Becky Mayne Mayne itibaren La Rioja, La Rioja Province, Argentina itibaren La Rioja, La Rioja Province, Argentina

Classic Grisham, Lots of page turning moments... holds your attention until the end

Having a bit of an obsession with 'ghost trains' I must admit that I was initially drawn to this book because of its title. Upon discovering that the trains in question were taking the author through a large chunk of the former Soviet Union (Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Trans-Siberian), I immediately knew I needed to read it. It was a good book, mostly entertaining, incredibly well-written, and exploring a ridiculous number of locales, many of which (such as Turkmenistan and Myanmar) are rather difficult to visit. To be honest, I am not particularly interested in traveling to India or Southeast Asia. As such, I wasn't as interested in Theroux's travels through these areas. Unfortunately for me, they filled the bulk of the book. (However, his writings from the beginning of the book through his time in Vietnam were excellent, and would, no doubt, be of great interest to those interested in the areas through which he traveled.) By the time Theroux reached Japan, however, he seemed to be burning out. This is certainly understandable, given that he'd been traveling for months overland by that time, but unfortunately, it affected his writing. His stories of Japan seemed to focus mainly on their obsession with manga-porn, and grew rather boring. I skimmed through them, eager to get to his chapter on the Trans-Siberian. And yes, it was only a chapter. Roughly equal in distance to his journeys of the first 400 pages of the book, the Trans-Sib netted only 30 pages. I had hoped, from reading the back-cover blurb, for a Trans-Sib trip involving numerous stops along the way, exploring the various cities along the way. Instead, the Trans-Sib was merely his transport home, a disappointing (to the Russophile) week of travel-weary train confinement. Conclusion? The first 400 pages are excellent, and would especially be appealing to those interested in India and/or Southeast Asia. Those interested in travelogues from Central Asia or Russia should stick to Colin Thubron.