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The Pillars of Hercules

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 1,678 ratings · 90 reviews

"DAZZLING."
--Time
"[THEROUX'S] WORK IS DISTINGUISHED BY A SPLENDID EYE FOR DETAIL AND THE TELLING GESTURE; a storyteller's sense of pacing and gift for granting closure to the most subtle progression of events; and the graceful use of language. . . . We are delighted, along with Theroux, by the politeness of the Turks, amazed by the mountainous highlands in Syria, touched b...more

Paperback, 528 pages

Published October 29th 1996 by Ballantine Books (first published October 17th 1995)

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Feb 05, 2008 Oceana2602 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: travelers

Shelves: 2007, travel-literature, favourites, english, male-writers

Theroux amuses me.

I know that not everyone likes his sarcasm and that he is seemingly never content with where he is (but then, which great traveler is ever contempt with where he is? Isn't that why we travel?). I find him intelligent and entertaining, and because I don't always agree with him, he makes me look at the world in a new and interesting ways. That he managed to do that when he wrote about Europe, my home, shows even more what a great writer he is.

The Pillars of Hercules is everythin...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Andrew Rosner added it

I think a person approaching Theroux's travel literature for the first time is likely to be surprised at how curmudgeonly he can be at times. If you can get past that, you'll find he's also intelligent, articulate, and a keen observer of humanity. Most importantly, he possesses an almost fatal sense of curiosity. Who else would dare journey to (gulp) Albania??? But if you want to learn about life under the Hoxha regime and its apocalyptic aftermath, this is a good place to start. There's a lot m...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Jon Stout rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having enjoyed several of Paul Theroux's books, especially Sir Vidia's Shadow, I thought a tour of the Mediterranean would be great. I like Theroux's rough and ready (former Peace Corps) style of travel, except occasionally when he goes luxury class.

Starting from Gibraltar, Theroux has to zigzag in order to cover the islands and to avoid political conflict. I was surprised to remember how much violent discord there is in the Mediterranean. He zigzags in the former Yugoslavia, unable to transit M...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Sharon Styer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a wonderful journey of a read. Paul Theroux spent 17 months traveling around the Mediterranean. I have not traveled there myself and found I did not have many countries placed in their rightful spots. I now have a clear image of the area together with Paul's adventure stories to accompany each country.
Here are a few insights I enjoyed: " On those shores were the four great Empires of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. All our religion, almost all our law,...more This was a wonderful journey of a read. Paul Theroux spent 17 months traveling around the Mediterranean. I have not traveled there myself and found I did not have many countries placed in their rightful spots. I now have a clear image of the area together with Paul's adventure stories to accompany each country.
Here are a few insights I enjoyed: " On those shores were the four great Empires of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. All our religion, almost all our law, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above savages, has come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean."

Here's a travel motto of Paul's: "It may look as if I am seeking something; but I am seeking nothing." Theroux travels in a light way. He feels it out as he goes. He talks with anyone who will have a conversation with him. He is a modest traveler. He doesn't look to find the "right" hotel to stay in. He stays mostly with people or in very modest hotels. This was a refreshing insight to me.
He wrote a line: tourists have plans, travelers do not. A traveler is vague, a tourist is certain.He did have a plan though to travel around the Mediterranean Sea. But how he accomplished it was a work in progress: perhaps here today, perhaps there. It was a loose, easy way to explore.
"On most trips I kept rolling until I found a place I liked, and when I got a certain feeling, I came to a stop. This was another reason I traveled alone, because it was rare for two people to see the same qualities in a place."
"What do you look for in a novel? Originality, humor, subtlety. A sense of place. A new way of seeing. the writing itself."
"Kunstlerchuld, which means an artist's guilt, the emotion a painter feels over his frivolity in a world in which people work in a rut that makes them gloomy. I told myself that my writing-this effort of observation- absolved me from any guilt, but of course that was just a feeble excuse. This was pleasure."
Throughout his journey, Theroux referenced the Odyssey. As he explored yet another small country's shoreline and mostly found these spots dirty, stony, polluted shores, he reference a former spot of glory.
He included conversations and insights from the people he met. These gave me deeper insights into the countries and their endless clashes with their neighbors.
He took two cruises. One was expensive and elaborate. He acclimated to these higher spoils very well and missed the ship when he left. Soon after, he took a Turkish cruise to Israel. Great insights from this trip as well.
It's a wonderful read with interesting insights. He ends his story on a ship set sail between the Pillars of Hercules:When you solve the mystery, it is time to leave.

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Jun 30, 2012 Jeremy Forstadt rated it 5 of 5 stars

In THE PILLARS OF HERCULES, Paul Theroux travels a well-trodden path, for once, and one which has perhaps been excessively romanticized in the past. In contrast to many of the other regions of the world in which he has traveled and of which he has written, the Mediterranean has a long literary history consisting of native writers and expatriates alike. In much of this book, Theroux manages to skirt the most touristed regions of Mediterranea while seeking out the landmarks and icons (some living)...more In THE PILLARS OF HERCULES, Paul Theroux travels a well-trodden path, for once, and one which has perhaps been excessively romanticized in the past. In contrast to many of the other regions of the world in which he has traveled and of which he has written, the Mediterranean has a long literary history consisting of native writers and expatriates alike. In much of this book, Theroux manages to skirt the most touristed regions of Mediterranea while seeking out the landmarks and icons (some living) of the literary Mediterranean. In some ways, THE PILLARS OF HERCULES is substantially different than any other travelogue published by Theroux.

In other ways, however, this book remains true to the Theroux we have always loved or reviled. How could it not be? Theroux's acerbic pen has not lost its bite, and his misanthropic self is as prominent a character in this book as it is in all his others. Now, however, he is treading a sacred path: one which, for once, may have been crossed by a substantial number of his readers.

Beginning in Gibraltar, Theroux's plan is to circumnavigate the Mediterranean while remaining as close to the water's edge as possible. The plan to stay within sight of the water sometimes causes Theroux (or perhaps it provides the excuse he needs) to miss some of the more popular locations of the Grand Tour, yet it keeps him close to those who make their livelihoods at the shores of the great sea. In one of the most traveled regions on earth, Theroux manages to find those out of the way places--not gems perhaps, but surprisingly untouched by the tourist trade--where we can really experience a sense of place and of culture.

THE PILLARS OF HERCULES ends up being a deeply satisfying work for those who love to travel in a vagabond manner, though perhaps not for those whose travels consist of packaged tours and managed activity schedules (and perhaps not as well for those possessed of eternally sunny dispositions). Whatever your travel preference, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone pondering a Mediterranean vacation. There is bound to be something interesting or entertaining here for anyone.(less)

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Dec 03, 2011 Jenny Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm about 1/3 the way through and yes, he is one cranky old man and annoyingly full of himself. This isn't anything new, but in the past he was also a very good travel writer. This, alas, is no longer true.

In this book he's become lazy. He goes from place to place getting on one boat or train after another and interacting only with the people he randomly encounters: the proprietor of the he hotel, others waiting for transport, the lunatics who accost strangers in public places.

It's as if he's g...more I'm about 1/3 the way through and yes, he is one cranky old man and annoyingly full of himself. This isn't anything new, but in the past he was also a very good travel writer. This, alas, is no longer true.

In this book he's become lazy. He goes from place to place getting on one boat or train after another and interacting only with the people he randomly encounters: the proprietor of the he hotel, others waiting for transport, the lunatics who accost strangers in public places.

It's as if he's gone "work to rule" on filling this book contract. He's signed a contract to write a book where he goes to all these places he's damned if he's going to do anything more than he has to when he gets there.

For example, he goes to Robert Graves' home on Mallorca but tells the reader almost nothing about Graves, who was one of the more interesting authors of the 20th century. What he does say about Graves is so telegraphic you'd have to know a lot about Graves before reading it to understand it. (He throws off a one liner, for example, about how Graves threw out his lover and found another White Goddess.) Theroux doesn't bother to meet with Graves' children who were living in the house when he visited, either. It would be one thing if this was because they had rejected a request to meet him, but he admits he didn't even bother to contact them. Lazy.

Note: I did finish it and it got worse. Once out of Western Europe Theroux sees what he expects to see, applying racial and national stereotypes to everyone he meets based on a phrase or two he overhears or elicits. His antisemitism is pervasive and unpleasant, and very familiar to anyone who lives in Massachusetts and knows people raised in the class he grew up in.

What is the most wearing--and revealing about the author in this book--is the way he continuously excoriates the other foreigners he meets for being tourists while flattering himself that he is a "traveler." Not once or twice but every few pages. The world, to Theroux, is infested with people who travel the same places he goes and enjoy them. A lot of them turn out to be Germans who he loathes for reasons he considers so self-evident he doesn't share them with the reader. Indeed, as far as I've read (he's just left Croatia) he's never actually brought any Germans to life with his pen, but dozens of times he's used the term "German" in the same kind of tone most travelers save for bedbugs.

In short, the once perceptive Theroux has become lazy, and traveling has become a distasteful pursuit he must follow to earn the very comfortable living that lets him spend the rest of his time in Hawaii basking in his fame.
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May 01, 2012 Buck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Paul Theroux is not a nice man. It isn’t nice to say that Albanians look “retarded”. It isn’t nice to point out that Greece is a welfare case sponging off the EU and milking a cultural legacy it has dishonored with its parochialism. And it certainly isn’t nice—it is, in fact, downright impolitic and a bit sinister—to take such obvious pleasure in despising Israelis.

But nice people, as a rule, don’t write great travel books. They write "heartwarming tales" full of spiritual uplift and multicultur...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've liked Paul Theroux's travel writing since I was in college, when I read Kingdom by the Sea, his account of traveling around England by foot. I love that he's grumpy, opinionated, straightforward, and difficult. And when he's on, he's really funny. I laughed out loud several times over the course of this book. But damn, it was tough going until he got to the war-torn countries. I'd say the first half of the book, spanning Spain, France, Italy, and the various islands, were some of Theroux's...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Leftbanker rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

I remember first coming across this book and I just thought to myself, “Damn, a travel book about the Mediterranean. I should have written that.” I have read almost everything Theroux has written. He really is a fine writer but travel writing—for me at least—needs to be more than pretty prose. I am looking for insights into the culture. He was such a whiner in this book, even more than usual. In Spain he complained about the food. Where in the hell was he eating? From vending machines? Next he b...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the account of Paul Theroux's travels to the countries along the shores of the Mediterranean. The contrast between the living conditions and cultures in such a small area is striking. Some of the places he visits are Italy, the Greek Islands and Athens, Albania, Croatia (in 1995 while the war is going on), Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Morocco. Some of the many things I value in his books are his visits with writers. This time, it is Naguib Mahfouz and Paul Bowles. As usual, he doesn't take...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Einschrein rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love reading about the worlds of the Mediterranean and Theroux does not disappoint. Travel writing allows me to go places I've never been, and places I have been, just seen through different eyes. My only criticism about this book is in the description his travels promised in the title and preface: the Mediterranean, from one pillar of Hercules (in Gibraltar) to the other (in Morocco). Much time and space is given to the West (Spain, France, Italy, Greece), moderate time to the East (Turkey, S...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Dvora rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Travel book is one of my favorite genres but as big as his reputation is, Theroux is not one of my favorite travel writers. In fact, I doubt I will read any more by him. I read his book about Patagonia some years ago and was surprised at how arrogant and negative he was. He didn't like any place he went. How did he get to be such a famous and popular travel writer? This book was no better. Oh, he writes well, but I don't enjoy his arrogance, and what is the point of traveling or reading about so...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Manish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Writing a travelogue of a journey beginning from Gibraltar and ending at the same place by traversing the coasts and cultures of Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco is no mean task. So understandably, Theroux's effort can definitely raise eyebrows with some his characteristic generalizations and perceptions. But all said and done, the pleasure of a excursion into these places with a running commentary ranging from the literary luminaries who have grac...more

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Mar 30, 2010 Abby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, travel

A nice break from mysteries and romances! Theroux's trip around the rim of the Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to north Africa, is a perfectly crafted snapshot in time. His observations are keen, biting and sparing in praise, capturing both the ridiculousness of being a tourist and the necessity of that industry to the livelihoods of many locations. The part I found most interesting was when he journeyed to the far eastern portion of the Med, through Israel, Croatia and Turkey. That part of the wo...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Brian Wade rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, travel-adventure

I am leaving for a 12 day Mediterranean cruise in 3 days. For that reason Theroux's travel-log earned 4 stars. Otherwise it would have been an easy 3. Theroux is very intelligent but comes off as a snob at times. Some of the literary references are interesting but the overuse quickly becomes unnecessary and even stifling. Theroux also displays an unattractive disdain for both locals and tourists. This cooler-than-though attitude does not permeate the book but does seem to hide beneath the surfac...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Michelle Warwick rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'll confess from the start that a travel memoir is just not my kind of thing and so I probably started reading this book rather resentfully.

I just so desperately wanted to be proved wrong. Sadly I was not.

This book delved into the dull minutiae of his trip to the extent that I was simply bored by it. The book contained sweeping generalisations about the countries, cultures and people he encountered on his travels and there were no great insights that I could glean.

I suppose now is the time t...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Sarah Bringhurst Familia rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel, middle-east, europe, literary-fail

I picked this book up in a fit of nostalgia. I've visited or lived in quite a few of the places Theroux hits during his grand tour of the Mediterranean, and I was feeling homesick. Unfortunately, he is such a priggish and self-centered writer I couldn't even make it all the way through the book. Most of his commentary was complaints, either about natives of the various countries he visited, or about fellow travelers (only he won't dignify anyone but himself with the title of "traveler." Everyone...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

I found the anecdotes captured by Theroux in this book a bit dry at times. However, I loved the premise of the book - a journey from one end of the Strait of Gibaltar to the other end of it just across the water, but overground (foot, train, animal or four-wheels only)and around the Mediterranean Sea. In his inimitable way, Theroux writes about his experiences with other fellow travellers and people he comes across while making his way around the Med but I did think this book lacked inspiration...more

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Jun 26, 2010 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel-books

This is another excellent travel book and unusual in its approach as he circumnavigates the Mediterranean, never straying from the coastal route, examining the cultural similarities and differences between all the countries who share one common border - the Middle Sea. The book is very well written, amusing and insightful. Theroux also thoughtfully introduces us to a hefty reading list as he quotes at length from other travel books which have already dealt with each country. A must for any arm c...more

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May 03, 2007 peter rated it 2 of 5 stars

Theroux is a cranky old man. I can't say that I would like to travel with him.

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Jan 01, 2013 Leepupo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pillars of Hercules was a good book. Was it a great book? No. Theroux is just one of many people who has traveled the Mediterranean. His material is not new or unique. His cynical approach to travel and his attention to detail is what makes the book good. Was it memorable? No. This book is not the first nor the last about the Mediterranean. What makes Pillars of Hercules a good book is its unique context-it is a snapshot of the world in 1996. He lets us see the culture, the violence, the prosper...more

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Sep 13, 2010 Mira rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: part-read

Read this a bit more and its making me want to travel back to albania. I was glad to be seen as not completely one of the vampish overly made up women that you are expected to be in the man hunting years of your life. It allowed me to be removed from any potential set up. My young relatives constantly kept urging me to wear eye and lip liner like some kind of chola. Happy they then thought I was some kind of retarded dag when I didnt give in. Lots of laughs on my sister's end of things too consi...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Sesh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

A moving account from the master of travel writing. In "The Pillars of Hercules", Mr. Theroux carts us once again on a buoyant ride by train, bus, and ship on a great round trip from Gibraltar on the European end of the Mediterranean to Tangier on the African end, via Spain, France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.

Readers who are familiar with Mr. Theroux's other travel books("The Great Railway Bazaar", "The Old Patagonian Express",...more A moving account from the master of travel writing. In "The Pillars of Hercules", Mr. Theroux carts us once again on a buoyant ride by train, bus, and ship on a great round trip from Gibraltar on the European end of the Mediterranean to Tangier on the African end, via Spain, France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.

Readers who are familiar with Mr. Theroux's other travel books("The Great Railway Bazaar", "The Old Patagonian Express","Riding the Iron Rooster", "The Kingdom by the Sea", "The Happy Isles of Oceania") will be treated once again to his delightful mix of keen observation, in-the-face curiosity in people, sense of irony, opinionatedness, and lots of information. His books are never simplistic travel narratives of the "there's another lovely monument" kind. More often than not, scenery is simply the backdrop to the real account:
that of people, their lives, what they make of their environment, where they have been, and where they are going.

Here's Mr. Theroux in Siracusa, Sicily, engaging a bookstore owner in small talk. "'This was a great city once - capital of Sicily,' he said. He named for me the famous Siracusans - Theocritus, the Greek playwright Epicharmus, Santa Lucia, Vittorini. 'So many people have come and gone. We've been Phoenician, Greek of course, from long ago. But more recently Arab, Spanish, French. You can hear it in the names. Vasqueza is a Siracusa name - Spanish. We have French ones too. Take my name, Giarratana - what do you think it is?'' Can't imagine.' But the truth was that I did not want to guess wrong and risk offending him. 'Pure Arab,' said Mr. Giarratana. 'Giarrat is an Arab word.' 'What does it mean?'
'I don't know. I'm not an Arab!'"

With his famously mischievous eye for the unusual, Mr. Theroux captures the essence of life along the shores of the Mediterranean, so different in shape from that inland, no matter what the country. As you race through the book you get the sense that the author is telling a simple story of
a humanity that is, as always, defending its individuality and its proud local heritage while trying to find a common ground with the rest of it.

Compared to his other travel books, in this one Mr. Theroux comes off more relaxed, while at the same time casting a wide net on history and mythology, seemingly out of deference to the grandeur of the Mediterranean. But history comes to life colorfully rendered with the author's characteristic candor, and an irreverent position that tilts at the windmills. I won't give too much away, but read the parts on Greece and tell me you didn't either turn red with annoyance, or double up with laughter. You can love him or hate him, but you just can't ignore him.

The journey from the northern Pillar of Hercules, the Rock of Gibraltar, to the southern, Ceuta, is an hour's ferry ride across the water from Europe to Africa. Or, with Mr. Theroux, you could take the long way. When I put this book, I for one was sorry that there weren't a few hundred more pages to go.

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Jan 01, 2011 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Theroux is in a more mellow mood on this journey, and I came away from it feeling that he'd actually liked one or two of the places he visited. Except Albania, which was shocking. I remember him having a funny dig at Italians and their sexual foibles which amused me at the time. Theroux doesn't mind seeking out the slightly sordid and unusual side of life and there's not much shocks him outside of meeting someone who hasn't read Borges. Of all his travel books, this was one of my favourites.

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Jul 16, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Traveller Paul, at age 50, goes on the tour around the Mediterranean, a place that has been heavily touristed since civilization began. I got the book to read the Italy section before our trip, but the writing held my interest because Theroux' observations seem aligned with impressions I would have. He is more intrigued with local life's little things than their historical backdrop. Not a tourist, Theroux takes ferries, and trains mostly, but also one luxury cruise ship. His description of Alban...more

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Nov 11, 2007 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pillars of Hercules is a great overview for anyone traveling to Mediterranean countries. Theroux can be snooty and sometimes a bit of a pansy; but he has an unorthodox take on these traditionally touristy places, and a knack for bringing in many sources and viewpoints of any given place. I'm also partial to his constant reference to authors and artists from the period 1880-1950. That was a very exciting time, and one of the few for which I'm familiar with most of the major players and movements;...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you like travel books, and I do, Paul Theroux is hard to beat. In this book he travels around the entire coast of the Mediterranean by bus, train, and boat, no airplanes.

He gets the difference between traveling and being a tourist. He is interested in the places he visits and the people he meets, and very critical. He doesn't suffer fools gladly and touristy places annoy him. He can be sarcastic and cutting, but he also provides many unexpected insights. For example, I have a whole new persp...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Tom Adams rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've read many of Theroux's books and enjoyed them all. This is a travel book about a trip he took around the Mediterranean, from Gibralter clockwise to Tangier, published in 1995. Like all his travel accounts, he presents a lot of varied information about the places he goes, the people he meets, the annoyances and the wonders of moving about in a strange country - there aren't many writers who can describe such things as well as Mr. Paul.

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Mar 02, 2011 Troy Parfitt rated it 4 of 5 stars

My only complaint, and this is picking nits, is that about two thirds of the way through, Theroux stops his grand tour around the Mediterranean and returns to the US, where he writes the first two thirds of the book. Then he goes back (to Greece?) and continues on, until he reaches the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. But the last third, written much later, is inconsistent with the first two in terms of pace and style. It is nevertheless an outstanding read and a darned good idea for a t...more

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Jan 28, 2009 Carmen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

When he travels, he discusses the personalities, cultures and languages of the places he goes. I really enjoy that. He also discusses food, books written by other authors of the places, a real scholar. I thoughly enjoy his books. In this one, he starts and ends in Gibraltar and takes more than a year to go around the Med. and compares the countries. The part I liked the best was when he visited the famous author in Tangier.

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About Paul Theroux

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best know...more

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