Departures and Arrivals

by Eric Newby

'Whatever else we remember of our travels, we remember our departures and arrivals. Often they are the most enduring of all our memories of them.'

From one of Britain's best-loved travel writers comes a fascinating collection of incredible highlights from an eventful life.

Acutely observant, with an eye for quirky detail and a wit of charming self-deprecation, Eric Newby has delighted readers with his travels, whether to remote locations or his very own back garden. In this captivating collection of 19 tales, Newby invites the reader to join him as he navigates the globe, from the shops and streets of the pram-vantaged Barnes of yesteryear to a mysterious opal-mining town in Australia, and from the faded glamour of the Orient Express to a cycle ride along the Meridian Line, navigating rivers and ill-placed homes.

As a forefather of the modern comic travel book, Newby's insatiable curiosity and infectious enthusiasm have garnered him an incredible following over many decades. Departures and Arrivals is a superb showcase of Eric Newby's distinctive storytelling and boundless energy that will delight both existing fans and new admirers.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, British Literature, Biography, Memoir

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

George Eric Newby CBE MC (December 6, 1919 – October 20, 2006) was an English author of travel literature.

Newby was born and grew up near Hammersmith Bridge, London, and was educated at St Paul's School. His father was a partner in a firm of wholesale dressmakers but he also harboured dreams of escape, running away to sea as a child before being captured at Millwall. Owing to his father's frequent financial crises and his own failure to pass algebra, Newby was taken away from school at sixteen and put to work as an office boy in the Dorland advertising agency on Regent Street, where he spent most of his time cycling around the office admiring the typists' legs. Fortunately, the agency lost the Kellogg's account and he apprenticed aboard the Finnish windjammer Moshulu in 1938, sailing in what Newby entitled The Last Grain Race (1956) from Europe to Australia and back by way of Cape Horn (his journey was also pictorially documented in Learning the Ropes). In fact, two more grain races followed the 1939 race in which Newby participated, with the last race being held in 1949.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK so the longer review I just wrote and this excellent website decided not so save for me is is gone, so here is the short version.

This is a book of short stories from the charming Eric Newby, loosely themed as Departures and arrivals. I say loosely, because they really are just short travel stories without particular focus on arriving or departing.
There are a number in the UK and Italy (where his wife Wanda is from), and around half feature Wanda. There are also stories set further afield in (what I perceive as) more interesting locations - Syria, Yemen, China, Turkey, Australia.
I am a Newby fan, but find his autobiography works much stronger than his travel works, but enjoy his books nevertheless. This one suited a dip in dip out type reading, half an hour here, 20 minutes there, for which it worked out well.

A solid 3 stars.

[Deborah Cater · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a shame Eric Nweby has taken his last trip, his prose flows, he is humorous without being obvious, you feel like you have taken the journey with him.

This book focused, as the title suggests, on the bookends of various trips he took. I was informed, entertained and wanted to keep on reading. As a result I have bought several more of his books which I am currently enjoying. Even better, I know I can return to this book and not feel as if I've been there before.

[GJ Monahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was apparently a collection assembled late in Newby's career, from ingredients which sometimes seemed unfinished. The Anatolia chapter was very good, but most of the other pieces read more like an itinerary or a raw journal rather than narrative travel writing. Newby tells you that (for example) in a day of cycling from town A to town B, he covered 34 miles, used a certain brand of bicycle gear, ate a sandwich for lunch, got a blister, and stayed that evening at a hotel with a good restaurant but uncomfortable beds. But he doesn't say anything about the people, landscapes, buildings, animals, historic sites, or sunsets he encountered along the way. I like Newby; "Love and War in the Apennines" is a classic; but it's hard to escape the impression that this book was thrown together from scraps late in life, maybe to fulfil a publishing contract or simply to cash in.

[Marty Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I am experiencing the impact of reading two British novels in a row. I am not against Brits but I have to concentrate on what the noun means. This is a travel book written by a favorite travel writer for the Observer. I liked about half of his vignettes, especially the ones on the Palio in Siena, Beijing in Winter, the Camel fair in Pushkar and some cycling stories but the ones from Europe were somewhat boring. The description Eric Newby uses are good in Brit speak. I'm going back to spy novels for awhile.

[Tamara Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book of short stories about the adventures by the author and his wife in various countries. His humor is so dry, I had to read some sentences a couple of times to really grasp how hilarious his take on the world was. Really delightful. There were times when he wandered off into obscure historic facts, but overall, this was a great book to have along when there are snippets of time that allow reading a story without committing to an entire book.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Departures and Arrivals by Eric Newby is a varied collection of travel essays showcasing his wit and storytelling flair. Spanning a range of locations, the book captures the charm of mid-20th-century travel. While engaging and often humorous, some pieces may feel anecdotal or dated. Lacking a strong narrative thread, it still appeals to fans of classic travel writing with its light, entertaining tone and sense of adventure.

[Scott M · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's okay. This sort of style (a collection of shorter experiences) does not suit Newby. His other much better books are more like novels than anything and are very good, enjoyable reads. Newby's personality and wit still comes across in spades in Departures And Arrivals but before you know it, it's a new chapter and I felt like I was starting again from scratch.

[二六 侯 · Rating 5 out of 5]

紐比八十歲出版最後一本著作《出發與抵達》（Departures and Arrivals），作為自己生命的註腳；這本書的第一頁只有這麼一句話：
獻給吾愛萬妲
《出發與抵達》可視為艾瑞克．紐比的回憶錄，有時候文章中他甚至不寫自己的旅伴是誰，直接用「我們」當主詞──地球人都知道他的旅伴就是萬妲；兩人不僅是人生的伴侶，也是這一生種大部分旅途的遊伴。（寫於2007年）
全文：https://hou26.org/zeta/eric_newby.htm

[Gilbert Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice gentl;e book written in Newby's inimitable style...

[Avary Doubleday · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting travel writing. Most of the places were not ones in which I am interested.