--=[ Perdido Street Station ]=-- --=[ Pole to Pole with Michael Palin ]=--
Ah, PSS; I nearly put this book down permanently several times, but I kept coming back. It's the story of a man and a Khepri and some other bugs and some cactus people and a bird-man with no wings and drugs and everyone is chasing this guy and ...
I had this same problem when I was trying to tell the wife what this book was about
It's Steam Punk, in all it's decrepit, soggy glory. It came well-recommended from many people. It's not bad - it's not great, either. Like oatmeal, it's a book that sticks with you. One of the last confrontations, between Lin and the mighty bird-dragon things is something that I chew over daily. It's a horrifying, well-written climax.
I've gushed about Palin-as-writer before, during my review of his Hemingway Travels book, so I'm not going to do it again. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy travelogues even slightly, you'll love this book. It's a written account of his PBS series of the same name, as Palin attempts to go from North Pole to South Pole along the 30E longitudinal line. This takes him through Scandinavia, the Soviet Union (just barely, it collapsed mere days after he left it.), Turkey and eastern Africa, to name a few.
Once again, Palin has the knack to be the most disarming traveler you'll ever meet. Daring, in a flummoxed middle-aged man sort of way, he manages to make even the most decrepit Soviet tanker seem interesting. He visits the slightly beaten path, avoiding most of the major tourist traps and giving each location a dose of realistic flavor, through his British filter.
I loved every minute and every picture of this book.