Riding the Iron Rooster
By Train Through China

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 tra......more

THROUGH WITH THEROUX Paul Theroux Is 80 years old now. And while I was reading this book, I was wishing that he would take one last trip to China, because I wanted to know how they are treating their people now. But as I continued, I lost interest in China. He has a way of making you lose interest in......more

For most of us the glass is either half empty or half full. But some take it further. Over there in the corner sits Paul Theroux, sniffing grumpily at the chlorine in his paltry dose of water, and absently scratching at the thick coating of limescale on the side of the glass. In his pocket sits his......more

This book exhausted me. 450 pages of train rides, blurred landscapes, glib conversations, and Paul Theroux's relentlessly consistent authorial voice throughout, cramming in detail after detail from a year-long journey throughout China in 1987; it became a reading challenge more than a pleasure. I wa......more

We moved to China this year, largely ignorant of China's history, both recent and ancient. This book was incredibly eye-opening as to what the cultural revolution entailed, what it did to Chinese culture and people, and how much things have changed here since the book was written. Theroux captures t......more