car. The waiter took it from me and said, This is your paper, before handing it back to me.

Sujets

• Général
• Asia

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 28 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781669368342
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15 Insights from Chapter 16 Insights from Chapter 17 Insights from Chapter 18 Insights from Chapter 19 Insights from Chapter 20 Insights from Chapter 21 Insights from Chapter 22 Insights from Chapter 23 Insights from Chapter 24 Insights from Chapter 25 Insights from Chapter 26 Insights from Chapter 27 Insights from Chapter 28 Insights from Chapter 29 Insights from Chapter 30
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I wanted to travel by train from London to Tokyo. I found passengers who were willing to travel with me. Duffill was one of them. He was old and his clothes were far too big for him, but he had many oddly shaped parcels wrapped in string and brown paper.

#2

The train was speeding through Clapham. I had left England behind. The sky was old. Schoolboys in dark blue blazers, carrying cricket bats and school bags, were smirking on the platform at Tonbridge. We didn’t stop at the larger stations.

#3

I boarded the Paris Express, which was floodlit. I was comforted by the thought that I could get to the Kurds without getting into a packet again. I sat down with the roll-shredding couple, who explained that I'd have to ask the wine waiter.

#4

I was shocked by the cost of the meal, which was about ten dollars. I had my small revenge by leaving my newspaper on the table in the dining car. The waiter took it from me and said, This is your paper, before handing it back to me.

#5

The train made its slow circuit of Paris, weaving among the dark buildings and shrieking frseeeeeeeee-fronnnng into the ears of sleeping women. The Gare de Lyons was alive, with that midnight glamour of bright lights and smoking engines.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Orient Express is a famous train that links Europe with Asia. It has been used in many novels as a setting for criminal intrigues, because it is murder.

#2

I was on a train to Istanbul, and I was alone with an actors’ agent named Molesworth. He said he was an agents’ agent, and that he had his own firm in London. He said he always had more clients than he could handle.

#3

I met a British officer named Bunny who was in Simla in the forties. He had a nickname of Bunnyl The train was not what it used to be. It used to be one of the best, a train de luxe - royalty took it. Now, I wasn’t sure about this, but I didn’t think we had a dining car.

#4

I had breakfast in the Americans’ compartment. The man was not happy with France, and he had paid twenty dollars for a taxi from the Lazarus to the Lions. His wife said they were out of the country, not France.

#5

Duffill and I entered the Italian tunnel, and when we emerged, Duffill said, This must be the Simplon. We stopped at the Italian station of Domodos-sola, where a man sold cups of coffee from a jug and food from a pushcart.

#6

The train began to move, and Duffill was pulled along the platform by the two train guards. Molesworth tried to stop the train, but the Italians refused to pay him any attention.

#7

The Orient Express is now unique among trains for its lack of service. The Indian Rajdhani Express serves curries in its dining car, and so does the Pakistani Khyber Mail. The Meshed Express serves Iranian chicken kebab, and the train to Sapporo in Northern Japan smoked fish and glutinous rice.

#8

When Molesworth arrived in Venice, the Italian conductor had mistakenly torn out all the tickets from his Cook's wallet. The Italian conductor was in Venice, leaving Molesworth no ticket for Istanbul or Yugoslavia. But Molesworth stayed calm. He said his strategy was to say he had no money and knew only English.

#9

At Sezana, on the Yugoslav border, the passengers were very naughty. Yugoslav policemen with puffy faces and black belts crowded the train corridor and examined passports. I showed mine. The policeman pawed it, licked his thumb, and wiped at pages, leaving damp smudges, until he found my visa.

#10

I idled on the platform at Belgrade Station, waiting for my camera to charge, when I saw a group of Yugoslav peasants. I took pictures of them, and when I returned to my seat, Molesworth said, I think I shall board. I don't trust this train any more.

#11

The Bulgarian conductor was able to clean out the bottles on the train. Molesworth asked him to clean out those bottles on the floor of his compartment.

#12

There were women, but they were old, shawled against the sun, and yoked to green watering cans in devastated cornfields. The landscape was low and uneven, barely supporting any farm animals.

#13

The Bulgarian conductor told me that the typical Bulgarian meal was cheese, potatoes, bread, sausages, and salad with beans. I planned to buy what was available at Sofia Station, which would be our last night on the Direct-Orient.

#14