Scan barcode
A review by crystalisreading
One for the Road: An Outback Adventure by Tony Horwitz
4.0
This was exactly the palate-cleansing travel memoir that I needed to recover from the barren gloom of Theater of Fish. One For the Road is the second travel memoir I've read about Australia, and the second one I've loved. I'm starting to think I'd love anything Tony Horwitz writes (write faster!). I didn't think anything could surpass my love for In a Sunburned Country, but this certainly pulls even with it. The thing is that the two books seem to capture different aspects of Australian culture and geography. Horwitz's book is the scruffy young kin to Bryson's book, and together they create a truly vivid picture of a continent/ country I'm not dying to visit, but still find vastly interesting.
I was really glad for the map at the front of the book, as I had some trouble keeping track of where Tony was at any given time. That has something to do with the nature of hitchhiking and such brief sojourns through any given place, I get. The book was also slightly dated, in that hitchhiking was still apparently an acceptable, legal, and somewhat safe method of travel (so bizarre to me!), cassette tapes were still in use, and the world news, culture, and politics mentioned were obviously not current.
But those are minor asides for me, not even something I'd consider an issue. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was surprised by how candid Tony is throughout this book, talking about religious beliefs (or lack thereof), hinting at political opinions, at least on a few topics, talking about his childhood, his insomnia and wanderlust, etc. They gave extra perspective to his interactions and adventures. My favorite sections of the book mostly had to do with the aborigines. I can't say I enjoyed them, exactly, since often the stories are bittersweet at best. But as a people they have more of a presence here than in In a Sunburned Country, and generally come out seeming like good people, however embattled their culture might be by various forces.
I also like that Horwitz wasn't afraid to show a bit of the darker, seedier side of Australian culture. The endless chain of pubs and nights of drinking could get a little old, but it does reflect the central nature of drinking and pubs to much of Australian, especially Outback culture. The fierce racism bothered me the most, as well as the often ferocious disregard for the environment. "Edna" was especially charmless, although cleverly depicted by Horwitz. I kept thinking of the evil teacher in Mathilda.
This was a fast, fun, easy read, and I'm glad I went to the extra effort of hunting it down through interlibrary loan. I may not want to visit Australia any more than I did before, but I certainly enjoyed my virtual trip (and I'd still love to see Uluru.).
I was really glad for the map at the front of the book, as I had some trouble keeping track of where Tony was at any given time. That has something to do with the nature of hitchhiking and such brief sojourns through any given place, I get. The book was also slightly dated, in that hitchhiking was still apparently an acceptable, legal, and somewhat safe method of travel (so bizarre to me!), cassette tapes were still in use, and the world news, culture, and politics mentioned were obviously not current.
But those are minor asides for me, not even something I'd consider an issue. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was surprised by how candid Tony is throughout this book, talking about religious beliefs (or lack thereof), hinting at political opinions, at least on a few topics, talking about his childhood, his insomnia and wanderlust, etc. They gave extra perspective to his interactions and adventures. My favorite sections of the book mostly had to do with the aborigines. I can't say I enjoyed them, exactly, since often the stories are bittersweet at best. But as a people they have more of a presence here than in In a Sunburned Country, and generally come out seeming like good people, however embattled their culture might be by various forces.
I also like that Horwitz wasn't afraid to show a bit of the darker, seedier side of Australian culture. The endless chain of pubs and nights of drinking could get a little old, but it does reflect the central nature of drinking and pubs to much of Australian, especially Outback culture. The fierce racism bothered me the most, as well as the often ferocious disregard for the environment. "Edna" was especially charmless, although cleverly depicted by Horwitz. I kept thinking of the evil teacher in Mathilda.
This was a fast, fun, easy read, and I'm glad I went to the extra effort of hunting it down through interlibrary loan. I may not want to visit Australia any more than I did before, but I certainly enjoyed my virtual trip (and I'd still love to see Uluru.).