Figures in a Landscape

Theroux, Paul. Figures in a Landscape: People and Places. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2018. Print

First Sentences:

This was in the 1960s, when the book [The Yage Letters by William S. Burroughs] first appeared, to cries of execration by the usual hypocrites

The book is an encouragement to any prospective quester, and very funny, too.

Description:

Paul Theroux is a writer I admire greatly for his adventurous railway travel in books like The Great Railway Bazaar (Asia), The Old Patagonian Express (United States), The Last Train to Zona Verds (Africa), and Riding the Iron Rooster (China). I also knew he was a prolific writer of interesting fiction such as Mosquito Coast, Saint Jack, and Hotel Honolulu. 

But I didn't know he was a prolific essayist as well. Figures in a Landscape: People and Places: 2001-2016 changed that for me. Here are assembled thirty essays ranging from biographical thoughts on people I know a little about like Joseph Conrad, Thoreau, Oliver Sacks, and Robin Williams to people I am completely unfamiliar with (artist Thomas Hart Benson; Nurse Wolf, the dominatrix; author George Simenon; and Albert Theroux, Paul's father). And there are plenty of unusual stories and details about each person:

In Bronx State, a state mental hospital I used to work at, I always used to carry my white coat and my identity pass, because I was never sure that if I lost it I would be able to prove my sanity. - Oliver Sacks

There are essays on so many fascinating, seemingly random occurrences that caught Thoreaux's attention enough to write about them. For example: the art and motivation for collecting Chinese "reverse glass" paintings; Thoreaux's life as a library-book reader; travel to dangerous countries; and raising geese in Hawaii.

While weighing the risks and being judicious, travel in an uncertain world, in a time of change, has never seemed to me more essential, of greater importance, or more enlightening.

Every essay is highly-detailed, insightful, deeply thoughtful, and interesting in a way that can only be described as breathtaking, entertaining and informative. Each essay is completely personal in observations, rants, and passions that are wide-ranging and, of course, never dull.

At some point, quite early ... my reading diverged and I began to live a parallel life as a reader, supplementing school books with library books I chose for myself. The required reading at school I often found dismaying, insufficient, or over-analyzed....It was School Books versus All Others, the books I was told to study and anatomize set against the books I delighted in. 

Very fun, informative, and fascinating. Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Wallace, David Foster. Consider the Lobster.  

Essays on a variety of topics by the master writer, Wallace, including tennis player Tracy Austin, Kafka's humor, and of course lobsters.