Slow Trains to Simla

by Paul Theroux

Strange and entertaining encounters while travelling through India by Train.
This extract is taken from Paul Theroux's book 'The Great Railway Bazaar'.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best known as a travelogue writer, Theroux has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast.

He is the father of Marcel and Louis Theroux, and the brother of Alexander and Peter. Justin Theroux is his nephew.

Reviews

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually a 60-page extract out of a much larger book by the same author.
The essense is a train ride in India told from the writer's point of view. It concentrates on the feelings of the traveller - who is English - and what he perceives as authentic Indian compared to commonly accepted (by English people) as being authentic Indian with focus on the differences between that. But only on the differences with English civilization. It is clear that the author considers English culture far superior to Indian although he is arrogant enough to 'tolerate' the differences and 'accept' any discomfort, but 1st class if at all possible.
India is vast country that was at a time an English colony and the book must be read in that perspective.
It is an adventurous and sometimes dangerous journey to Simla where the reader gets a detailed view on the environment, customs and people met. The reader could imagine to add an extra layer to these facts and impressions by making the same journey today and focusing again on what is still the same and on the differences.
Good reading, mostly interesting to people going to visit India and those who love to travel from their armchair.

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Penguin 60's book contains three excerpts from Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar. The Khyber Mail to Lahore Junction, The Frontier Mail and The Kalka Mail for Simla.
Unlike some of the other excerpt books, these are well selected stories with good beginning, pace and an ending. Excellent.

[L J Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of selections from Theroux’s 1975 The Great Railway Bazarr. Although the immediacy is gone, these are invigorating chapters full of colorful characters carefully drawn. This volume makes me want to pull out the original and visit Asia again with Theroux as my guide.

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this short little cutie this morning and keen to read more about Paul Theroux’s travels now!

[Yasmin Hammad-Juarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Debbie Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was over in the UK in 1996 these little Penguin 60s were everywhere! I love them and have quite a few at home I don't want to part with but as this edition is a bookcrossing book that I picked up at the Queenstown BookCrossing Unconvention, I will keep it moving.
I love to travel but I have never got around to reading many travel writers so this is actually my first Theroux. I enjoyed this little book. There are three stories in it:
The Khyber Mail to Lahore Junction, The Frontier Mail and The Kalka Mail for Simla. My favourite story is the last mainly because of Theroux's descriptions of the fascinating Simla and also the passenger he is travelling with - an Indian civil servant - a very contrary character.
This is a delightful read and the perfect introduction to Theroux's work. As I love the Mediterranean I have put The Pillars of Hercules on my To Be Read list.