the old patagonian express by paul theroux

Tremors left cracks between windows, and separated, in the stained glass of those windows, the shepherd from his brittle flock, the saint from his gold staff, the martyr from his persecutors. The earth shook - not much, but enough to split them. Churches were built - a dozen, of Spanish loveliness, with slender steeples and finely finished porches and domes. In 1773, Antigua was flattened by an earthquake, and a more stable site - at least it was farther from the slopes of the great volcanoes - was found here, in the Valley of the Hermitage, formerly an Indian village. So the capital was moved three miles away to Antiguia in the middle of the sixteenth century. The first capital had been destroyed by torrents of water. The rumbles from their fires had heaved this city down. Their beauty was undeniable but it was the beauty of witches. They were tall volcanoes and looked capable of spewing lava. I was on the third floor, which was also the top floor.

I could see the volcanoes from the window of mym hotel room. Its ugliness, which is a threatened look (the low, morose houses have earthquake cracks in their facades the buildings wince at you with fright lines), is ugliest on those streets where, just past the last toppling house, a blue volcano’s cone bulges. Guatemala City, an extremely horizontal place, is like a city on its back. As always, I just love his writing, cranky as it is.įrom The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas by Paul Theroux. But I’ll post a bit from his chapter on Guatemala.

Theroux interviewing Borges – but basically the two of them just sit around and talk about literature for 2 days – I LOVE that chapter. Fascinating stuff – While he is in Argentina, he calls on writer Jorge Luis Borges – and they spend a couple of days together.

It’s about his journey through Central America and down into South America. In this book, Paul Theroux travels from Boston to Patagonia – by train. The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas by Paul Theroux.

The old patagonian express by paul theroux