To the Ends of the Earth

Table of Contents

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Introduction

Map

1 - The Great Railway Bazaar

The Mysterious Mister Duffill

Looking out the Window at Yugoslavia

Dusk in Central Turkey

Sadik

Peshawar

The Village in the Railway Station

Mr. Bhardwaj on the Railcar to Simla

In Jaipur with Mr. Gopal

The Grand Trunk Express to the Real India

“I Find You English Girl”—Madras

Mr. Wong the Tooth Mechanic

Mr. Chatterjee’s Calcutta

The Hopping Man

Memories of the Raj—Mr. Bernard in Burma

Gokteik Viaduct

The Hué—Danang Passenger Train, Vietnam 1973

The Trans-Siberian Express

2 - The Old Patagonian Express

Travel Is a Vanishing Act

On the Frontier

Lost Lover in Veracruz

Magic Names

Earthquakes in Guatemala

The Pretty Town of Santa Ana

Soccer in San Salvador

Holy Mass in San Vicente

To Limón with Mr. Thornberry

In the Zone

Shadowing an Indian

High Plains Drifter

Buenos Aires

Borges

In Patagonia

3 - The Kingdom by the Sea

English Traits

Rambler

Falklands News

John Bratby

Shallys

Bognor

Sad Captain

(1) B & B: Victory Guest House

(2) B & B: The Puttocks

(3) B & B: The Bull

(4) B & B: Allerford

Holiday Camp

Happy Little Llanelli

Tenby

Naked Lady

Jan Morris

Railway Buff

Llandudno

Looking Seaward

Insulted England

Mrs. Wheeney, Landlady

Belfast

Giant’s Causeway

The Future in Enniskillen

Mooney’s Hotel

Cape Wrath

Royal Visit

Trippers

Typical

4 - Riding the Iron Rooster

Belles du Jour

Mongols

Chinese Inventions

Public Bathhouse

Shanghai

The Red Guards and the Violinist

Performing Animals

The Edge of the World

Lost Cities

Fear of Flying

Handmade Landscape

The Terra-cotta Warriors

Endangered Species Banquet

Shaoshan: “Where the Sun Rises”

The Great Wall

Mr. Tian

Cherry Blossom

Driving to Tibet

Lhasa

5 - Down the Yangtze

Trackers

The Yangtze Gorges

6 - Sunrise with Seamonsters

The Edge of the Great Rift

Curfew

Rats in Rangoon

Writing in the Tropics

Natives and Expatriates

His Highness

The Hotel in No-Man’s-Land

The Pathan Camp

Dingle

Nudists in Corsica

New York Subway

Rowing Around the Cape

“AN UNFORGETTABLE TOUR OF THE WORLD WITH THEROUX …

[His] powers of description and knack at turning a phrase are arresting.… Wonderful.”

—The Flint Journal

“A unique view of our global village as experienced through a unique writer’s eyes and ears … Like a modern Ulysses … His writings are proof that getting there may be most of the fun.”

—Houston Chronicle

“An enticing selection of travel writings by one of the premier travel writers in the English language … Theroux has the ability of penetrating to the heart of wherever he journeys.… [He’s] a top-notch travel writer.”

—Magill Book Reviews

“Scintillating … Theroux will never tell you about the best hotel in town because, chances are, he’s never stayed there. He has, however, stayed in working class residences here and there, absorbing local color, prevailing attitudes and prejudices of the inhabitants. TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH offers selections from some truly unique, exotic travel adventures.… [It’s] a super book, a collection of journeys to some strange places, described by a fine writer who couldn’t write a dull, trite line if he tried. Extremely well done.”

—Coast Book Review Service

By Paul Theroux:

Fiction:

WALDO

FONG AND THE INDIANS

GIRLS AT PLAY

JUNGLE LOVERS

SINNING WITH ANNIE and Other Stories

SAINT JACK

THE BLACK HOUSE

THE FAMILY ARSENAL

THE CONSUL’S FILE

A CHRISTMAS CARD

PICTURE PALACE

LONDON SNOW

WORLD’S END

THE MOSQUITO COAST

THE LONDON EMBASSY

HALF MOON STREET

O-ZONE

MY SECRET HISTORY

CHICAGO LOOP

MILLROY THE MAGICIAN

MY OTHER LIFE

KOWLOON TONG

HOTEL HONOLULU

STRANGER AT THE PALAZZO D’ORO

BLINDING LIGHT

THE ELEPHANTA SUITE

A DEAD HAND

Criticism:

V.S. NAIPAUL

Nonfiction:

THE GREAT RAILWAY BAZAAR

THE OLD PATAGONIAN EXPRESS

THE KINGDOM BY THE SEA

SAILING THROUGH CHINA

SUNRISE WITH SEAMONSTERS

THE IMPERIAL WAY

RIDING THE IRON ROOSTER: By Train Through China

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

THE HAPPY ISLES OF OCEANIA

SIR VIDIA’S SHADOW

FRESH AIR FIEND

NURSE WOLF AND DR. SACKS

DARK STAR SAFARI

GHOST TRAIN TO THE EASTERN STAR

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An Ivy Book

Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Copyright © 1990, 1991 by Paul Theroux

Photographs copyright © 1991 by Carin Riley

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ivy Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.