Turn Left At The Trojan Horse

Frankly, after encountering Paul Theroux’s well-written travelogues of life on the road, I never again expected to find another travel writer who appealed to me more – that was until I started reading Brad Herzog’s Turn Left at the Trojan Horse. Herzog’s third travelogue, which follows on States of Mind and Small World, takes one on a well-illustrated road journey across America all the way from Seattle, Washington to Ithaca, New York. But this is no mere travel guide, as the author’s concerns range widely from death and immortality, to individual and corporate leadership, and friendship and self-awareness, among countless other topics. Sometimes irreverent, always witty, and even occasionally punning, Herzog is not shy of telling the odd joke. Master of a self-deprecatory style, he succeeds in revealing his own shortcomings, of both a physical and intellectual nature (the latter which the skill of his own writing totally refutes). Probing deeply into those whom he meets along the way, Herzog focuses on the inner workings of those whom he meets, so that the work is much more than a travelogue of places that are slightly off the beaten track, but more an exploration and unpicking of what makes America so exceptional – the individuals who, with their pioneering spirit, conquer all adversity to soar above the mundane into the realms of the metaphysical. He penetrates the core of what makes society tick, in terms of the conglomerate of personalities who form the backbone of the nation. Reminiscent in parts of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Turn Left at the Trojan Horse is filled with down home common sense. Only fleeting reference is made to road and weather conditions, just enough to keep the reader on track of the author’s progress through the changing landscape. Such descriptions enable Herzog to focus in on one of his primary concerns, a desire to explore qualities of the human psyche, relating the qualities found in those whom he encounters with those of mythical heroes and heroines in terms of both their failings and achievements. In an age in which much of mythology, that used to be force-fed into youngsters alongside the classics, is no longer the basic staple of a scholar’s diet, Brad Herzog brings the doings of those on Mount Olympus to the level of everyday humanity whom he encounters in his travels across America. In keeping with those in whose footsteps Herzog treads, such as the pioneering Lewis and Clark, dangers abound, no matter whethe

שנה

2010

הוצאה

Citadel

מהדורות

1

עמודים

320

ISBN

9780806532028

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata