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Travels With Myself
Travels With Myself is a dazzling collection of selected writings by bestselling travel writer and novelist, Tahir Shah. Written over twenty years, the pieces form an eclectic treasury of stories from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and beyond.
Some consider the lives of women in society – both in East and West. The women-only police stations of Brazil, for instance, as well as the female inmates waiting to die on America’s death row, or the young widows who clear landmines for a living in northern Cambodia.
More still consider Morocco, where Shah and his family resided for many years in a mansion set squarely in the middle of a sprawling Casablanca shantytown. Yet more reflect on the oddities and contradictions of the modern world, such as why, in India each summer, hundreds of thousands line up to swallow live fish; or how the Model T Ford sounded the death knell of lavish Edwardian ostrich-feather hats.
Regarded as a brilliantly original writer, Tahir Shah has gained a worldwide following by perceiving the lands through which he travels with a lens honed to detail. Questioning everything he observes, Shah taps down to a bedrock of wonder which most writers and travellers don’t even realise exists.
Some consider the lives of women in society – both in East and West. The women-only police stations of Brazil, for instance, as well as the female inmates waiting to die on America’s death row, or the young widows who clear landmines for a living in northern Cambodia.
More still consider Morocco, where Shah and his family resided for many years in a mansion set squarely in the middle of a sprawling Casablanca shantytown. Yet more reflect on the oddities and contradictions of the modern world, such as why, in India each summer, hundreds of thousands line up to swallow live fish; or how the Model T Ford sounded the death knell of lavish Edwardian ostrich-feather hats.
Regarded as a brilliantly original writer, Tahir Shah has gained a worldwide following by perceiving the lands through which he travels with a lens honed to detail. Questioning everything he observes, Shah taps down to a bedrock of wonder which most writers and travellers don’t even realise exists.
535 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2011
16 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Tahir Shah
153 books623 followersTahir Shah was born in London, and raised primarily at the family’s home, Langton House, in the English countryside – where founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden Powell was also brought up.
Along with his twin and elder sisters, Tahir was continually coaxed to regard the world around him through Oriental eyes. This included being exposed from early childhood to Eastern stories, and to the back-to-front humour of the wise fool, Nasrudin.
Having studied at a leading public school, Bryanston, Tahir took a degree in International Relations, his particular interest being in African dictatorships of the mid-1980s. His research in this area led him to travel alone through a wide number of failing African states, including Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.
After university, Tahir embarked on a plethora of widespread travels through the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and Africa, drawing them together in his first travelogue, Beyond the Devil’s Teeth. In the years that followed, he published more than a dozen works of travel. These quests – for lost cities, treasure, Indian magic, and for the secrets of the so-called Birdmen of Peru – led to what is surely one of the most extraordinary bodies of travel work ever published.
In the early 2000s, with two small children, Tahir moved his young family from an apartment in London’s East End to a supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of a Casablanca shantytown. The tale of the adventure was published in his bestselling book, The Caliph’s House.
In recent years, Tahir Shah has released a cornucopia of work, embracing travel, fiction, and literary criticism. He has also made documentaries for National Geographic TV and the History Channel, and published hundreds of articles in leading magazines, newspapers, and journals. His oeuvre is regarded as exceptionally original and, as an author, he is considered as a champion of the new face of publishing.
www.tahirshah.com
www.twitter.com/humanstew
www.facebook.com/TahirShahAuthor
http://www.youtube.com/user/tahirshah999
www.pinterest.com/tahirshah
Along with his twin and elder sisters, Tahir was continually coaxed to regard the world around him through Oriental eyes. This included being exposed from early childhood to Eastern stories, and to the back-to-front humour of the wise fool, Nasrudin.
Having studied at a leading public school, Bryanston, Tahir took a degree in International Relations, his particular interest being in African dictatorships of the mid-1980s. His research in this area led him to travel alone through a wide number of failing African states, including Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.
After university, Tahir embarked on a plethora of widespread travels through the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and Africa, drawing them together in his first travelogue, Beyond the Devil’s Teeth. In the years that followed, he published more than a dozen works of travel. These quests – for lost cities, treasure, Indian magic, and for the secrets of the so-called Birdmen of Peru – led to what is surely one of the most extraordinary bodies of travel work ever published.
In the early 2000s, with two small children, Tahir moved his young family from an apartment in London’s East End to a supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of a Casablanca shantytown. The tale of the adventure was published in his bestselling book, The Caliph’s House.
In recent years, Tahir Shah has released a cornucopia of work, embracing travel, fiction, and literary criticism. He has also made documentaries for National Geographic TV and the History Channel, and published hundreds of articles in leading magazines, newspapers, and journals. His oeuvre is regarded as exceptionally original and, as an author, he is considered as a champion of the new face of publishing.
www.tahirshah.com
www.twitter.com/humanstew
www.facebook.com/TahirShahAuthor
http://www.youtube.com/user/tahirshah999
www.pinterest.com/tahirshah
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 8, 2023
As a big fan of Tahir Shah's work I was looking forward to reading this, but with a little trepidation. I had read the reviews before I was very kindly gifted a copy, and it comes across a a bit of a love hate from the reviewers.
Like any collect or anthology, it is a little hit and miss. These selections are taken over the writing career of Tahir Shah (some twenty years of writing), so we should expect some inconsistency, although there was opportunity for him to leave out some of the poor examples - in my view, there were only a few. It is true some of the essays are superficial - they are, however very short, so this is somewhat inevitable; and some are a little flat in their presentation - these seemed to me to be earlier works, and were perhaps collected here because they couldn't go elsewhere (magazine articles etc).
For the most part these are fairly typical Tahir Shah pieces - none of these were long, some were excerpts of his other books - or perhaps they were the origin pieces - I didn't go back to compare.
It is a sizeable book - 400 pages, and there are loads of essays - somewhere just over fifty. They are mostly travel pieces or experiences - excerpts if you like, occasionally a book review, an interview with someone of importance.
As Tahir lives in Casablanca, Morocco, there are a lot of stories from Morocco. If there was a criticism there was a little repetition in these. After Morocco, India is probably the next most frequent location. Other than these, there are stories from a vast breadth of places - Brazil, Peru and Ecuador is South America, Qatar, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Afghanistan in the Middle East, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa and Namibia in Africa. Cambodia, Pakistan, USA, Switzerland and Tibet round things out.
Memorable ones for me - Richard Halliburton biography / book review: an American explorer, several of whose books I own, although I have read only one; his time with Wilfred Thesiger; His Indian stories were mostly very good; His time in prison in Pakistan is well told and must have been terrifying; the all-women police stations in Brazil; the Cambodian mine clearing women, widows of those killed by mines, was excellent; and his Moroccan stories, although mostly I was already familiar would be good for a new reader.
This may well have worked better as a dip in dip out book, rather than a linear read. Still, plenty to be gained from this collection of bits and pieces, collected and published in 2011.
4 stars
Like any collect or anthology, it is a little hit and miss. These selections are taken over the writing career of Tahir Shah (some twenty years of writing), so we should expect some inconsistency, although there was opportunity for him to leave out some of the poor examples - in my view, there were only a few. It is true some of the essays are superficial - they are, however very short, so this is somewhat inevitable; and some are a little flat in their presentation - these seemed to me to be earlier works, and were perhaps collected here because they couldn't go elsewhere (magazine articles etc).
For the most part these are fairly typical Tahir Shah pieces - none of these were long, some were excerpts of his other books - or perhaps they were the origin pieces - I didn't go back to compare.
It is a sizeable book - 400 pages, and there are loads of essays - somewhere just over fifty. They are mostly travel pieces or experiences - excerpts if you like, occasionally a book review, an interview with someone of importance.
As Tahir lives in Casablanca, Morocco, there are a lot of stories from Morocco. If there was a criticism there was a little repetition in these. After Morocco, India is probably the next most frequent location. Other than these, there are stories from a vast breadth of places - Brazil, Peru and Ecuador is South America, Qatar, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Afghanistan in the Middle East, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa and Namibia in Africa. Cambodia, Pakistan, USA, Switzerland and Tibet round things out.
Memorable ones for me - Richard Halliburton biography / book review: an American explorer, several of whose books I own, although I have read only one; his time with Wilfred Thesiger; His Indian stories were mostly very good; His time in prison in Pakistan is well told and must have been terrifying; the all-women police stations in Brazil; the Cambodian mine clearing women, widows of those killed by mines, was excellent; and his Moroccan stories, although mostly I was already familiar would be good for a new reader.
This may well have worked better as a dip in dip out book, rather than a linear read. Still, plenty to be gained from this collection of bits and pieces, collected and published in 2011.
4 stars
April 11, 2012
This book containing over sixty very varied pieces of work written by Tahir Shah over the past twenty years, is intended to be a bedside book or a companion on the reader’s own long journey. The writing was inspired by experiences in many parts of the world including Morocco where the author now lives, and the emphasis is on the people he met as much as the places visited. Dedicated to his wife, Rachana, ‘Travels With Myself’ is unusual for a book of the genre in that it contains several very sensitive pieces concerned with understanding the predicament of women in very difficult situations.
As a person who straddles both worlds, one of Tahir Shah’s aims is to show the West to the East and the East to the West. This book does much to give those of us brought up in the West a better understanding of the East. It was also designed to stimulate imagination and thought. If you have ambitions to write you could well find it invaluable.
One piece is predominant in my mind as I write this. It was written in praise of Bruce Chatwin and his book ‘The Songlines’, his own indispensible travel companion. What Shah writes about Chatwin’s work could well be applied to his own. "With such a book the impact isn’t necessarily obvious at first ... but the more you read it, and live with it, and travel with it, the more it speaks to you, and the more you realise you cannot live without that book. It’s then that the wisdom hidden inside, the seed, is passed on." Shah’s best writing too is lyrical, has perfect rhythm, juxtaposes the sharpest realism with far-flung fantasy, is capable of easing the reader down through layer after layer until they hit raw metal, the mirror in which they see themselves.
I recommend you buy this book to savour slowly.You may well discover it is one you cannot live without.
As a person who straddles both worlds, one of Tahir Shah’s aims is to show the West to the East and the East to the West. This book does much to give those of us brought up in the West a better understanding of the East. It was also designed to stimulate imagination and thought. If you have ambitions to write you could well find it invaluable.
One piece is predominant in my mind as I write this. It was written in praise of Bruce Chatwin and his book ‘The Songlines’, his own indispensible travel companion. What Shah writes about Chatwin’s work could well be applied to his own. "With such a book the impact isn’t necessarily obvious at first ... but the more you read it, and live with it, and travel with it, the more it speaks to you, and the more you realise you cannot live without that book. It’s then that the wisdom hidden inside, the seed, is passed on." Shah’s best writing too is lyrical, has perfect rhythm, juxtaposes the sharpest realism with far-flung fantasy, is capable of easing the reader down through layer after layer until they hit raw metal, the mirror in which they see themselves.
I recommend you buy this book to savour slowly.You may well discover it is one you cannot live without.
February 2, 2022
Travels with Myself by Tahir Shah, evocative cover designed by Rachana Shah. From The People of the Cloak to On The Skeleton Coast and The Romance of Richard Halliburton the writing sings. The pieces (essays) are arranged in digestible bites, one as interesting as the other. The back cover says ... 'the pieces in this book are designed to spark the imagination and to act as a catalyst for thought....Shah suggests the book ought to be dipped into at random... a bedside book or a companion on a long journey.' Pg 332, The Magic of the Ordinary. 'The real beauty of Morocco' he said pensively 'can only be seen from inside out. Search for it outside in and you will never find the truth or the real beauty held within.'
At the same time ... 20 06 21 ... Just read the Women on Death Row chapter again. Dreadful dreadful. Like at least one other reviewer I was startled and oppressed by Women on Death Row. Terrifying story is told with admirable calm and force. May good arise from it! Memoir of a Torture Prison carries even more of a calm, stomach turning punch. Where Widows go to Die memorably upsetting. Conversely there is an account of women in Cambodia, enabled to do a very dangerous and helpful job. THAT is by no means all. Couldn't recommend the book more, accounts one can trust the telling of. Like many a book written by Tahir Shah the impact increases over the years.
At the same time ... 20 06 21 ... Just read the Women on Death Row chapter again. Dreadful dreadful. Like at least one other reviewer I was startled and oppressed by Women on Death Row. Terrifying story is told with admirable calm and force. May good arise from it! Memoir of a Torture Prison carries even more of a calm, stomach turning punch. Where Widows go to Die memorably upsetting. Conversely there is an account of women in Cambodia, enabled to do a very dangerous and helpful job. THAT is by no means all. Couldn't recommend the book more, accounts one can trust the telling of. Like many a book written by Tahir Shah the impact increases over the years.
March 12, 2020
Tai kažkas panašaus į Čekuolio ar Užkalnio knygas apie šalis ir žmones, šalių papročius ir istoriją, tik parašyta labai talentingai, spalvingai ir lengvai. Tikras geografijos ir istorijos lobynas. Skyrius apie Indiją, šventąjį Varanasio miestą, jo našles mums viešint Indijoje buvo kaip vyšnia ant torto. Atskiri pasakojimai apie keliolika šalių. Nepamainoma atostogų knyga.
January 18, 2019
Viskas su šia knyga blogai: rašymo stilius - lėkštas; istorijų turinys - be jokių akcentų; išvados - pritemptos arba jų apskritai nėra. Kadangi skaičiau šio autoriaus pirmas dvi knygas, kurios buvo parašytos ne kaip trumpos, viena su kita niekap nesusijusios istorijos, o kaip romanai, tai šioje knygoje dalis jų atsikartojo, tik ženkliai taupesniais, todėl mažiau įdomiais, aprašymais.
Jeigu jau visai atvirai, tai man pasirodė, kad knyga buvo parašyta labai jau pritemptai, tiesiog tam, kad kažką parašyti. Net nesistengiau jos užbaigti ir kitiems tikrai nerekomenduoju.
Jeigu jau visai atvirai, tai man pasirodė, kad knyga buvo parašyta labai jau pritemptai, tiesiog tam, kad kažką parašyti. Net nesistengiau jos užbaigti ir kitiems tikrai nerekomenduoju.
November 14, 2016
I was very surprised seing such a positive feedback about this book.
Very flat narration style with unecessary kitch ornemented language - the first sign showing author's inability to say something that we didn't hear yet. I undetected personal speaking, I didn't feel moods and true experiences, only superficial travel journalism.
Author was raised in UK but uses such a hypocritical approach to occidental way of living. Old man's cursory sentences in Marocco sound as profoundness of wisdom for him. After 20 stories (some of them were quite well writte, I have to admit) I was obliged to close the book and put back to the shelf after reading once more what a piece of sh* the other part of the World is and what an Eden is Marocco and other muslim places in this Earth. Even in biographical travel book I would like more objectivity and critical writing.
The funniest part was reading that UK is very expensive to live and he was "obliged" to move away from this absurdly expensive country and then follows memoirs of traveling with one of most luxurious trains in the World, buying a palace in Morocco, etc. etc. :)
Very flat narration style with unecessary kitch ornemented language - the first sign showing author's inability to say something that we didn't hear yet. I undetected personal speaking, I didn't feel moods and true experiences, only superficial travel journalism.
Author was raised in UK but uses such a hypocritical approach to occidental way of living. Old man's cursory sentences in Marocco sound as profoundness of wisdom for him. After 20 stories (some of them were quite well writte, I have to admit) I was obliged to close the book and put back to the shelf after reading once more what a piece of sh* the other part of the World is and what an Eden is Marocco and other muslim places in this Earth. Even in biographical travel book I would like more objectivity and critical writing.
The funniest part was reading that UK is very expensive to live and he was "obliged" to move away from this absurdly expensive country and then follows memoirs of traveling with one of most luxurious trains in the World, buying a palace in Morocco, etc. etc. :)
June 24, 2020
It is interesting to read the other reviews. You wonder why one person loves the book and the other didn't enjoy it at all.
I am definitely in the love camp. I am grateful to the Museum of Islamic Art Book Club (Doha Qatar) for introducing me to this book. We only read three stories and I was hooked. We then picked another three to read the following month. Savouring the collection of essays in small pieces was enjoyable.
I took four months to read the book. I never keep a book beside me to pick up every so often and read only a chapter or two, but it worked so well for this book.
There are so many new places I want to visit thanks to his essays. But I also know that sometimes just learning of a place can be enough. Tahir's writing allowed me to learn more of others through insightful observations.
I am definitely in the love camp. I am grateful to the Museum of Islamic Art Book Club (Doha Qatar) for introducing me to this book. We only read three stories and I was hooked. We then picked another three to read the following month. Savouring the collection of essays in small pieces was enjoyable.
I took four months to read the book. I never keep a book beside me to pick up every so often and read only a chapter or two, but it worked so well for this book.
There are so many new places I want to visit thanks to his essays. But I also know that sometimes just learning of a place can be enough. Tahir's writing allowed me to learn more of others through insightful observations.
July 16, 2022
Ši knyga - tai trumpų pasakojimų rinkinys apie autoriaus aplankytas vietas, sutiktus žmonės, patirtus įspūdžius. Istorijos, kurios autoriui reiškia kažką svarbaus, kažkas ką jis norėtų išsaugoti ir grįžti prie to vėliau.
Iš pirmo žvilgsnio tai atrodo pabiras istorijų rinkinys, tačiau pažvelgus atidžiau išryškėja keletas atsikartojančių temų. Štai jos.
Ko norėti, kai atrodytų turi neribotus turtus, ir galią? Pataikauti savo pojūčiams, mėgautis prabangiais maistu, nuostabiais daiktais? Ar daryti kažką, kas išliks po tavęs: kaupti meno dirbinių kolekcijas, propaguoti kultūrą? Autoriaus senelis šeimą netikėtai priversdavo keltis iš įprastos vietos į kitą, kad šie neprisirištų prie materialinių dalykų. Įdomu, kad seneliui mirus, jo daiktus pasisavino ir su jais pabėgo godi tarnaitė.
Meilė Marokui. Autorius apsigyveno Maroke pajutęs šios šalies magišką trauką. Ir pasinėrė į kitokį jo pasaulį su savo papročiais ir vertybėmis. Tai laiko nepaliestos akylai šeimoje saugomos tradicijos, maisto gamybos receptai, seni daiktai. Tai slėpiningi medinų (maroko miestų senamiesčiai) namai su savo ūksmingais kiemeliais, lėtai yrantys ir slepiantys nepaprasto grožio daiktus ir architektūros elementus. Tai tikėjimas džinais. Tai savitas pareigos ir draugystės suvokimas.
Meilė Marokui nejučia atveda prie kitos temos - kultūrų sandūros. Globalios, vakarietiškos, kur tikslų siekiama greitai ir pigiai, ir marokietiškos, kus darbai daromi lėtai, pasitelkiant senovines technologijas ir darbo įrankius. Kur pradėtam darbui gresia būti nutrauktam daugybe būdų, bet dėl to pasiektas tikslas tik dar vertingesnis. Tai vakarų kultūros atvirumas ir maroko kultūros uždarumas. Ir nauji nepaprasti rezultatai, gaunami peržengus ribas tarp šių kultūrų.
Kelionių atvirukai. Sakytum tai nedideli epizodai iš kelionių dienoraščio, kurie atskleidžia ypatingas aplankytos vietos detales. Tai užsikonservavusi praeities dvasia, nepaliesta globalizacijos. Ramybės dvasia. Unikalūs senoviniai papročiai, patiekalai, kalba. Praeities oazės globaliame pasaulyje. Kas svarbu, tai autoriaus gebėjimas pamatyti tai, ko kitas būdamas tose pačiose vietose neįžvelgs, todėl ši knyga yra ir vedlys į tą tiktai kai kuriems žmonės matomą pasaulį.
Stebuklo anatomija. Sukčiai Indijoje, kurie pasitelkę iliuzionistų triukus apsimeta avatarais ir išvilioja naivių kaimiečių pinigus. Žvilgsnis į stebuklą tikinčiojo akimis - autorius sudalyvavo minioje žmonių, kurie kas metus suplūsta į nedidelį Indijos miestelį, kad rydami gyvas žuvis pasveiktų nuo astmos (kaip bebūtų keista tai veika!). Pigios komercijos banga Kalkutoje, siekianti pasipelnyti iš motinos Teresės atminimo.
Supažindinimas su Islamo kultūra. Istorija. Ypatingos vietos. Vertybės.
Nepaprastos asmenybės. Žvelgiančios į pasaulį drąsiai, niekinančios lengvus kelius.
Kultūrų paribiai. Šiurpą keliantys papročiai. Galvų medžiotojai Centrinės Amerikos džiunglėse. Kambodžos minų laukai. Kukluksklano užgimimo vieta. Nuotakų penyklos Nigerijoje. Moterų diskriminavimas ir feministinė revoliucija Niujorko meno pasaulyje. Paskutinė knygos istorija yra apie moteris, laukiančios mirties bausmės kalėjime JAV. Šios šiurpios istorijos parinkimas knygos pabaigai suglumino. Tačiau kita vertus, gal būt paskutinioji istorija apie moters dalią yra priešpastatoma pirmajai istorijai apie vyrų pasaulį. Vyrų pasaulio kraštutinė prabanga (reprezentuojama Maharadžos ekspreso) ir kraštutinė moterų pasaulio neteisybė. Nežinau, ar toks buvo autoriaus sumanymas, tačiau ko gero tar iš pažiūros atsitiktinių istorijų galima surasti daug daugiau sąsajų.
Skaitymas buvo išties malonus. Tikriausiai, paėmus ją paskaityti po kiek laiko ji atsiskleis dar kitomis spalvomis.
Iš pirmo žvilgsnio tai atrodo pabiras istorijų rinkinys, tačiau pažvelgus atidžiau išryškėja keletas atsikartojančių temų. Štai jos.
Ko norėti, kai atrodytų turi neribotus turtus, ir galią? Pataikauti savo pojūčiams, mėgautis prabangiais maistu, nuostabiais daiktais? Ar daryti kažką, kas išliks po tavęs: kaupti meno dirbinių kolekcijas, propaguoti kultūrą? Autoriaus senelis šeimą netikėtai priversdavo keltis iš įprastos vietos į kitą, kad šie neprisirištų prie materialinių dalykų. Įdomu, kad seneliui mirus, jo daiktus pasisavino ir su jais pabėgo godi tarnaitė.
Meilė Marokui. Autorius apsigyveno Maroke pajutęs šios šalies magišką trauką. Ir pasinėrė į kitokį jo pasaulį su savo papročiais ir vertybėmis. Tai laiko nepaliestos akylai šeimoje saugomos tradicijos, maisto gamybos receptai, seni daiktai. Tai slėpiningi medinų (maroko miestų senamiesčiai) namai su savo ūksmingais kiemeliais, lėtai yrantys ir slepiantys nepaprasto grožio daiktus ir architektūros elementus. Tai tikėjimas džinais. Tai savitas pareigos ir draugystės suvokimas.
Meilė Marokui nejučia atveda prie kitos temos - kultūrų sandūros. Globalios, vakarietiškos, kur tikslų siekiama greitai ir pigiai, ir marokietiškos, kus darbai daromi lėtai, pasitelkiant senovines technologijas ir darbo įrankius. Kur pradėtam darbui gresia būti nutrauktam daugybe būdų, bet dėl to pasiektas tikslas tik dar vertingesnis. Tai vakarų kultūros atvirumas ir maroko kultūros uždarumas. Ir nauji nepaprasti rezultatai, gaunami peržengus ribas tarp šių kultūrų.
Kelionių atvirukai. Sakytum tai nedideli epizodai iš kelionių dienoraščio, kurie atskleidžia ypatingas aplankytos vietos detales. Tai užsikonservavusi praeities dvasia, nepaliesta globalizacijos. Ramybės dvasia. Unikalūs senoviniai papročiai, patiekalai, kalba. Praeities oazės globaliame pasaulyje. Kas svarbu, tai autoriaus gebėjimas pamatyti tai, ko kitas būdamas tose pačiose vietose neįžvelgs, todėl ši knyga yra ir vedlys į tą tiktai kai kuriems žmonės matomą pasaulį.
Stebuklo anatomija. Sukčiai Indijoje, kurie pasitelkę iliuzionistų triukus apsimeta avatarais ir išvilioja naivių kaimiečių pinigus. Žvilgsnis į stebuklą tikinčiojo akimis - autorius sudalyvavo minioje žmonių, kurie kas metus suplūsta į nedidelį Indijos miestelį, kad rydami gyvas žuvis pasveiktų nuo astmos (kaip bebūtų keista tai veika!). Pigios komercijos banga Kalkutoje, siekianti pasipelnyti iš motinos Teresės atminimo.
Supažindinimas su Islamo kultūra. Istorija. Ypatingos vietos. Vertybės.
Nepaprastos asmenybės. Žvelgiančios į pasaulį drąsiai, niekinančios lengvus kelius.
Kultūrų paribiai. Šiurpą keliantys papročiai. Galvų medžiotojai Centrinės Amerikos džiunglėse. Kambodžos minų laukai. Kukluksklano užgimimo vieta. Nuotakų penyklos Nigerijoje. Moterų diskriminavimas ir feministinė revoliucija Niujorko meno pasaulyje. Paskutinė knygos istorija yra apie moteris, laukiančios mirties bausmės kalėjime JAV. Šios šiurpios istorijos parinkimas knygos pabaigai suglumino. Tačiau kita vertus, gal būt paskutinioji istorija apie moters dalią yra priešpastatoma pirmajai istorijai apie vyrų pasaulį. Vyrų pasaulio kraštutinė prabanga (reprezentuojama Maharadžos ekspreso) ir kraštutinė moterų pasaulio neteisybė. Nežinau, ar toks buvo autoriaus sumanymas, tačiau ko gero tar iš pažiūros atsitiktinių istorijų galima surasti daug daugiau sąsajų.
Skaitymas buvo išties malonus. Tikriausiai, paėmus ją paskaityti po kiek laiko ji atsiskleis dar kitomis spalvomis.
June 22, 2022
These are fun travel stories taking place in various countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. They're short and read more like blog posts/snapshots. Some are better than others. Some tell really interesting stories about people and culture and some are more informative with facts. I think it's a fun book to have on hand when you end up in the places that Shah travels to to read his experience and take on a certain country or city. He lives in Morocco now so it was fun reading his Morocco stories while we travel around here.
June 15, 2019
A well crafted set of tales.
A surprising book of tales from around the world from a great writer and traveler . I always learn something new from Tahir.
A surprising book of tales from around the world from a great writer and traveler . I always learn something new from Tahir.
May 2, 2017
I picked up this book based on its intriguing title, nice cover (that should teach me a lesson) and high Goodreads rating. And everything disappointed me (well, the cover is still nice though).
The book contains around 60 short travel stories (several pages each) and does not have to be read from the beginning to the end.
Yet it was not a pleasant reading experience. All the time when I was reading this book I could not understand why its rating is so high. The writing style is rather flat, not intriguing, monotonous, uninspiring and would never convince me that it was written by a professional. There were huge parts where I found myself dragging through the book just to finish it (because I don't like unfinished books). One possible explanation - maybe the writing style is not so bad in the original version, but Lithuanian translation is so poor. Hopefully.
The majority of the stories seemed so shallow yet pretending to be very meaningful. Mostly there were descriptions of traveled places, however very rarely about something deeper than the eye can see - descriptions of buildings, luxurious palaces, deserts and how each visited place is the most wonderful (but conventional tourists will never understand its hidden treasures). To tell the truth, there was nothing revealed what a rich tourist would not see or well-read person wouldn't understand. Lots of "endless" worshiping of Morocco, mostly because it's mystical, untouched and the author has emotional ties from the childhood to that place. Very few things mentioned in the book were actually intriguing enough to want to visit this country. Nothing against Morocco, but it seems that any travel journal would be more convincing.
Unlike enjoyable travel books, this one lacked depth regarding the questions of WHY I see what I see instead it focused on WHAT. Many stories ended abruptly with a sentence or two. They were supposed to inspire a reader to think about just revealed profound truth, but there was nothing indeed profound and felt like bad acting in the many stories.
On the bright side - there were a few worthwhile stories that I truly enjoyed. Those include reflections of societies and especially women is those societies: widows in India, anti-violence women police forces in South America, African brides aiming to gain weight, American women sentenced to death and some others. Those stories were good, unfortunately, they are exceptions.
The book contains around 60 short travel stories (several pages each) and does not have to be read from the beginning to the end.
Yet it was not a pleasant reading experience. All the time when I was reading this book I could not understand why its rating is so high. The writing style is rather flat, not intriguing, monotonous, uninspiring and would never convince me that it was written by a professional. There were huge parts where I found myself dragging through the book just to finish it (because I don't like unfinished books). One possible explanation - maybe the writing style is not so bad in the original version, but Lithuanian translation is so poor. Hopefully.
The majority of the stories seemed so shallow yet pretending to be very meaningful. Mostly there were descriptions of traveled places, however very rarely about something deeper than the eye can see - descriptions of buildings, luxurious palaces, deserts and how each visited place is the most wonderful (but conventional tourists will never understand its hidden treasures). To tell the truth, there was nothing revealed what a rich tourist would not see or well-read person wouldn't understand. Lots of "endless" worshiping of Morocco, mostly because it's mystical, untouched and the author has emotional ties from the childhood to that place. Very few things mentioned in the book were actually intriguing enough to want to visit this country. Nothing against Morocco, but it seems that any travel journal would be more convincing.
Unlike enjoyable travel books, this one lacked depth regarding the questions of WHY I see what I see instead it focused on WHAT. Many stories ended abruptly with a sentence or two. They were supposed to inspire a reader to think about just revealed profound truth, but there was nothing indeed profound and felt like bad acting in the many stories.
On the bright side - there were a few worthwhile stories that I truly enjoyed. Those include reflections of societies and especially women is those societies: widows in India, anti-violence women police forces in South America, African brides aiming to gain weight, American women sentenced to death and some others. Those stories were good, unfortunately, they are exceptions.
May 16, 2020
At the outset I want to say that the title is a misnomer. I expected it to contain ramblings on inward as well as outward. Instead what I found was some random collection of pieces. Most of pieces make it to the middle ground between unputdownable and boring. It is easy to picture the author's genuine warmth for Morocco and it's people but when things go out Morocco they sometimes feel like a news report rather than experience
April 25, 2017
A great collection of Tahir's articles, with several unexpected topics and stories alongside travel stories in the depths of the Amazon and elsewhere around the world. To my surprise, he also covers women's rights issues in southeast Asia, in Brazil, and even in the deep south USA. An enjoyable series of stories!
November 29, 2020
Laiku, kai negalima fiziškai keliauti, tai buvo tikra kelionių puokštė, kurių kiekviena buvo ypatinga. Tahir Shah yra puikus pasakotojas, net ir labai trumpomis istorijomis, gebantis palikti skaitytoją pilną įspūdžių, nuostabos, širdį gniaužiančių jausmų ir nuotaikų. Knygą galima skaitinėti sporadiškai (tą autorius ir pataria), bet pati perskaičiau nuo viršelio iki viršelio, negalėdama atsitraukti ir sustoti. Kai kurie pasakojimai labiau primena keliautojo įspūdžių apie kokį nors kraštą/vietą/nuotykį atpasakojimą ar istorinius pasakojimus, kiti - žurnalistinius reportažus. Na, ir jie labai skirtingi savo turiniu ir svoriu. Vieni jų lengvučiai ir linksmučiai, kiti net spaudžia savo temos stiprumu (pavyzdžiui, apie mirties laukiančias našles Indijoje, išminuotojas moteris Kambodžoje, smurtą patiriančias Brazilijos lušnynų gyventojas, mirties bausme nuteistąsias JAV ir pan.). Daugiausia šioje knygoje rasite pasakojimų iš Maroko, autorius niekaip negali (ir tiesą sakant nė nebando) nuslėpti savo begalinės meilės šiai šaliai. Jo dėka, pradedi taip pat ją pamilti.
May 4, 2020
Two books of tahir down and i see that the author has a prejudice against non muslim parts of the world.. all of which are described with some level of morbidity but the same observations do not exist for some reason while analysing Arabs and middle East travels. Disappointed and not reading any more of this author
December 29, 2024
Talentingo pasakotojo ir keliautojo Tahiro Shaho knygos niekada nenuvilia. Ši, susidedanti iš daugybės trumpų pasakojimų, atskleidžia itin platų pasaulio spalvų spektrą. Su Shahu gali nukeliauti ten, kur pats niekada nepatektum — nuo superprabangaus Maharadžios traukinio Indijoje iki mirtininkių kamerų Alabamos kalėjime.
June 17, 2024
brilliant stories
As always Tahir books never disappoint. What an amazing and eloquent storyteller, and some stories in this book are very emotional and almost unbelievable. Recommended reading.
As always Tahir books never disappoint. What an amazing and eloquent storyteller, and some stories in this book are very emotional and almost unbelievable. Recommended reading.
December 9, 2025
Every chapter was so unique and enlightening! Various times during each chapter I paused to look things up in Google Maps or do a deep dive on the topic at hand. some of the chapters I had read in his books, so I skipped those, but there were so many more that it was not a loss.
December 23, 2018
Labai patinka šio autoriaus knygos savo nuoširdumo, gyvenimo džiaugsmu. Knygos pasakojimai margi kaip rytietiškas turgus, pavaizduotas ant viršelio
October 24, 2020
Super, puiki kelionių knyga, galėtų tęstis ir tęstis...
January 22, 2022
Taip subtiliai papasakotos atskiros istorijos, tarsi viena asmeninė būtų papasakota.
June 18, 2023
The best book I have ever read, I want to read it again!
Very interesting stories and made me think about my life a lot and how lucky I am.
Very interesting stories and made me think about my life a lot and how lucky I am.
August 6, 2023
Visai nebloga knyga. Net jei skaitai su pertraukomis, nereikia atiminti, ką perskaitei, nes istorijos viena su kita nėra susijusios. Kai kurios istorijos nuobodžios, kitos įdomesnės/aktualesnės.
August 4, 2025
Nuobodi, istorijos gan banalios.
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February 3, 2019Yra dvi
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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