Once when I was telling a friend about all the troubles I had encountered during a visit to Myranmar in 2006, he responding by saying: "That sounds like a pain in the ass-my favorite kind of travel story." And I think I can agree with him, which is one of the biggest reasons I love to read Paul Theroux. My most recent voyage with Theroux was his 1983 visit to the middle kingdom, China in Riding The Iron Rooster. It has changed so much since then, in fact, my own first visit was in 2002, and my most recent visit was in May of 2015 and I think there was significant change in that interval as well. But I feel he captures the essence of China and the Chinese in many ways. He describes the "hoicking" and pitting that is my greatest memory from 2002-which I saw little of it in my most recent trip. Within the book there is almost a dissertation on the Chinese laugh that he comments on throughout the books as they are emitted from a variety of characters. But early on I think he identifies the general basis of the laugh: "The Chinese laugh is seldom funny-it is usually Ha-ha, we're in deep shit or Ha-ha, I wish you hadn't said that or Ha-ha, I've never felt so miserable in my life..."Here's another beauty from Chapter 8 "train Number 104 to Xian": "That was a ha-ha I hadn't heard before, and seemed to mean Death to the infidels." I also like his earnest distaste of the Chinese eating any and all animals-usually for perceives some medicinal purpose: "I was prepared to believe the Chinese had the herbal solutions to high blood pressure, and that acupuncture had its practical uses; but when they scrunched up a dead owl and said, yum, yum-good for your eyes, I wanted to say Bullshit. If I didn't, it was only because I didn't yet know the Chinese word for it."Then there was his incredulous analysis of the Chinese sending their skilled laborers to put up buildings in the Middle East, when those in China were so poorly constructed: "It was rather as though Poland were exporting chefs, and Australia sending elocution teachers to England, and Americans running classes in humility or the Japanese in relaxation techniques."Theroux finds a lot to dislike, but there were many things he did like such as old coastal China's seagoing communities. And near the end of the book where the reader is half expecting Theroux to end the trip early due to his miserable time in the north during winter, he falls in love with Tibet, and Lhasa in particular. I think he sums up the Chinese impact on Tibet well in this comment: "The Chinese have a fatal tendency to take themselves and their projects seriously. In this they resemble some other evangelizing races, spreading the word and traveling the world to build churches, factories, or fast-food outlets-the intention may be different in each case but they are all impositions. What the evangelizer in his native seriousness does not understand is that there are some people on earth who do not wish to be saved."I almost think Theroux stacked the deck by joining a group tour at the beginning of the book. I can't think of anyone less likely to enjoy a group tour than Theroux. To his credit, he was able to say that the people grew on him and some of them even manged to surprise him in the end. There was a great quote in the beginning of the book that I was unaware of that Theroux referenced from Henry David Thoreau's On Walden: "Consider the China pride and the stagnant self complacency of mankind." I didn't get as much reading inspiration form this book as other since he seemed to be reading a lot of literature related specifically to China, but early in the book he is reading Sinclair Lewis and singles out Elmer Gentry as a worthy read and the only one of the three novels he mentioned that I have not read (the other two being Mainstreet and Arrowsmith). It was interesting that he felt a connection to China via the cultural revolution when he was in the Peace Corps and thought he was starting a revolution himself-it says something about the young Theroux for sure. And it seems that he was way off by seeing the demonstrations that were taking place while he was there as insignificant, as well all know from the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacres that took place later. That being said, Theroux was entertaining and enlightening as usual.
Among the first inventions of the Chinese were such things as toilet paper (they were enamored with paper and in fact invented a paper armor consisting of pleats which were impervious to arrows), the spinning wheel, seismograph, steam engine (as early as 600 A.D.) and parachute hang gliders in 550-559 B.C. which they tested by throwing prisoners off towers. This same country, according to Paul Theroux in Riding the Iron Rooster, is driving many animals to extinction. The Chinese like to eat strange foods and are superstitious about the medicinal value of exotic animals who achieve status not from individual beauty or from intrinsic qualities, but because they taste good. Theroux, who has a passion for trains, wandering, and gossip, found many changes in China since his first visit of several years earlier. People were much freer and willing to talk. Theroux's writing is fascinating because he's so nosy. He's not afraid to ask anything. And he notices everything. It's his way of "getting the measure of a place." If he sees someone reading he makes note of the title, memorizes the contents of refrigerators, labels in clothes, compares prices, copies graffiti and slogans, and collects hotel rules. My favorite: "Guests may not perform urination in sink basin." At one point he was forced to fly to catch a particular train and his description is particularly revolting; people standing in the aisles while landing, puking, the plane popping wheelies on the runway, the aircraft itself having wrinkled skin. The cultural revolution was uniformly hated by everyone he spoke with and the change in the people could be measured by the change in their slogans. Formerly when students were asked what they wanted to do with themselves they would reply, "to serve people." A book filled with interesting tidbits.I should note, as an avid reader of Airways magazine that airlines in China have improved tremendously, have terrific equipment today, and service standards far exceeding United's. Theroux's book is quite dated in that respect.
What do You think about Riding The Iron Rooster (1989)?
1982, half dozen years after the death of Mao, I hooked up with a farmers group Kansas on a cultural exchange to China. What an experience that I shall never forget. Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster brought back vivid memories of what I saw. We traveled from Shanghai to Beijing in 17 days by bus, train and air. He reminded me of the communes we visited, the schools, Freedom Stores (set up for tourists as a way to import foreign currencies used in trade with the rest of the world), factories, small workshops where hand made items available for purchase as souvenirs, and many more of the things one saw at that time traveling through China. The book takes you through Mongolia to Shanghai, Shanghai to Beijing, to the great wall, south to Canton and villages and cites near Hong Kong, west through the vastness of China to the national borders, and into Tibet. Half way through the book I began jotting down the names of the various cities he describes and looked for myself what the cities look like today on Google Earth. Modern pictures show the traffic, the buildings going up, city's growth!The book is long and at times tedious, but if you enjoy travel and like history it will help you understand what's happening in China today.
—Richard Etzel
3 Things about Riding the Iron Rooster:(1) land sakes, Paul Theroux does not like human beings! he seem like a very disdainful and contemptuous person in general. that disdain and contempt certainly includes the Chinese - which was an off-putting and distancing thing to experience when reading a travelogue concerning China. at times it really got to me and i found myself disdainful and contemptuous of the author in return. he began to drive me up the wall with - as another reviewer notes - his relentlessly consistent authorial voice. i'd have to remind myself that he also wrote The Mosquito Coast, which besides being my dad's favorite film (scary, that), is all about escaping from the dirty, disgusting world of conformist, unimaginative humans - and the terrible dangers that can arise from that sort of mentality. so it's not like Theroux doesn't have a good read on his own personality and his maybe-not-so-secret desires. and that's kind of admirable.(2) i read this side-by-side with Mark Salzman's Iron and Silk. the contrast between the two was illuminating. on the one hand, Salzman seems like such a decent and sweet guy, someone i'd like to know. his book is very well-intentioned... and, sadly, sorta vapid. it has no teeth and no bite, just a soft babyish gumming of sorts. the writing is also basically uninteresting. on the other hand, Theroux, who is a person i have no interest in knowing, is all bite (and lots of bark too). he lets you know his thoughts and he is fearless when it comes to being percieved as a snotty asshole. he doesn't care and he writes it like he sees it. his writing may be bleak, but it is also very real. this is a man who looks at the ugly side of things and reports on it in prose that is often exceedingly impressive. but still rather ugly.(3) apparently people who regularly sleep in (as i do) have homes that smell "feety". you know, like feet. huh. i did not realize this and i'm not sure if this is true. i think this is another example of Theroux being a dick regarding habits he disdains. oh, Paul.
—mark monday
I was so excited to pick up this book because it is about a man's journey across Europe into China via rail. The author's travels took place in the 1980's and I was interested in learning more about China and seeing it through a visitor's eye, hopefully with some insight. I got halfway through the book, and just couldn't take it anymore. The author's ego is giant, he complains constantly about food and accommodation, and the worst part is that he is condescending towards his contemporary Chinese citizen and and his/her culture. I tried to stick it out just to learn more about China, but absolutely could not take one more word out of this author's book. Do not read this book--your interest in travel and culture will be squashed by his pessimism and opacity.
—Megan
