Review of The Kingdom by the Sea

I love me some Paul Theroux travel writing, but even his skill with the pen can't save this book about walking England's coastline from coming off dull. By deliberately avoiding the monuments, castles, and other sights that one would ordinarily include when writing about England, Theroux sets himself the challenge of writing only about everyday things like hotels, travelers, trains, cliffs, roadside amusements, and shabby little towns.

That's more than enough to write about when you're traveling through varying landscapes by uncertain models of travel, as Theroux does in The Old Patagonia Express. But even Theroux's powers of observation and description can do little for the dreary, repetitive English countryside. Glimmers of his normal brilliance come through when he's talking about local traditions -- for instance, certain superstitious fishermen who won't go to sea if they spot a nun before setting out -- but they aren't nearly enough to make the book worth finishing.