Rating: 
Summary: Trips to take without the kids and family dog.
Review: In "Falling Off the Map", Pico Iyer's tales of wanderlust transport the reader to North Korea, Argentina, Cuba, Iceland, Bhutan, Vietnam, Paraguay and Australia, all of which are Lonely Places outside the world's mainstream either by choice, geography or circumstance. I was a bit surprised that no country on the African continent was included, as I have to believe that some backwaters of one or another decayed, European, colonial empire have acquired independence to become, well, backwaters by other names. Perhaps Pico hasn't looked at an atlas lately, or he didn't find the prospect of the Dark Continent's climate particularly appealing. Because Vietnam monopolized so much of America's collective consciousness in the 60's and 70's, the chapter dedicated to that country was, to me, the most informative and intriguing - and I didn't even serve there, or anywhere near it, during my years with the U.S. Navy. Though ostensibly a communist state, Iyer is careful to note that Vietnam's lingering animosity is with the Chinese, not the U.S., even though it was the latter that bombed, defoliated and napalmed the country for years. Americans, and their $, are most welcome. I've decided that I owe it to myself to visit the place, just to see the patch of real estate that we made such a fuss over. The author's observations of all the Lonely Places are recorded as viewed through lenses of keen perception and dry humor. He was, after all, born British. In "Falling Off the Map", Iyer has accomplished what I think most travel writers set out to do, i.e., convince their readers to see for themselves what will otherwise remain simply as mental images conjured from a page. Though I will likely never visit all, or even a minority, of these quirky locales, I really wish I could.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but esoteric, and in some cases not so lonely!
Review: Iyer has always written lyrically and insightfully, and he's especially good at picking up on the idiosyncracies of people and places as well as cross-cultural influences and the effects of the world's increasing globalization (or lack of in some cases). But this book's so called theme of the loneliness of some destinations rings hollow, in some cases they appear to be adapting themselves to the changing world quite well. Vietnam and Australia for example, two of the destinations he writes about, seem to be making every effort to make themselves both more hospitable to travelers and more familiar to the outside world. Other destinations, while certainly identifiable as lonely places, do not yield their charms easily to the reader, even under Iyer's elegant prose. All in all, Iyer's failure to convincinly link thru the disparate chapters the theme of the lonlieness of certain geographical locations does not result in a book that is greater than the sum of its parts, the book stands better as a series of essays, (and was probably written that way in the first place). THat said however, I'm still a fan of Iyer's prose as well as his ability to meld easily into whatever place he is visiting. Unlike many other travel writers who often make themselves part of the story or even the whole story, Iyer never stands out as the ugly American and is able to view the destination with a somewhat detached though always humorous and unique outlook. But I think his work was better in Video Night in Khatamandu, a book with themes that rang truer than this one. While any book by Iyer is a treat for his diehard fans (like me), this one will have limited broader appeal. But I guess his stuff is a niche market anyway! Buy it for the writing but don't get to caught up in the destinations!
Rating:
Summary: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Surfer
Review: Most of the essays in this book were written between 1988 and 1992 -- a period that came at the end of a small renaissance in the art of travel writing, until the bores writing about Tuscany and the South of France suffocated it. Tim Cahill, Bruce Chatwin, Ian Buruma, and Paul Theroux were at their height -- as well as Iyer himself with his VIDEO NIGHT IN KATHMANDU. I revelled in their writings, glorying in dangerous places I would never actually visit for fear of tropical diseases, violent bands of guerrillas or outlaws, dictatorial governments, and -- primarily -- lack of funds. Pico Iyer is a writer who skates on the surface of things touristic. He has few sustained discussions with locals who can provide some light on the strangeness reflected back at him by these surfaces. And he does not appear to have done his homework: To visit Iceland, for example, without reference to the sagas of the 13th Century is almost to miss the point. The hardiness of a people raised on the example of Gisli Sursson (Gisla Saga) or Grettir Asmundarson (Grettir's Saga) is to really grasp the Juchi Idea (of self-reliance) he discusses in conjunction with his essay or North Korea. Although he can be a tad lazy, Iyer has the gift of gab. I still remember a one-page essay he wrote ages ago for, I believe, NEWSWEEK, on the decline of the comma in writing. If he were alive today, Oscar Wilde would approve of Iyer's work. Perhaps Iyer's wit in describing these surfaces is a sign of greatness that I just fall short of fully appreciating. I remember a travel book by Graham Greene (THE LAWLESS ROADS) in which the author breaks his only set of glasses during one particularly vile stretch of terrain and suddenly launches into a vicious attack on Mexico, cursing it for the pain it put him through to research his novel THE POWER AND THE GLORY. I never get the feeling that Iyer expresses anything deeper and amusement or mild inconvenience; and I really wonder what he feels about these places he visits. We may never know, because he wears his mask well.
Rating: 
Summary: It was a struggle, but I made it thru the book.
Review: Much better than I thought it would. I really gained insight on the people of these places as well as the places themselves. I now would want to visit some of them. Others never---which is the point.
Rating:
Summary: Eight informative chapters
Review: Much better than I thought it would. I really gained insight on the people of these places as well as the places themselves. I now would want to visit some of them. Others never---which is the point.
Rating:
Summary: home is where everything is the same and yet different
Review: Pico Iyer's prose caught my eye in his Time Magazine columns where he did a good job showing us how recognizable the exotic has become. This collection, his first in book form, again reiterates that the most difficult aspect of long distance travel is not any longer how to get there, how to dodge danger or how to find your way back but how to avoid to bump into the same features you left 10,000 miles and 6 timezones earlier. Showing through many examples, sometimes hilarious and sometimes profoundly sad how globalisation regurgitates the same marketing ideas dressed in different flags it really makes its point that the era of the curious gentleman(woman) traveler looking for exotic shores has been overtaken by the vastly less romantic quest to escape the onslaught of canned icons in any neck of the woods.
The book also does a nice job of illuminating the paradoxical quest of the overfed and understimulated prestigious first world traveler trying to find hidden corners where there is still some sort of exploration possible and where not all laws of our structured civilization apply only to be greeted by the not so happy natives who are dying to know how to join the West or in the least purchase its most potent logos.
Rating:
Summary: A great source of esoteric conversation fodder
Review: The easiest read of the three books of Iyer's that I have read. Five of his eight destinations were places about which I had never read anything other than a description in the almanac. What makes Iyer's writing so appealing to me is that he accepts with equanimity the poor conditions that other top travel writers, such as Paul Theroux, devote such energy to bemoaning. Even if it weren't so well written, I would recommend this book for the originality of its material.
Rating: 
Summary: For readers able to appreciate subtlety and nuance
Review: This author write a cut above the norm. Where the uninititated might see only the author's felicity with language, those seeking insight into places they've never been or even a place they might like to go, will appreciate this book immensely. For thoughtful individuals who may never leave their own locale, throughout, one will find respect for the subtle interplay between the integrity of local places and the two-edged sword of globalization, sweeping the one world in which we are increasingly, if still nascently living.
Rating:
Summary: For readers able to appreciate subtlety and nuance
Review: This author write a cut above the norm. Where the uninititated might see only the author's felicity with language, those seeking insight into places they've never been or even a place they might like to go, will appreciate this book immensely. For thoughtful individuals who may never leave their own locale, throughout, one will find respect for the subtle interplay between the integrity of local places and the two-edged sword of globalization, sweeping the one world in which we are increasingly, if still nascently living.
Rating:
Summary: It was a struggle, but I made it thru the book.
Review: This book describes the author's visits to 8 countries: North Korea, Argentina, Cuba, Iceland, Bhutan, Vietnam, Paraguay, and Australia. The trips took place from 1987 to 1992. I really struggled through this book. The author's writing is flowery and embellished. I love adjectives and adverbs just as much as anyone, but there's a limit. Sometimes excessive verbiage takes away from the writing instead of adding to it. The travels that he describes are very disjointed and abstract. For example, the chapter on Cuba (which was about 20 pages long) is a compilation of experiences from visits during 1987-1992. After reading the chapter, I really didn't learn much about Cuba. He recounted a few unrelated stories and cited various other writer's impressions. This is no travel log. For the most part, the author's travels were not off the beaten path; he stayed in major cities. I do NOT recommend this book. I did not like the author's writing style; at times it made for a very difficult and unintelligible read. If you want to learn anything useful about these 8 countries, choose a different book.
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