Train Journeys

 

Anna gave me this book for Christmas in 2020. She had given me another book, a collection of columns by Adibah Amin, but as I already had that book, in fact, I suspect that we bought it at exactly the same hotel gift shop at exactly the same time, I was surprised she hadn't remembered. 

Nothing loth, she took back the collection of As I Was Passings and gave it to her niece. Then she gave me this one and proceeded to ask every time she saw me, if I had read it. 

I hadn't. 

First it was stuck under a pile of books, ones I had bought for myself and other Christmas presents. Then it was transferred to a bookshelf, where it stood upright, wedged between other books, winking at me. 

Finally, I decided to pick it up after the fat girl book. And strictly adhering to my 50-page quota per day, I finished it in 7.

I am not a fan of train journeys; Anna is. But I picked up the book, curiously enough so I could tick it off my list (I realise at this point that my life has dwindled into a series of lists). Truth be told when I started reading I got a little excited because Malaysia was on the itinerary and she mentioned it four times in the first few pages, including the fact that her fiance Jem was "half Malaysian" a typical stupid mistake Britishers make. Any Malaysian would then ask, what kind of Malaysian.

The book was interesting enough, I guess. Typical of its kind. I couldn't see what got Anna so excited about it. Travelling along in trains you get the idea of someone always in motion, in transition, always looking to the next place. Which is my most hated way of travelling. And which is why, now, most times, I prefer to travel alone. 

I was chugging along gamely, enjoying some of her descriptions and humour till I got to Malaysia which she didn't skim through so much as skip. And later, in case we didn't get the point, she traces out a map of her journey and breaks it off at Thailand. What had the country done to merit such treatment? Did she skip it on the principle of having nothing nice to say and so, choosing to say nothing, a la Thumper?

Chagrin notwithstanding, I forced myself to finish this book. And to mark it here, in my reading blog.

I enjoyed the chapters on North Korea (though I suspect my fascination had more to do with Crash Landing on You than anything else) and Tibet.

And that's all I have to say about that.