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ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
It had seemed, at the time, a good idea, this holiday in Pyongyang.
Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World is a series of essays about the parts of the world isolated by politics, geography or culture. Pico Iyer spends time in the places you'd expect, like North Korea, Cuba, Bhutan and Iceland, but also in Argentina and Australia. Iyer comes across as a more thoughtful, less humorous Jon Ronson, able to insert himself into interesting situations, offbeat locations, and to get people to speak openly with him, without becoming the focus of his tales. Even the one in which police officers had a great deal of difficulty determining whether "Pico" or "Iyer" was his first name revolves around life in a Cuban village.
Back in the Gran Hotel, the receptionist greeted me in Hindi, a cockroach was waiting to welcome me in my bedroom, and a sudden thunderstorm turned the hotel corridors into rivers, a few dead leaves floating by my door. In the beautiful dining room, where La Madama had once held masked balls and taught le tout Asuncion to polka, four men in ponchos were putting on a show of Paraguayan culture, featuring songs from Mexico, songs from Cuba, and songs from Peru.
Iyer spends time in each of the places featured, returning to some years after his first visits. He falls into the daily rhythms of the places he's staying in, becoming familiar with Saturday markets or the movies being shown at the local cinema. The book itself is a bit dated, having been written twenty years ago but, for me at least, it has lost little of its appeal, the countries that he wrote about remain as exotic and unknown as they were when he wrote the essays.
Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World is a series of essays about the parts of the world isolated by politics, geography or culture. Pico Iyer spends time in the places you'd expect, like North Korea, Cuba, Bhutan and Iceland, but also in Argentina and Australia. Iyer comes across as a more thoughtful, less humorous Jon Ronson, able to insert himself into interesting situations, offbeat locations, and to get people to speak openly with him, without becoming the focus of his tales. Even the one in which police officers had a great deal of difficulty determining whether "Pico" or "Iyer" was his first name revolves around life in a Cuban village.
Back in the Gran Hotel, the receptionist greeted me in Hindi, a cockroach was waiting to welcome me in my bedroom, and a sudden thunderstorm turned the hotel corridors into rivers, a few dead leaves floating by my door. In the beautiful dining room, where La Madama had once held masked balls and taught le tout Asuncion to polka, four men in ponchos were putting on a show of Paraguayan culture, featuring songs from Mexico, songs from Cuba, and songs from Peru.
Iyer spends time in each of the places featured, returning to some years after his first visits. He falls into the daily rhythms of the places he's staying in, becoming familiar with Saturday markets or the movies being shown at the local cinema. The book itself is a bit dated, having been written twenty years ago but, for me at least, it has lost little of its appeal, the countries that he wrote about remain as exotic and unknown as they were when he wrote the essays.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
5.0
What a beautiful book!!
With literature so beautiful that it makes you want to put the book down so you can go over the sentences in your mind again, and mention of intelligent references all over making you reach out for the encyclopedia and set in places so far removed from the world that they make you curious, this book is just perfect.
I've been a fan of Iyer's for a long time from his TED talks and essays in magazines but now I know it's for a lifetime. The man knows how to travel, what to look for in a new place and how to convey what he is feeling in that moment. How else will you make a book written about lonely countries in the 1990s still relevant 25 years later when the reader is well aware that the conditions mentioned in the book should long be over in that country!
At once I was in many places... Shuddered at the thought of Juche and Our Beloved Leader of the unfortunate Korea; amused and interested about Peronism and the pseudo-aristocracy of Argentina; excited at the possibility of visiting Cuba now that the doors are opened; amused by the structure of the society in Iceland; heart full of longing at the immense peace and beauty when Bhutan is mentioned; for the first time, read about Saigon and Vietnam and the differences; feel terrible and also weird-ed out for Paraguay and at last, get lost in the vast continent of Australia. All of this, from my couch, with rich words and sentences for company and the thought of one man living it all... Just brilliant!
With literature so beautiful that it makes you want to put the book down so you can go over the sentences in your mind again, and mention of intelligent references all over making you reach out for the encyclopedia and set in places so far removed from the world that they make you curious, this book is just perfect.
I've been a fan of Iyer's for a long time from his TED talks and essays in magazines but now I know it's for a lifetime. The man knows how to travel, what to look for in a new place and how to convey what he is feeling in that moment. How else will you make a book written about lonely countries in the 1990s still relevant 25 years later when the reader is well aware that the conditions mentioned in the book should long be over in that country!
At once I was in many places... Shuddered at the thought of Juche and Our Beloved Leader of the unfortunate Korea; amused and interested about Peronism and the pseudo-aristocracy of Argentina; excited at the possibility of visiting Cuba now that the doors are opened; amused by the structure of the society in Iceland; heart full of longing at the immense peace and beauty when Bhutan is mentioned; for the first time, read about Saigon and Vietnam and the differences; feel terrible and also weird-ed out for Paraguay and at last, get lost in the vast continent of Australia. All of this, from my couch, with rich words and sentences for company and the thought of one man living it all... Just brilliant!
modeislodis's review against another edition
3.0
Hit and miss. Iyer is charming and funny and fun to read. But these essays would drag, then spark; I was mostly bored, but stayed engaged for those moments of delight.
yourfriendtorie's review against another edition
3.0
I randomly picked this book out of the small collection in the house where we stayed in Hawai'i. Being in vagabond mode, I enjoyed the quaintly written travelogues of "the world's loneliest places." Most travel writing is challenging for me. This was better than Bill Bryson (is he a travel writer?), whom I just can't get into, but Iyer's writing was still somehow lacking. He gave good historical backgrounds to the places he wrote about (North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Iceland, Paraguay, Bhutan...am I forgetting any?). Reading re-intensified my desire to travel to certain places (Vietnam), and shed light on otherwise mysterious places I never really thought about (Bhutan, Paraguay). I thought the best essay was definitely the one about Cuba, a place and experience so many travel writers attempt to describe but mostly can't quite get right. Anyway, Iyer seemed to feel about the place the same way I did, and that is a beautiful, intimate thing.
kitchensensei's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely made me miss traveling. Wanderlust is real. Overall it was an ok read. Over the top at times, but also filled with interesting stores.
cheryl6of8's review against another edition
3.0
A fascinating look at many different remote places that exist within the increasingly connected world. The most fascinating thing, I found, was that even though it has been about 15 years since these pieces were written, most of it is still pretty accurate. The author's visits included Bhutan, Iceland, North Korea, Paraguay, Vietnam and Australia. I think that Vietnam may be more modern now than described, with more connection to the world, but I don't know that the other places have changed. Australia has always been modern, just its remoteness was celebrated in the book and nothing will ever be able to change that. Iceland's population of immigrants has expanded, but its culture is still pretty insular. Bhutan and Paraguay are places you never hear about at all and seldome think about; I doubt they have changed much. North Korea is still as paranoid, self-obsessed, and completely otherworldly as ever, even with the change of leadership. I enjoyed a virtual visit to all of these places. Other than Iceland and Australia, though, no real desire to visit them in person.
sawyerbell's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book about the loneliest places on earth.