"The Great Railway Bazaar" by Paul Theroux was the progenitor of a different type of travel literature. Finally reading the book I can see why it considered a classic in the genre. Theroux has a distinctive voice, good writing, and a eye for observations. He is someone I've enjoyed "traveling" with. Many reviews complain about his disdain for others. Many call him a misanthrope. But I've never quite accepted those critiques completely. And I certainly don't see him as eternally gloomy. He is not unbiased but he never claims to be - I think that he portrays everyone as he sees them. Not everyone or everything can or should be portrayed in a flattering light.

The premise of the book is that the author decides to travel from London and back through the old Orient Express, the Middle East, South Asia, Japan, and Russia. Unlike many travel books that go to a site, look around, and report on the "local color," this book would focus on the train itself and the people he met along the journey as a person on the ground. The train itself could be the site of the mixing and mingling of humanity, with all its contradictions and variations. You see all the hallmarks of his other works: detailed sketches of unique characters, commentary on the books he readings along the way, boorish white travelers and expats, perceptive observations about the mood of a place and, of course, trains.

Written in 1973, the book embodies one of Theroux's conceits about travel writing - its should be prescient without being predictive. Some of the strongest chapters include his travels through Iran before the Revolution and South Vietnam before the end of the war. Having lived in India for nearly five years, I found myself nodding along in recognition of some of the characters he observed and the characterizations of the place.

It is not my favorite of his works (I like its sequel "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star" and "The Old Patagonian Express more) but I think it is worth reading.