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  • Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

  • By: Paul Theroux
  • Narrated by: John McDonough
  • Length: 24 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (171 ratings)
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Ghost Train to the Eastern Star cover art

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

By: Paul Theroux
Narrated by: John McDonough
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Summary

In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux retraces the steps he took thirty years ago in his classic The Great Railway Bazaar. From the Eurostar in London, he once again sets out on a journey to the East, travelling overland through Eastern Europe, India and Asia. Infused with the changes that have shaped the exterior landscape and enriched with developments to his own perceptions and psychology, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is an absorbing and beautifully written follow-up to The Great Railway Bazaar.
©2008 Paul Theroux (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

What listeners say about Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Transports one to the East magnificently

Brilliant, vivid, nostalgic, alarming - Paul Theroux's re-run of the journey he took 30 years before from London to the East is simply magnificent. He recounts his impressions and adventures with honesty and humour.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

A wonderful travelog, especially to a train lover. Who needs pictures when words are used so comprehensively. Only the smell is missing.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Fantastic book with a fantastic narrator

This is one of my favourite books on audible at the moment with only Bill Brysons "A walk in the woods" up there along with it...though I do think this is a higher quality of writing...differnt books but both bring you on a great adventure in different writing styles. I found the narrator very easy to listen to especially when nodding off...often leaving the book on all night joining it at different intervals as i wake up.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

I was looking forward to this book, thinking it may be similar to a Bill Bryson type travel adventure. It definitely was not. This book has virtually no humour and is very hard to listen to as the narrator's voice is incredibly dull.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, Japan

theroux focus on differences between various east and south east asian nations means adjusting travel plans to take in Sri Lanka Burma Vietnam and Japan and avoid any former Soviet nation. wish he had done Hong Kong. many illuminating long sessions with his writing peers. Pico Iyer. Murakami. Arthur C Clarke. Orhan Pamuk. a book for the bookish

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An Excellent Extravaganza of Rail Travel

Written in Paul Theroux's usual lively prose, this is an excellent book that takes the listener (reader) on an exceptional journey from Europe across the Middle East, India and onto the Far Eastern reaches of the world's rail network, returning from Japan to Vladivostok and returning on the Trans Siberian Express. Along the way he meets a colourful array of interesting people, whose lives the author describes in some detail. Paul Theroux is, for good reason, my favourite travel writer, and his books are timeless expeditions, that bring real places and real people to life. Highly recommended to anyone interested in people, places and long distance travel.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Rich and textured.

I loved Paul's eyewitness approach to traveling to some of the world's most extreme places. It was rich and textured and gave a sense of being there. He pulls no punches and does not romanticise. Really enjoyable

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Theroux is great + also annoying but helps w sleep

Overall great, nice way of describing things, interesting encounters. Occasionally condescending and grouchy. Ridiculous description of Tokyo as being awful and the future of all cities (it's so Japanese in its attention to detail and many more things), but redeemed by other features such as chatting with Haruki Murakami . my favourite use for this book is in the mornings when I can't get back to sleep the narrator's soporific voice works wonders.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best...

In a big fan an Paul Theroux books generally but this is one of the best.

It is also simply one of the best books I have ever read (or had read to me...! ).

I haven't got to the end yet but it just gets better and better. Really interesting and insightful glance into a range of cultures, all in Theroux's slightly oblique style.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly engaging

If you've read and enjoyed Theroux's 'The Great Railway Bazaar', then you'll love his fascinating and insightful retracing of that journey.

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