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The Routes Of Man: How Roads Are Changing The World And The Way We Live Today (2010)

by Ted Conover(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1400042445 (ISBN13: 9781400042449)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: I have read three other books by Ted Conover, each of which I really enjoyed, so I was looking forward to reading this book. While his other books have delved into a single topic/place/people, this one had 6 relatively short essays on 6 roads (and the people, culture, place surrounding the roads): a road used my loggers in Peru, highways frequented by truckers (who may encounter HIV) in East Africa, checkpoints in the West Bank, a frozen river that functions as the route to boarding school in the Himalayas, auto touring in China, and the congestion of Lagos, Nigeria. I liked how in his prior books, Conover completely immersed himself in the culture and experience (even becoming a guard at Sing Sing prison) and that showed in his writing. I think these essays sounded mor... moree like Conover was being a reporter and not an anthropologist. Despite that, each of the chapters was fairly interesting, though I found some harder to follow than others.
review 2: This is one of the greatest books ever; the journalist is a hero. He travels through six of the world's major roads (or locations of potential roads) in Peru, Zanskar of Northern India, Kenya, the West Bank, China, and Lagos in Nigeria in order to explore some of the issues surrounding roads. As stated brilliantly in his introduction, "...the same roads that carry medicine also hasten the spread of deadly disease; the same roads that bring outside connection and knowledge to people starving for them sometimes spell the end of indigenous cultures; the same roads that help develop the human economy opens the way for destruction of the non-human environment; the same roads that carry cars symbolizing personal freedom are the setting for the deaths of more people than die in wars, and of untold numbers of animals; and the same roads that introduce us to friends also provide access to enemies" (pg.3). This book is informative, fun, stimulating, and peaks the curiosity to know more! less

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