Modern travel books have given rise to crazy competition in the
quest for the most outlandish destination or far-flung adventure.
Aaronovitch has been impressively brave: he chose a journey not
fraught with promise or obvious drama, and travelled in a canoe
along the waterways and canals of middle England. From the
beginning, this throws him back on his powers of observation,
interpretation and evocation to give a picture of contemporary
British society at the start of the new millennium. Whilst
Aaronovitch does not attempt to prettify his experiences, neither
does he dwell on horrors or exaggerate the negative. Nonetheless,
the cumulative effect of unfriendly natives, loutish behaviour,
urban sprawl, inhospitable hotels, closed or converted churches and
the general feel of a country cut off from its roots and history by
streams of traffic and the paucity of living culture, is somewhat
depressing because it sadly rings true. Part history and part
autobiography this account succeeds against the odds in holding
both the reader's attention and allegiance. As a picture of
contemporary England, if not visionary, it is revealing. (Kirkus
UK)
In this text, David Aaronovitch, the award-winning columnist and
broadcaster, canoes round the waterways and canals of England on
the eve of the new Millennium. In the last months of the second
millennium, a rather large middle-aged man set out on an epic
journey to discover England and himself. By canoe. "Paddling to
Jerusalem" is the story of where he went, who he met and what he
thought. It is a tale of moderate danger, of slow adventure, of big
exercise, wet water and bad food. Above all it is a saga about us -
all of us. Beginning at Camden Lock in London, the journey winds
through old countryside and new towns, past cathedrals and disused
wharves, down ancient waterways lined with crumbling factories and
newly restored warehouses.
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