Book Review: Giant Steps by Karl Bushby
September 29th 2006 07:35
Ok so this isn't a cycling book but it is about going long distances - by foot with a trailer. Bushby is heading from the Punta Arenas in Chile to Britain without a support team and without using any form of transport apart from his own two feet. The book covers the first section as far as Alaska.
Giant Steps is a condensed version of Bushby's diaries over approximately six or seven years. I thought the diary fomat would be a bit boring but editor Jonny Beardsall has done an outstanding job of picking the best bits.
This book is always entertaining though sometimes I find the personality of the writer a bit irritating. Why, for instance, if you've been dreaming of doing this trip for at least three years before D Day would you refrain from saving any money?
Maybe it's just me, but I believe in making your dreams happen yourself rather than relying on others to provide for you financially. To be fair, he only implies that the 500 pounds he left the UK with was the only money he had so perhaps he had been saving money but it just doesn't come across that way in the book.
The things that he finds the most tragic while writing on the road are actually the things that I found most hilarious. Because the diary is a condensed version of several years, Bushby comes across as quite accident-prone. He nearly rips out a tooth while trying to tie a hammock for instance. His failed attempts to disguise himself as a South American itinerant in Columbia are also classic and his heroic paddle across the croc-infested waters of the Darien Gap are harrowing and exciting.
Worth reading.
Book: Giant Steps
Author: Karl Bushby
Publisher: Time Warner Original
Year: 2006
ISBN: 0316729582
Giant Steps is a condensed version of Bushby's diaries over approximately six or seven years. I thought the diary fomat would be a bit boring but editor Jonny Beardsall has done an outstanding job of picking the best bits.
This book is always entertaining though sometimes I find the personality of the writer a bit irritating. Why, for instance, if you've been dreaming of doing this trip for at least three years before D Day would you refrain from saving any money?
Maybe it's just me, but I believe in making your dreams happen yourself rather than relying on others to provide for you financially. To be fair, he only implies that the 500 pounds he left the UK with was the only money he had so perhaps he had been saving money but it just doesn't come across that way in the book.
The things that he finds the most tragic while writing on the road are actually the things that I found most hilarious. Because the diary is a condensed version of several years, Bushby comes across as quite accident-prone. He nearly rips out a tooth while trying to tie a hammock for instance. His failed attempts to disguise himself as a South American itinerant in Columbia are also classic and his heroic paddle across the croc-infested waters of the Darien Gap are harrowing and exciting.
Worth reading.
Book: Giant Steps
Author: Karl Bushby
Publisher: Time Warner Original
Year: 2006
ISBN: 0316729582
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