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The Great Railway Bazaar
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
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Summary
The Great Railway Bazaar is Paul Theroux's account of his epic journey by rail through Asia. Filled with evocative names of legendary train routes - the Direct-Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Delhi Mail from Jaipur, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Hikari Super Express to Kyoto, and the Trans-Siberian Express - it describes the many places, cultures, sights, and sounds he experienced and the fascinating people he met.
Here he overhears snippets of chat and occasional monologues, and is drawn into conversation with fellow passengers, from Molesworth, a British theatrical agent, and Sadik, a shabby Turkish tycoon, while avoiding the forceful approaches of pimps and drug dealers. This wonderfully entertaining travelogue pays loving tribute to the romantic joys of railways and train travel.
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What listeners say about The Great Railway Bazaar
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Overall
- Colin
- 05-04-11
I was on the train
The narrator of this story made it all come to life and it felt as though I was on the train travelling alongside and could smell and feel all the pleasures and discomforts afforded to the traveller. I have purchased the second part his return and already it has highlighted how the passing of time along with age makes you value and appreciate different things even after compensating and making allowances for memories being a ghost train and bringing about a sense of melancholy sense of loss.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Julian Hughes
- 10-03-20
foreign names still a problem in travel books!
I love this book. I've read it at least twice and expect I may do so again in a few years. It's brilliant! If you've ever travelled huge distances by train you'll recognise so much and appreciate the author's unique tone. If you haven't, but you wonder what it might be like, then get this book! It is a few decades old but if you go far enough you'll find yourself in those same types of carriages and cities and obscure wayside places.
The narration is OK but it has the usual vice of American narrators. He can only properly pronounce well known English language names. You'd think in a continental nation built on immigration that the audio book industry could find a few people who can make a decent attempt at those funny foreign words, especially if they are required to narrate a travel book. But no, not possible. Otherwise he is OK, good pace, intonation, appropriately expressive and so on.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- paul
- 26-01-13
Intensely irritating narration
Sadly the narration of this book ruined it for me , we where introduced to more and more characters as the story progressed their accents never sounded natural.and became intensely irritating
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4 people found this helpful
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- nadia
- 13-05-20
Uninspiring Story, Terrible Narration
This book has not aged well, and although it may show how pompous American travellers could be in the 70s, it is an altogether uninspiring, dreary tale where the reader is left as drained as the author by its finish.
This in itself is personal taste, however the poor review is fully deserved when the narration is taken into account. Almost every place name is pronounced incorrectly, and the accents he attempts to portray are so poor it's offensive.
This was simply not for me. A disappointing listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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- La Chute
- 25-11-19
get on board
superb book, brilliantly read, I laughed out loud and followed the journeys on google earth
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amith Sitaram
- 18-02-22
Needs a redoing
This has to be one of the most annoying and racist audiobooks I have ever listened to. Being from South Asia, one thing I can say is no one sounds like Peter Sellers from The Party and to make of mockery of us trying to speak to someone who can’t understand any other language is inexcusable. I can’t believe that this type of performance still exists and we are made to listen to this.
The story is haphazard and broken. Some sections getting more airtime than others. It does give a peak into the lives in Asia in 70s but definitely not a book I would recommend.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mrs. C. J. Kennedy
- 26-04-22
Great to listen to while on a train
Enjoyed this book. Don't think long distance trains have changed much. Knowing in my lifetime I won't be able to take the trans Siberian is sad, but Paul's description doesn't leaving me wanting!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rn Francis
- 26-08-15
Classic travel book
Read this years ago in the heyday of my own travelling days.
I was not a massive fan back then, but re-reading/listening I enjoyed it much more this time.
The narrator did a decent job, though made most of the Westerners sound more than a bit grumpy.
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1 person found this helpful
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- oliver
- 26-03-14
Not the best audible book
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
The story itself didn't grab me as his other books have. Paul appears to be bored himself during this journey which comes across, with a sense of apathy.
What will your next listen be?
not sure at this point
Would you be willing to try another one of Frank Muller’s performances?
Maybe
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Boredom
Any additional comments?
n/a
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jamie Barron
- 25-03-24
Wonderful descriptions
Loved Theroux’s writing, his gift for evocative description as he travels by train around Asia is wonderful. Really enjoyable conjurings of the atmospheres of India, Japan, Russia and many other places he visited.
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