Sunday Papers: Paul Theroux

"Travel, which is nearly always seen as an attempt to escape from the ego, is in my opinion the opposite.  Nothing induces concentration or inspires memory like an alien landscape or a foreign culture. It is simply not possible (as romantics think) to lose yourself in an exotic place. Much more likely is an experience of intense nostalgia, a harking back to an earlier stage in your life, or seeing clearly a serious mistake."






On the turntable: Esperanza Spalding, "Radio Music Society"
On the nighttable:  Paul Theroux, "The Happy Isles of Oceania"