Weblog
About ArmaVirumque ( AHR-mah wih-ROOM-kweh) In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age. Recent posts
Archives more archives Info
Recent contributors
Shortcut
To contact The New Criterion by email, write to: letters@newcriterion.com.To contact The New Criterion by mail, write to: The New Criterion 900 Broadway Suite 602 New York, New York 10003 USA
Blogroll
Sep 07, 2008 04:28 AM by Stefan Beck
The travel writer Paul Theroux, who is the subject of this weekend’s Wall Street Journal interview, is a giant in his field. He has written forty-three books, including the prize-winning novel The Mosquito Coast, made into a memorable film of the same name starring Harrison Ford. He’s also stuck his neck out to make some unpopular but important statements about the Western attitude toward African aid, even daring to question the wisdom of Saint Bono. Surely it’s fair to say, as Tunku Varadarajan does, that Theroux “practically invented the modern genre of travel writing.” Perhaps, so long as we keep that “practically” in mind. Theroux wrote his breakthrough book The Great Railway Bazaar, about traveling from Europe to Asia by train, in 1975. Patrick Leigh Fermor published three books before giving the world Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese in 1958. This he followed with Roumeli, A Time of Gifts, and Between the Woods and the Water, three of the greatest books, travel or otherwise, ever written. I note this not to diminish Theroux’s enormous achievement but to direct the reader’s attention to a far more gripping interview, in the Telegraph, with Fermor, the ninety-three-year-old dean of travel writing. At sixty-seven, Theroux may still “turn heads,” but can he say that he romanced a Byzantine princess or kidnapped a Nazi commander (the latter while disguised as a shepherd)? I know what you’re thinking—tough act to follow. Read the whole thing here.
E-mail to friend
|
Subscriber login
 The New Criterion is now optimized for Mobile Devices Already a print subscriber? click for online access New from The New Criterion: ‘Free speech in 
Webcasts
The Milt Rosenberg Show: Free Speech in an age of Jihad
Roger Kimball on liberalism's response to Islam
Encounter Books at 10, an interview with Roger Simon |
add a comment
you must be a new criterion subscriber to post a comment. {subscribe now}