Reissue Review 10: Figures in a Landscape: People and Places

Figures in a Landscape: People and Places by Paul Theroux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reissue Review #1: On occasion revisiting and reissuing reviews from the days before my blog postings. 

A recent read: finished on December 24, 2018.

Paul Theroux has written many books, he's been around a while and traveled far. Somehow, even though I own one or two of his books, this is the first book I've read by Theroux. It's a collection of essays that has no overall theme, essays collected that he wrote through the years 2001-2016. All of the essays were previously published, either in magazines, or as introductions to books, and many appeared with different titles.

I do wish it was listed when the essays were written or published previously. This particularly struck me with several essays that dealt with celebrities he interviewed; Robin Williams, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson and Oliver Sacks, (okay maybe Sacks isn't a celebrity per se, but he is a famous neuroscientist), all of whom have already passed away by the time of the publication of this book.

With a few exceptions, I felt the essays got better the more I read the book. I think the middle and later essays were more engaging, less flexing of the vocabulary, stretching out to find those obscure and infrequently used words. Keep a dictionary nearby! One essay about a third the way though, "Nurse Wolf, the Hurter" was overly long and very unappealing. It just went on and on, and nearly had me quit reading the rest of the essays and the book. Happily it was the worst of the bunch and I carried on.

I think the essays collected here may have worked better as an overall book if there had been an overall theme, or sections at least, with a theme or grouping. Most essays were about other authors or celebrities, not nearly all. There also was a little repetition of some information as an idea or something in one essay appeared in another. This was particularly true near the end of the book with one essay, "Dead Old Dad: Memories of My Father" and the very next one "The Trouble with Autobiography" repeating some similar statements about his past. The last essay, his non autobiography is funny as it provides less information about himself as the previous essay.

Perhaps this book wasn't meant to be read cover to cover like most books, but to pick and choose which essay looks appealing and in whatever random order. It is a long 386 pages with the small print. I'm sure fans of Paul Theroux would enjoy the book, and for those who are new to his work as well.


I should also give thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for allowing me access to an advance electronic copy of the book. Although, I did read the print book my library purchased, I do appreciate the early review access.