Have I finally aged into Paul Theroux?

I gave a short talk on nonfiction the other day, to a lovely class of library school students (at the request of their indefatigable teacher--you know who you are--thank you!) and we chatted a bit about nonfiction readers and their characteristics. As I babbled on and on, I think I said something about readers "aging into" nonfiction; this is certainly the way it happened for me. I didn't become a nonfiction junkie until my late 20s, although I always read a bit of it. In fact, I find this one of the most interesting facets of nonfiction--how young readers love perusing it (dinosaur books, anyone?), often seem to leave it behind in favor of fiction, but then sometimes return to it as older readers.

Anyway. I've read some Paul Theroux in my time, but never understood why he was such a classic travel author or how he'd gotten so popular. Well, I recently picked up his Kingdom By the Sea, and either it's because the book is about Great Britain and I'm just a sucker for all things Brit, or I've finally aged into an appreciation for Paul Theroux's writing. Or perhaps a little of both.

Theroux took as his task traveling around the entire coast of Great Britain by rail, bus, and walking, starting in London and working clockwise (including Ulster, Northern Ireland, as well). A common theme throughout is the lamenting of the dismantling of Britain's rail system, particularly as he sometimes found it difficult to "get from here to there" without a vehicle, and most particularly towards the end of the narrative when transit workers went on strike. Although the book was published in 1983, I still feel that Theroux had a good grasp on where the world was going. Consider this exchange, with a person he met on his travels:

"'Our society is changing from one based on the concept of the individual and freedom,' Mr. Bratby said, 'to one where the individual is nonexistent--lost in a collectivist state.'

I said I didn't think it would be a collectivist state so much as a wilderness in which most people lived hand to mouth, and the rich would live like princes--better than the rich had ever lived, except that their lives would constantly be in danger from the hungry predatory poor. All the technology would serve the rich, but they would need it for their own protection and to ensure their continued prosperity."

There were quite a few bits I wanted to quote from this book. More tomorrow.

 

Comments

[heidi]

I read Theroux's book earlier this year because it was referenced several times in my beloved "Notes from a Small Island" by Bill Bryson. However, Theroux was a big disappointment on a number fronts : he doesn't 'get' the British like Bryson does, he spends an interminable time writing about the south coast of England then the intervals between places becomes greater until Scotland is dealt with in a most cursory way, he lacks the humor of Bryson and becomes more and more of a "whingeing Pom" than an Englishman with those constant complaints about the rail system and the weather.

Heidi - ex-pat Scot, now resident in Australia

[Citizen Reader]

Heidi,
Hey, thanks for the Scottish view! Much more valuable than mine--I am not a Brit.
I think part of the difference between Theroux and Bryson is a difference in the times--I think in 1983 a lot of nonfiction, even travel nonfiction, was much more staid and less humorous (or gutsy?) than it is now. I really like Bill Bryson too but I have had so many people tell me they don't like him--they think he is too hard on people, or too snarky, etc.

But I totally agree that Scotland and northern GB got short shrift--in the beginning part of the book it did seem to take Theroux a long, detailed time to make his way very short distances on the Southern coast.

Thanks again. And glad to know you feel Bryson "gets" the British. How do you feel about someone like A. A. Gill?

[Sarah]

Now I want to know what Mr. Bratby's response was.

Wow, you have readers from Australia . . .

[Citizen Reader]

Sarah,
Mr. Bratby had very little response, which Theroux commented on. I had to laugh at that too. No response is usually what follows any kind of rant, even a fairly prescient one like Theroux's.

I'm very happy to have a reader in Australia. Little does she know I'm going to show up at her house someday, asking for a free place to stay in Australia. (Just kidding, Heidi, no worries.) Ah the wonders of the Internet.

[Sarah]

"All the technology would serve the rich" = isn't that what TF is advocating with his mega-speed Internet to those pods of the truly smart and deserving?

[heidi]

I've never tried AA Gill. Do you think I should?

turn up on my doorstep any tint, I'll turf one of the kids out of their room and into the garage, ply you with good Aussie wines and my mediocre cooking!

[Citizen Reader]

Heidi,
I think EVERYONE should try A.A. Gill. Try "A.A. Gill is Away" for travel writing or "The Angry Island" to see what he says about Great Britain and the English. I would totally love to hear what an ex-pat Scot thinks of him.

And thank you for the invitation. I'll start saving and sometime I'll surprise heck out of you (and the kid who gets turfed out to the garage) and show up. :)