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Slowly Down the Ganges
- Narrated by: James Bryce
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Travel & Tourism, Asia
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A “ must read”
- By Liz Mitchinson on 17-09-18
Summary
Slowly Down the Ganges is seen as a vintage Newby masterpiece, alongside A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush and Love and War in the Apennines. Told with Newby's self-deprecating humour and wry attention to detail, this is a classic of the genre and a window into an enchanting piece of history.
On his 44th birthday, Eric Newby sets out on an incredible journey: to travel the 1,200-mile length of India's holy river. In a misguided attempt to keep him out of trouble, Wanda, his lifelong travel companion and wife, is to be his fellow boatwoman. Their plan is to begin in the great plain of Hardwar and finish in the Bay of Bengal, but the journey almost immediately becomes markedly slower and more treacherous than either had imagined - running aground 63 times in the first six days.
Travelling in a variety of unstable boats, as well as by rail, bus and bullock cart, and resting at sandbanks and remote villages, the Newbys encounter engaging characters and glorious mishaps, including the non-existence of large-scale maps of the country, a realisation that questions of pure 'logic' cause grave offense and, on one occasion, the only person in sight for miles is an old man who is himself unsure where he is. Newby's only consolation: on a river, if you go downstream, you're sure to end up somewhere....
Critic reviews
"All the dusty enchantment and the recurrent dottiness of India – its exasperating charm – are in these pages." (Eric Linklater)
"Any book by Eric Newby is an event." (Len Deighton)
"Impossible to describe adequately the flavour of this delicious story...vintage Newby delicately salted with The Wind in the Willows and Three Men in a Boat." (Guardian)
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-06-20
Brilliant Book.
Brilliant book. The following is superfluous nonsense to make the word count. Eric Newby is brilliant.
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- Amzshopper
- 27-01-20
A delightful classic!
Carefully observed, humerous, with care for the people he meets, the great Eric Newby takes us on a real adventure--with classic English good humor in tight spots and none of the modern expedition gear or comforts we have today! Great narrator. It's abridged, but still so worthwhile. Definitely worth also reading the hard copy to get the full wonderful story and humor.