Book Review: Why Don't you Fly? Backdoor to Bejing by Bicycle by Christopher J A Smith
November 13th 2006 07:15
I've just finished reading this book which I had been perusing on and off for a couple of weeks. I hated the way it started so much that I was close to taking it right back down to the book exchange. I persisted, however, and found it an ok read.
The introduction, which I found tedious, is written in the 3rd person as if the author is writing a novel about someone else. Christopher also ends the book in the same verb tense. It describes his typical day twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. Sorry Chris, I just didn't care.
Thankfully, he reverts to the 1st person in the chapters and I sighed a big sigh of relief that my hard earned cash wasn't totally wasted on this book. He is in his element when writing about his cycling day and especially when describing his reactions to his environment in a searingly candid fashion.
I like the way he calls a spade a spade; "The Grand Trunk Road is Sh#@!", and the fact that he openly admits the trip is in reaction to a redundancy and a breakup. He is also happy to preen in print about the hard manly body he is getting from all that cycling. (I found that a bit icky but maybe I'm just jealous. After almost 9.5 thousand kilometres my own body remains obstinately "womanly" as my mother would say or "flabby" as I would say.)
His need to prove something to himself makes me less inclined to trust some of his observations. He sets himself such long distances per day that he admits he doesn't even want to give himself time to stop and take a photo. I was always suspecting that mileage counting was getting in the way of him really seeing his surroundings. As a reader, I felt rushed through the enormous and commendable 16,500 miles.
For all my whinging though, I did not put the book down, give up or throw it in the garbage. There was something compelling about his honesty and that kept me hooked.
Check out his website before buying for a sample chapter. He has reader reviews up there that disagree with my views so it is worth a look. http://www.cycleuktochina.com/
Title: Why Don't you Fly? Backdoor to Bejing by Bicycle
Author: Christopher J A Smith
Publisher: Pen Press Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 190520325X
Year: 2005
The introduction, which I found tedious, is written in the 3rd person as if the author is writing a novel about someone else. Christopher also ends the book in the same verb tense. It describes his typical day twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. Sorry Chris, I just didn't care.
Thankfully, he reverts to the 1st person in the chapters and I sighed a big sigh of relief that my hard earned cash wasn't totally wasted on this book. He is in his element when writing about his cycling day and especially when describing his reactions to his environment in a searingly candid fashion.
I like the way he calls a spade a spade; "The Grand Trunk Road is Sh#@!", and the fact that he openly admits the trip is in reaction to a redundancy and a breakup. He is also happy to preen in print about the hard manly body he is getting from all that cycling. (I found that a bit icky but maybe I'm just jealous. After almost 9.5 thousand kilometres my own body remains obstinately "womanly" as my mother would say or "flabby" as I would say.)
His need to prove something to himself makes me less inclined to trust some of his observations. He sets himself such long distances per day that he admits he doesn't even want to give himself time to stop and take a photo. I was always suspecting that mileage counting was getting in the way of him really seeing his surroundings. As a reader, I felt rushed through the enormous and commendable 16,500 miles.
For all my whinging though, I did not put the book down, give up or throw it in the garbage. There was something compelling about his honesty and that kept me hooked.
Check out his website before buying for a sample chapter. He has reader reviews up there that disagree with my views so it is worth a look. http://www.cycleuktochina.com/
Title: Why Don't you Fly? Backdoor to Bejing by Bicycle
Author: Christopher J A Smith
Publisher: Pen Press Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 190520325X
Year: 2005
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