Product Description
Eighteen countries. Five shock absorbers.
Two bikers. One amazing adventure…After their fantastic trip round the world in 2004, fellow actors and bike fanatics Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman couldn’t shake the travel bug. Inspired by their UNICEF visits to Africa, they knew they had to go back and experience this extraordinary continent in more depth.And so they set off on their 15,000-mile journey with two new BMWs loaded up for the trip. Their rou… More >>
Long Way Down: An Epic Journey by Motorcycle from Scotland to South Africa
Tags: Africa, charley boorman, Down, Epic, epic journey, ewan mcgregor, fellow actors, from, Journey, Long, mile journey, Motorcycle, new bmws, rou, Scotland, shock absorbers, South, travel bug, unicef
#1 by Dirk Tag on April 17, 2010 - 3:27 am
I bought “Long way Down” ages ago with great expectations but I have to say, having finally found time to read it and having gotten myself half-way through, I feel decidedly underwhelmed. I went out and paid a handsome sum for this publication in hardcover after having my appetite aroused by blurbs which promised a great read, and a little humour, in the vein of classic travel writing. But that is not what I got. “Long Way Down” sallies forth into rich landscapes but gives up only a dull stream of prosaic impressions of the worlds and people which it passes. Its understanding of the nuance, complexity and colour of the locales it encounters is utterly superficial. This, it must be said, would be forgivable if the reward for such nearsightedness was a series of amusing or charming ironies. But charm and irony is a destination the writers of this drivel are unlikely ever to reach. It will remain a lasting shame to this century that Little Brown’s Sphere buffoons have attempted to shove this abomination into the same generic space occupied by classics like Eric Newby’s “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush”. Like a square peg into a round hole this common little book will not make for such a fit. What was Sphere thinking? Surely there was someone working at LB who had read Waugh, Steinbeck or Sinclair; someone who could have applied the proverbial brakes before Sphere foisted this shameless potboiler on the world with promising blurbs of truly faith destroying proportions. Lies, damned lies, and a couple of fat gits. That’s really all this book turned out to be. Thanks for nothing…
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by DTV on April 17, 2010 - 6:04 am
Being an avid motorcyclist, adventurer and non-fiction reader, I was excited to pick this book up when I saw it. Tried to get thru it several times, but it was just uncompelling. Very little about the actual bikes other than that they were BMW’s. Having an entourage of trucks and cameras following them… What kind of adventure is that? ANYWAYS I never did get thru it although it was a good aid to falling asleep at night – 5 or 6 pages and I was out like a light.
Rating: 2 / 5
#3 by Marianne Shinmon on April 17, 2010 - 8:29 am
I love this book. I read his first and I couldn’t wait to receive this one. It is very well written. I am afan of both Ewan and Charley.
Marianne Shinmon mshinmon@cox.net
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Peter Latteier on April 17, 2010 - 9:42 am
I read the book during my own motorcycle trip down to Guatemala. I read their first book, Long Way Round, a couple years ago and it inspired me to make my trip. Its great that two guys like Charley and Ewan are so passionate about their bikes that despite their careers they take the time to do a trip like this. It is also nice to see them take time to help out with various charities during their journeys. Now I need to order the DVDs!
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by J. Eder on April 17, 2010 - 11:28 am
Ewan and Charley’s adventure from northern Scotland to the southern tip of Africa reads much like two diaries being integrated for the book. Each author has his own voice. These generally are complementary, but they expose their own tensions and those of the trip as well. Their involvement in African charitable organizations and the emotions they invoke raise the book from a fairly straight narrative into bringing greater understanding and sympathy for the situations faced in most African countries.
At one point, Charley takes the bungee jump from the Victoria Falls railway bridge (360 feet vertical drop). Ewan wonders a bit at Charley’s bravado. Having been there and done that jump at age 62, I can appreciate both points of view. But if you are there, don’t pass it up!
Rating: 4 / 5