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  • The Old Patagonian Express

  • By: Paul Theroux
  • Narrated by: Norman Dietz
  • Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (76 ratings)

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The Old Patagonian Express

By: Paul Theroux
Narrated by: Norman Dietz
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Summary

The Old Patagonian Express tells of Paul Theroux's train journey down the length of North and South America. Beginning on Boston's subway, he depicts a voyage from ice-bound Massachusetts to the arid plateau of Argentina's most southerly tip.

Shivering and sweating by turns as the temperature and altitude rise and plummet, he describes the people he encountered - the tedious Mr Thornberry in Limón and reading to the legendary blind writer, Jorge Luis Borges, in Buenos Aires.

©1979 Cape Cod Scriveners Company (P)1986 Recorded Books Inc
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Critic reviews

"One of the most entrancing travel books written in our time." ( Financial Times)
"Travel writing at its most accomplished." ( Sunday Telegraph)

What listeners say about The Old Patagonian Express

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Unique travel experience

A unique travel experience that is so vibrant and vivid its as if your there.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful romantic tale of a great train journey

I wish I had made this journey through North and South America before privatisation when the trains were still running as a joined up system but having come late to the party the next best thing is this book. You accompany the author on a beautifully recounted tale of the ups and downs of an adventure that - although it has a clear destination - has many uncertainties along the way. The narrator does justice to the book but there are some occasional issues with the recording. However these seem to belong to the time the book was written and for me they simply bring the tale to life. I particularly enjoyed his intelligent account of Buenos Aires’ culture and his literary conversations with Jorge Luis Borges.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great concept for travel book

Would have liked a bit more attempt at variety from the narrator in his Spanish accents which often sounded more like Chinese. But he did a good job of picking up Paul Theroux's humour and at times snide tone. The book is refreshingly honest in its depiction of the troubles and strife involved in travelling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Splendid

Paints a vivid picture of the ever changing landscape and gives a real insight into a towns and cities and everyday lives of a continent I’ll probably never get to see for myself. But now I feel like I’ve been

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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Awful reader

No complaint about the book, its a good read but every sentence you can hear the reader clicking his lips together and it is relentlessly annoying.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

mispronounciation

Shame the narrator can't read English must be because he's American. You'll end up grinding your teeth and baffled to the meanings of some simple sentences.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I gave up!

Maybe I am a bit too young for the style that this books is written in.

I was hoping for something Michael Palinesque and this book is not.

I made it to chapter 5 before I gave it up.

I found each chapter to be repetitive, with similar descriptions of people and places. At times the descriptions of the girls he came across could be at best lecherous and at worst salacious and bawdy. I'm not a prude but in this day and age, to read about a man 'noticing' every working girl or attractive woman he comes across is boring.

Wasn't the kind of travel writing I was hoping for.

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2 people found this helpful