Ghost Train to the Eastern Star cover art

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

By: Paul Theroux
Narrated by: John McDonough
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

 In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux retraces the steps he took thirty years ago in his classic The Great Railway Bazaar. From the Eurostar in London, he once again sets out on a journey to the East, travelling overland through Eastern Europe, India and Asia. Infused with the changes that have shaped the exterior landscape and enriched with developments to his own perceptions and psychology, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is an absorbing and beautifully written follow-up to The Great Railway Bazaar.©2008 Paul Theroux (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd Travel Writing & Commentary Eastern Europe Haunted Imperialism Transportation Hinduism Self-Determination Railroad

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Great Railway Bazaar cover art
On the Plain of Snakes cover art
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days cover art
Himalaya cover art
Brazil cover art
1923 cover art
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue cover art
Legacy cover art
To the Moon and Timbuktu cover art
Seven Years in Tibet cover art
Last Bus to Woodstock cover art
Jupiter's Travels cover art
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush cover art
Travels cover art
The Time Traveler's Wife cover art
A Town Like Alice cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Written in Paul Theroux's usual lively prose, this is an excellent book that takes the listener (reader) on an exceptional journey from Europe across the Middle East, India and onto the Far Eastern reaches of the world's rail network, returning from Japan to Vladivostok and returning on the Trans Siberian Express. Along the way he meets a colourful array of interesting people, whose lives the author describes in some detail. Paul Theroux is, for good reason, my favourite travel writer, and his books are timeless expeditions, that bring real places and real people to life. Highly recommended to anyone interested in people, places and long distance travel.

An Excellent Extravaganza of Rail Travel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is one of my favourite books on audible at the moment with only Bill Brysons "A walk in the woods" up there along with it...though I do think this is a higher quality of writing...differnt books but both bring you on a great adventure in different writing styles. I found the narrator very easy to listen to especially when nodding off...often leaving the book on all night joining it at different intervals as i wake up.

Fantastic book with a fantastic narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Overall great, nice way of describing things, interesting encounters. Occasionally condescending and grouchy. Ridiculous description of Tokyo as being awful and the future of all cities (it's so Japanese in its attention to detail and many more things), but redeemed by other features such as chatting with Haruki Murakami . my favourite use for this book is in the mornings when I can't get back to sleep the narrator's soporific voice works wonders.

Theroux is great + also annoying but helps w sleep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved Paul's eyewitness approach to traveling to some of the world's most extreme places. It was rich and textured and gave a sense of being there. He pulls no punches and does not romanticise. Really enjoyable

Rich and textured.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narration doesn’t do it for me. I’ll persevere but doubt if I get to the end.

OKish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant, vivid, nostalgic, alarming - Paul Theroux's re-run of the journey he took 30 years before from London to the East is simply magnificent. He recounts his impressions and adventures with honesty and humour.

Transports one to the East magnificently

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In a big fan an Paul Theroux books generally but this is one of the best.

It is also simply one of the best books I have ever read (or had read to me...! ).

I haven't got to the end yet but it just gets better and better. Really interesting and insightful glance into a range of cultures, all in Theroux's slightly oblique style.

One of the best...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you've read and enjoyed Theroux's 'The Great Railway Bazaar', then you'll love his fascinating and insightful retracing of that journey.

Thoroughly engaging

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You don’t have to like the author but it helps. This book tells of a journey overland, the only way to travel across Asia and back. It is inspirational and entertaining

Great travel writing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Peppered with fascinating insights & drizzled with Therouxisms, this is a delight. Excellent voice artist & accents add a wonderful aura.

Reflective Theroux

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews