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Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World
In May 2007, leaving China's Great Wall is Car 84, one of 128 antique autos racing in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge.
It's guided by one Dina Bennett, the world's least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-racecar. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The reader is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph.
Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.
Writing for every woman who's ever doubted herself and any man who's wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era--not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride!
It's guided by one Dina Bennett, the world's least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-racecar. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The reader is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph.
Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.
Writing for every woman who's ever doubted herself and any man who's wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era--not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride!
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2013
12 people are currently reading
679 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
October 6, 2018
Dina Bennett is quite prone to motion sickness. She's not all that sure of herself. It would follow, then, that she marries marries a man who is definitely Type A. He loves adventure. He loves thrills. He lives for adrenaline rushes. He loves race cars.
This makes Dina the last person you would think would be involved in a car race, much less the antique car race known as Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, but there she is, feeling quite ill, feeling quite unsure of her abilities as always, and trying desperately to keep up to her adrenaline-fueled husband.
Dina and Bernard are taking on the race in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, which takes them across desert, plain, and cities alike.
The journey tests patience and fortitude as unexpected problems rise up along the way, the least of which is her car sickness. However, at some point, Dina finds she is much more than she thought, even if it did take a confrontation with Russian police living in the past, and Mongolians who throw gravel at them.
This book is a great read. There are many humorous parts, and you will find yourself rooting for the "every woman" that is Dina - wanting to be so much more than she thinks she is, yearning to be the adventurer and thrill seeker that Bernard wants.
This makes Dina the last person you would think would be involved in a car race, much less the antique car race known as Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, but there she is, feeling quite ill, feeling quite unsure of her abilities as always, and trying desperately to keep up to her adrenaline-fueled husband.
Dina and Bernard are taking on the race in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, which takes them across desert, plain, and cities alike.
The journey tests patience and fortitude as unexpected problems rise up along the way, the least of which is her car sickness. However, at some point, Dina finds she is much more than she thought, even if it did take a confrontation with Russian police living in the past, and Mongolians who throw gravel at them.
This book is a great read. There are many humorous parts, and you will find yourself rooting for the "every woman" that is Dina - wanting to be so much more than she thinks she is, yearning to be the adventurer and thrill seeker that Bernard wants.
May 3, 2015
Just heard that they're doing another re-enactment of the P2P rally later this month, so thought I'd like to get this read beforehand.
This is a great true story. Seldom do non-fiction writers make a book so interesting, especially when it involves cars and mechanics! But in this case, Dina was totally sympathetic and relatable to me. I’m sure if I ever had such a mechanical husband and such an opportunity, my inner thoughts and demons would have been identical to hers. Imagine buying and refurbishing a 1940 vintage car so you can ship it to China and drive it from there to Paris in a 35-day long road rally. Oh what fun, seeing all the sights, taking a couple day trips into the little towns along the way -- wrong! Road rallies are WORK, and Dina never dreamed her job as navigator to her husband’s driving would actually involve work. The Gobi desert and being detained by authorities in Russia were downright scary times. But toward the end, the couple actually started to enjoy themselves and wondered where their adventures would take them next.
I felt a real kinship towards Dina. Her relationship with her husband seemed much like mine, her self-doubt and sense of humor were very familiar. We both have even beaten our carsickness afflictions.
This is a great true story. Seldom do non-fiction writers make a book so interesting, especially when it involves cars and mechanics! But in this case, Dina was totally sympathetic and relatable to me. I’m sure if I ever had such a mechanical husband and such an opportunity, my inner thoughts and demons would have been identical to hers. Imagine buying and refurbishing a 1940 vintage car so you can ship it to China and drive it from there to Paris in a 35-day long road rally. Oh what fun, seeing all the sights, taking a couple day trips into the little towns along the way -- wrong! Road rallies are WORK, and Dina never dreamed her job as navigator to her husband’s driving would actually involve work. The Gobi desert and being detained by authorities in Russia were downright scary times. But toward the end, the couple actually started to enjoy themselves and wondered where their adventures would take them next.
I felt a real kinship towards Dina. Her relationship with her husband seemed much like mine, her self-doubt and sense of humor were very familiar. We both have even beaten our carsickness afflictions.
May 5, 2019
Wonderful little read about the joys and travails of journeying around the world.
March 16, 2013
A five star rating for "Peking to Paris" by Dina Bennett
In May 2007, leaving China’s Great Wall is Car 84, one of 128 antique autos racing in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. It’s guided by one Dina Bennett, the world’s least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-race car. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The reader is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph. Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.
Writing for every woman who’s ever doubted herself and any man who’s wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era—not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride with a dashboard diva!
Dear Readers: "Peking to Paris" is well written and captures the beauty of the austere landscape, changing social dynamics with other teams and the nuances of her shifting relationship with her husband. A fun ride, worth the trip! ~ You will want to read this book!
In May 2007, leaving China’s Great Wall is Car 84, one of 128 antique autos racing in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. It’s guided by one Dina Bennett, the world’s least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-race car. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The reader is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph. Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.
Writing for every woman who’s ever doubted herself and any man who’s wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era—not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride with a dashboard diva!
Dear Readers: "Peking to Paris" is well written and captures the beauty of the austere landscape, changing social dynamics with other teams and the nuances of her shifting relationship with her husband. A fun ride, worth the trip! ~ You will want to read this book!
May 11, 2013
A Madcap Automotive Trek Across Eurasia Courtesy of Dina Bennett
In a literary style that may remind some readers of a hilarious blend between Paul Theroux with Susan Gilman, Dina Bennett chronicles her unusual automotive odyssey across most of Eurasia in “Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World”. I found her memoir as funny as Gilman’s “Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven”, not merely because it, like Gilman’s memoir, is set partly in China. Bennett describes herself as a less than courageous navigator, guiding her husband Bernard as he drives them in a vintage 1940 Cadillac LaSalle dubbed by her “Roxanne”; a car so fraught with mechanical difficulties that it almost seems miraculous that they complete the entire course of their Peking to Paris automobile rally. Much like Theroux, Bennett captivates readers with her vivid descriptions of the lands and peoples she encounters in her journey, though with far less solemnity than what I have read from Theroux in both his fiction and nonfiction. Some of the most memorable scenes occur in Mongolia, where she endures a sandstorm “facial treatment” and oppressively hot days and cold nights. Equally memorable is the leg of the journey through Russia, which strikes a very strong emotional chord with Bennett, as a descendant of Russian Jewish emigrants who arrived in the United States early in the 20th Century. Without question, “Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World” is a fine example of travel writing merged into memoir.
In a literary style that may remind some readers of a hilarious blend between Paul Theroux with Susan Gilman, Dina Bennett chronicles her unusual automotive odyssey across most of Eurasia in “Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World”. I found her memoir as funny as Gilman’s “Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven”, not merely because it, like Gilman’s memoir, is set partly in China. Bennett describes herself as a less than courageous navigator, guiding her husband Bernard as he drives them in a vintage 1940 Cadillac LaSalle dubbed by her “Roxanne”; a car so fraught with mechanical difficulties that it almost seems miraculous that they complete the entire course of their Peking to Paris automobile rally. Much like Theroux, Bennett captivates readers with her vivid descriptions of the lands and peoples she encounters in her journey, though with far less solemnity than what I have read from Theroux in both his fiction and nonfiction. Some of the most memorable scenes occur in Mongolia, where she endures a sandstorm “facial treatment” and oppressively hot days and cold nights. Equally memorable is the leg of the journey through Russia, which strikes a very strong emotional chord with Bennett, as a descendant of Russian Jewish emigrants who arrived in the United States early in the 20th Century. Without question, “Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World” is a fine example of travel writing merged into memoir.
July 10, 2014
Dina Bennett knows next to nothing about road rallies when she and her husband decide to buy a vintage car and enter the 2007 Peking to Paris race. It's nearly 8000 miles, through China, Mongolia, Russia (lots and lots of Russia!), and then through Europe to Paris.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I read a decent amount of both travel writing, and memoir. I wasn't bothered by the number of pages devoted to mechanics - I didn't think it was excessive at all, given the nature of the trip. I would actually have liked a few more details about how a rally works. When she was talking about what they did, where they went, and the people they met, I found it interesting. It made me want to go, too - even though I'm about as chicken as they come when adventure calls.
In the end, though, I tired of her endless discussions of her self-doubt and her own flaws. Her descriptions of blithely trying to cut to the front of whatever line she happens to be in - including sneaking into museums by attaching herself to a totally unrelated tour group - didn't strike me as particularly amusing, just annoying.
It's an easy breezy read, and a lot of it is very interesting. The trip was amazing, and in a way, it was fun to hear about it from someone totally unaware of what was to come, but it won't go down as one of my favorites.
Finally, I want to say "Really? You knew for nearly 2 years that you were going, and you NEVER thought to find out what a road rally was?"
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I read a decent amount of both travel writing, and memoir. I wasn't bothered by the number of pages devoted to mechanics - I didn't think it was excessive at all, given the nature of the trip. I would actually have liked a few more details about how a rally works. When she was talking about what they did, where they went, and the people they met, I found it interesting. It made me want to go, too - even though I'm about as chicken as they come when adventure calls.
In the end, though, I tired of her endless discussions of her self-doubt and her own flaws. Her descriptions of blithely trying to cut to the front of whatever line she happens to be in - including sneaking into museums by attaching herself to a totally unrelated tour group - didn't strike me as particularly amusing, just annoying.
It's an easy breezy read, and a lot of it is very interesting. The trip was amazing, and in a way, it was fun to hear about it from someone totally unaware of what was to come, but it won't go down as one of my favorites.
Finally, I want to say "Really? You knew for nearly 2 years that you were going, and you NEVER thought to find out what a road rally was?"
July 9, 2013
The book's cover led me to believe that I'll be immersed into a journey of a relationship story on the background of a trip. However, this was reversed and I felt that the relationship assumed the background position for a very detailed account of the rally. If the reader is not into rallies and vintage cars, that might become a stretch to get to the finish line...The narrative is witty and flowing and author sounds like a charismatic girlfriend you want to spend a long lunch with, talking about her adventures.
"I'm learning that in Rallywood, if you want to show you're glad to see someone, you inquire about their car, not about them." The quote reflects the atmosphere of the book and it seems that a name the car is referred to is mentioned far more often than human and leading characters, thus turning it into a true family member.
As a Russian descendant I was particularly interested in the Russian part of the trip, with humorous observations and most interesting for me particularly was to read how my past reality was grasped by an "intourist", a tourist from abroad. Charming and goodhearted.
"I'm learning that in Rallywood, if you want to show you're glad to see someone, you inquire about their car, not about them." The quote reflects the atmosphere of the book and it seems that a name the car is referred to is mentioned far more often than human and leading characters, thus turning it into a true family member.
As a Russian descendant I was particularly interested in the Russian part of the trip, with humorous observations and most interesting for me particularly was to read how my past reality was grasped by an "intourist", a tourist from abroad. Charming and goodhearted.
April 27, 2013
I'm not sure if I'll ever drive from Beijing (Peking) to Paris, but now I want to. Dina Bennett chronicles the joys and tensions of being shut in an antique car for upwards of 7 hours a day during a 35 day road rally that stretched almost 8,000 miles across the width of Eurasia. She writes so convincingly I felt like I was there. One of her disappointments was that on that schedule there wasn't much time to see the sights or meet the locals--other than other rally participants most of the people she interacted with were auto mechanics and their wives--but Dina is still able to give a sense of place for the exotic locations she and her husband passed through on their adventure. She's also open about her self doubts and quirks, so this story is as much about personal growth and the trip's impact on her life and marriage as it is about travel. It's a pleasure to read and I hope Dina writes other books about her continuing exploits--see her website to find out what some of what she's been up to.
December 4, 2016
Dina and her husband Bernard take on the P2P rally much to Dina's private dismay, as she frets and worries her way from the time they decide to go up until a little over halfway through the actual rally when she suddenly realizes that despite the car problems and the rules and her own deficiencies she is having fun. I loved Dina's voice and could relate to many of her fears although not all her aspirations. (I couldn't, for instance, understand why she was so obsessed with James.) I was disappointed along with her when there was not time, or opportunity for her to really see the countries they were travelling through. In the last chapter Dina mentions several driving trips she and Bernard have taken, just for fun, since the rally; it might be lovely if one or more of those made it into a book.
March 5, 2013
It's been a while since I've read a travel memoir that truly captures the stomach-twisting anxiety and elevating high of going on a trip.
From the sometimes unbearably long, and sometimes surprisingly quick anticipation before the trip, to the crazy in-the-moment adventures during, and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards, you will be taken on a journey with the lovely and hilarious Dina.
From the sometimes unbearably long, and sometimes surprisingly quick anticipation before the trip, to the crazy in-the-moment adventures during, and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards, you will be taken on a journey with the lovely and hilarious Dina.
July 30, 2022
While this is not a literary masterpiece, I really enjoyed Dina Bennett’s account of her participation with her husband in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. Most of all I enjoyed the description of the terrain, through Mongolia, China, Russia and beyond, and the people they encountered along the way, both other motor challenge participants and others.
There is considerable reference to cars, engines, motors and car repairs, as one would expect in a story about a motor challenge, but even that is entertaining because Dina writes in detail about the circumstances around repairs etc and also gives the cars an almost human quality so we come to think of their car, Roseanne, almost like another character in the book!
Dina also writes extensively about her relationship with her husband during the trip, the relationships between others on the tour and her own growth as a person and in her ability to challenge herself and relate to others.
All in all, I found this book engaging and enjoyable. ***
There is considerable reference to cars, engines, motors and car repairs, as one would expect in a story about a motor challenge, but even that is entertaining because Dina writes in detail about the circumstances around repairs etc and also gives the cars an almost human quality so we come to think of their car, Roseanne, almost like another character in the book!
Dina also writes extensively about her relationship with her husband during the trip, the relationships between others on the tour and her own growth as a person and in her ability to challenge herself and relate to others.
All in all, I found this book engaging and enjoyable. ***
July 14, 2023
I listened to the audible version of this one. It was well written and quite entertaining. I can see that she thought the reader might have been more interested in the difficulties, but I would personally liked a bit more about travelling through Latvia, Lithuania, etc and whether she was ever able to rekindle the friendship with the first group of friends. I see that she’s written another book, I think I’ll check it out.
The narrator set my teeth on edge periodically, for example she pronounced forté as fort. The author is American, but is married to a Frenchman and speaks some French so, as French word, it should have been pronounced correctly (fortay). Also, the narrator makes quite a good stab at an English accent at one point, but spoils it by pronouncing route as ’rowt’ (American) rather than ‘root’ (English).
In summary, probably best to read the book rather than listen to it if you are easily annoyed!
The narrator set my teeth on edge periodically, for example she pronounced forté as fort. The author is American, but is married to a Frenchman and speaks some French so, as French word, it should have been pronounced correctly (fortay). Also, the narrator makes quite a good stab at an English accent at one point, but spoils it by pronouncing route as ’rowt’ (American) rather than ‘root’ (English).
In summary, probably best to read the book rather than listen to it if you are easily annoyed!
January 11, 2020
Despite the book's subtitle, "Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World", this book really covers none of these topics. Rather than a fascinating travel narrative, it is largely a laundry list of complaints and grousing about car repairs from a woman who appears to resent her husband for dragging her on a cross-continental car rally. The writing is overly flowery, filled with needless descriptions and metaphors which bog down the readability of the story. The author's learned wisdom from this unique cultural journey is summed up in vapid commentary like, "When in doubt, always get a pedicure." Not recommended.
January 11, 2025
A breezy, almost glib, account of an antique car road rally from Beijing through the Gobi Desert into Europe, ending in Paris. It reads like chick-lit, so don't expect profound insights about the irony of well-off westerners driving en masse in babied antique cars through rural Mongolia and Siberia. Reasonably entertaining nonetheless.
Read for Popsugar 2025 prompt: A book about a road trip, and also fulfills ATY (2018 anniversary) prompt: An author's debut book.l
Read for Popsugar 2025 prompt: A book about a road trip, and also fulfills ATY (2018 anniversary) prompt: An author's debut book.l
November 4, 2021
This was a fun 'read' (listen).
Not the best but it did make me enthousiastic to undertake my own big projects.
I laughed and I rolled my eyes.
It reads like a diary from someone I probably would like in real life but never call my best friend.
Since that is fine, and the book was decently written and made me happy: 3 big stars.
Not the best but it did make me enthousiastic to undertake my own big projects.
I laughed and I rolled my eyes.
It reads like a diary from someone I probably would like in real life but never call my best friend.
Since that is fine, and the book was decently written and made me happy: 3 big stars.
May 25, 2021
3.5 stars
An interesting account of Dina Bennett's experience on the Peking to Paris rally with her husband. I appreciated the level of detail in the first half of this book but the second half felt a bit rushed. It left me with a lot of questions.
An interesting account of Dina Bennett's experience on the Peking to Paris rally with her husband. I appreciated the level of detail in the first half of this book but the second half felt a bit rushed. It left me with a lot of questions.
September 29, 2025
DNF 2 hours into the audiobook. It wasn’t too bad- I even appreciated the wry humour & turns of phrase- but it was a bit too much about cars, rallies, & stressful logistics for me to enjoy it. Obviously, that’s what this book’s about, but I found myself getting tense. If you like that kind of thing you’ll probably find it immensely entertaining & I encourage you to give it ago.
February 7, 2019
An interesting travelogue, easy reading. Dpl ebook via total boxx
January 21, 2021
A report from within the world of people with lots of free time and serious money. A good story marred by obsessing over the author's neuroses.
February 12, 2022
Great journey to France from China… lots of insight into how the rally works, the people on it, the sights and the drivers experience with it all. Super interesting
April 21, 2023
Wouldn't recommend listening to it, but it was fun to learn about this long rally!
March 14, 2024
It’s amazing how this cute couple got along on such a car rally. Crazy all the different experiences especially with all the vintage cars and break downs driving the huge distances.
June 18, 2013
Okay, I confess. Dina Bennett and I have nothing in common at all. We're like trying to compare a mango to a crabapple. I don't think we'd be likely to spend hours on the phone plotting our next great adventure. We have different outlooks about life and how we need to go about doing things. With that said, we do share something, (and if we're honest, most of us share it) and that's insecurity.
Maybe that's part of what is the most important connecting thread in the tapestry of this book--the insecurity. Is it childish and immature? I wish insecurity magically disappeared at a certain age or stage of development, but it doesn't. We all have that little blue monster sitting on our shoulders, whispering little digs into our ears. Dina is no different, but she points out the little beast and what he is saying, which IS a bit different.
It kind of makes her an unlikely heroine, in that sense. After all, what star of any book is really half scared to death about everything?
I wasn't sure I was going to like the book. It sat for a while, just looking at me. I knew nothing of car rallies, and antique cars at car shows are fine...but too much, and I'm apt to get the hives. I've never traveled internationally either. I'm pretty much a small town girl, although I've traveled a bit in the USA as well as lived in several different areas. I've certainly never traveled in anything resembling the grand manner of a car rally and rubbed elbows with the sorts that hire private planes to move parts around for them.
Sure, there are times you want to scream at her, ask her what she was thinking and if she had any clue what she should have done. Sometimes, you want to shake her too, until her teeth rattle. But you read on, curious at what will happen next.
By the end of the book, Dina might not be your best friend, but you understand her. Some people have said that she is shallow and self centered, but that's actually the entire point of the book--it's a serious look at herself at her least noble as she becomes much more than she started out being. It's not one of those epic tales that resulted in universal enlightenment, but guess what?
Most of us will never become "enlightened" and not many people will do it during a car rally anyhow.
Peking to Paris isn't about just a car rally, blow by blow. It's not a story of achieving Nirvana either. It's about finding life and love and her own sense of adventure and desire to grow as a person during a stressful event, even if it is much more "plush" than the things that most of us regard as "stressful".
Dina isn't a saint, and she's not selling us a bottle of snake oil in how we can all become enlightened in thirty easy days of car travel either. What she is sharing with each and every reader is those same baby steps we all can and do take in our own journeys, whatever they may be. She is out of her comfort zone and into an adventure that would have most of us unnerved.
I'll never do a car rally like this one, but now at least I can express the reasons why I wouldn't in an intelligent manner. (Which is mostly that I despise the hurry-up-and-have-fun syndrome that most people use on their vacations anyhow.) I also discovered Dina was a much more likable person at the end of the journey too. She became a much more likely candidate for an hour of serious girl chat over a cup of coffee. She really WAS more than the country club princess that she sounded like in the beginning of the story.
It's a great read. It's inspired me to start plotting my own version of a grand adventure, even if it turns out to be a few hundred miles of back roads in my own country. (It's big enough that no one will ever truly explore it anyhow.) I'll also skip the competition part.
Maybe that's part of what is the most important connecting thread in the tapestry of this book--the insecurity. Is it childish and immature? I wish insecurity magically disappeared at a certain age or stage of development, but it doesn't. We all have that little blue monster sitting on our shoulders, whispering little digs into our ears. Dina is no different, but she points out the little beast and what he is saying, which IS a bit different.
It kind of makes her an unlikely heroine, in that sense. After all, what star of any book is really half scared to death about everything?
I wasn't sure I was going to like the book. It sat for a while, just looking at me. I knew nothing of car rallies, and antique cars at car shows are fine...but too much, and I'm apt to get the hives. I've never traveled internationally either. I'm pretty much a small town girl, although I've traveled a bit in the USA as well as lived in several different areas. I've certainly never traveled in anything resembling the grand manner of a car rally and rubbed elbows with the sorts that hire private planes to move parts around for them.
Sure, there are times you want to scream at her, ask her what she was thinking and if she had any clue what she should have done. Sometimes, you want to shake her too, until her teeth rattle. But you read on, curious at what will happen next.
By the end of the book, Dina might not be your best friend, but you understand her. Some people have said that she is shallow and self centered, but that's actually the entire point of the book--it's a serious look at herself at her least noble as she becomes much more than she started out being. It's not one of those epic tales that resulted in universal enlightenment, but guess what?
Most of us will never become "enlightened" and not many people will do it during a car rally anyhow.
Peking to Paris isn't about just a car rally, blow by blow. It's not a story of achieving Nirvana either. It's about finding life and love and her own sense of adventure and desire to grow as a person during a stressful event, even if it is much more "plush" than the things that most of us regard as "stressful".
Dina isn't a saint, and she's not selling us a bottle of snake oil in how we can all become enlightened in thirty easy days of car travel either. What she is sharing with each and every reader is those same baby steps we all can and do take in our own journeys, whatever they may be. She is out of her comfort zone and into an adventure that would have most of us unnerved.
I'll never do a car rally like this one, but now at least I can express the reasons why I wouldn't in an intelligent manner. (Which is mostly that I despise the hurry-up-and-have-fun syndrome that most people use on their vacations anyhow.) I also discovered Dina was a much more likable person at the end of the journey too. She became a much more likely candidate for an hour of serious girl chat over a cup of coffee. She really WAS more than the country club princess that she sounded like in the beginning of the story.
It's a great read. It's inspired me to start plotting my own version of a grand adventure, even if it turns out to be a few hundred miles of back roads in my own country. (It's big enough that no one will ever truly explore it anyhow.) I'll also skip the competition part.
June 23, 2016
So the thing this book was about, a road race(ish) in ancient cars from the Great Wall of China to Paris, was really interesting, but the narrator was... not my favorite. I feel bad saying stuff like that about memoir, because I know I'm criticizing a real actual person and not a created character. I can say I don't like, say, Ishmael, and I don't need to worry that, somewhere in the world, Ishmael is googling himself, or checking his goodreads reviews, and is going to be depressed to find a poor one and, twisting the knife in the wound, that the reader didn't like HIM, specifically.
I didn't HATE her. I wouldn't avoid her at a party. In fact, I think we'd probably end up in the same corner, petting the dog. I just felt that... I don't know. I hate being mean about real people. I felt that the writing lacked depth, which gave the narrator at least a perceived lack of depth. She tells me she is scared, but approaches her fear flippantly, so I don't take the fear seriously.
I've also got a very black-and-white view of This Is What You're Agreeing to Do, and it annoyed me that she seemed to know what sort of a race it was, and agreed to it, but kept trying to divert things, that she didn't learn to use the GPS before they went, stuff like that. There's also this underlying Oh-The-Cleverness-of-Me vibe which started to annoy me. I like soul-baring in memoir, a little sneak peek of someone's rawness, and, though that may very well be in the real Ms. Bennett, it doesn't seem to come across in her writing. She ditches her friends for the rich guy who previously snubbed her (and can I swear I wouldn't do the same in the same situation? I don't know) and she ditches a depressed woman and, again, writes about how she feels guilty but... you don't really get the sense she does.
I dunno. She just reminded me of those girls in high-school who would hang out with my friends group, but the second the popular girls smiled at them, they'd be gone, acting like they never knew us, then, when the popular girls weren't around, they'd be back at our table, vaguely apologetic.
All of this can boil down to a lack of emotional depth in writing. If she writes another memoir, I hope she reaches deeper and shows more.
I didn't HATE her. I wouldn't avoid her at a party. In fact, I think we'd probably end up in the same corner, petting the dog. I just felt that... I don't know. I hate being mean about real people. I felt that the writing lacked depth, which gave the narrator at least a perceived lack of depth. She tells me she is scared, but approaches her fear flippantly, so I don't take the fear seriously.
I've also got a very black-and-white view of This Is What You're Agreeing to Do, and it annoyed me that she seemed to know what sort of a race it was, and agreed to it, but kept trying to divert things, that she didn't learn to use the GPS before they went, stuff like that. There's also this underlying Oh-The-Cleverness-of-Me vibe which started to annoy me. I like soul-baring in memoir, a little sneak peek of someone's rawness, and, though that may very well be in the real Ms. Bennett, it doesn't seem to come across in her writing. She ditches her friends for the rich guy who previously snubbed her (and can I swear I wouldn't do the same in the same situation? I don't know) and she ditches a depressed woman and, again, writes about how she feels guilty but... you don't really get the sense she does.
I dunno. She just reminded me of those girls in high-school who would hang out with my friends group, but the second the popular girls smiled at them, they'd be gone, acting like they never knew us, then, when the popular girls weren't around, they'd be back at our table, vaguely apologetic.
All of this can boil down to a lack of emotional depth in writing. If she writes another memoir, I hope she reaches deeper and shows more.
May 29, 2013
Most of us, at one time or another, have looked forward to an exciting new experience in our lives ... and then suddenly wondered what the heck we'd gotten ourselves into. For most of us, however, that new experience is not an 8,000 mile car rally from Beijing to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle.
Now I don't know a whole lot about antique cars and even less about the workings of a car rally, but I do know about that feeling...the one where life doesn't unfold exactly the way you imagined and you know, just know, you're going to end up lost in the desert. Maybe that's why I really enjoyed this book.
Dina Bennett has a way of writing that made me feel like I was along for the ride...invisible, tucked inside Roxanne (the car) somewhere between the tools, the spare parts and the pop up tent that didn't want to go back down, feeling every bump in the road and holding my breath at every border crossing. She explains just enough about the car and the rally for me to understand what's going on. As we travel, I experience the countryside and the people. I get to know Dina and her husband Bernard. And I keep reading to see what's going to happen next, knowing that something is going to happen...otherwise there wouldn't be a story.
I am grateful to have won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. Since a travel memoir is not my usual read, I might have missed this book. And I really did enjoy the ride!
Now I don't know a whole lot about antique cars and even less about the workings of a car rally, but I do know about that feeling...the one where life doesn't unfold exactly the way you imagined and you know, just know, you're going to end up lost in the desert. Maybe that's why I really enjoyed this book.
Dina Bennett has a way of writing that made me feel like I was along for the ride...invisible, tucked inside Roxanne (the car) somewhere between the tools, the spare parts and the pop up tent that didn't want to go back down, feeling every bump in the road and holding my breath at every border crossing. She explains just enough about the car and the rally for me to understand what's going on. As we travel, I experience the countryside and the people. I get to know Dina and her husband Bernard. And I keep reading to see what's going to happen next, knowing that something is going to happen...otherwise there wouldn't be a story.
I am grateful to have won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. Since a travel memoir is not my usual read, I might have missed this book. And I really did enjoy the ride!
May 12, 2013
This was a delightful read whether you are a "gear head" or not, capturing the pain, agony, fun, frustration, adventure, friendships, hardships, dangers, discomfort, camaraderie, etc. of a 7000 mile classic automobile rally across Asia and Eurasia. Brought back memories of local Friday evening sports car rallies we used to participate in only on steroids of course.
Dina has a delightfully fun and descriptive writing style keeping a constant smile to my face. If you enjoy motoring cross country and seeing new vistas and people you will enjoy this book.
What was missing? Pictures! For a book that would have been a great vehicle (excuse the pun) for pictures, not one. I hope there is an online picture album or blog somewhere. As a bit of a car guy, I would love to see pictures of their 1940 LaSalle, fellow rally participants, locations and the sights they experienced.
Note: I found the book binding wanting as the book started coming apart within minutes of beginning this delightful story.
Dina has a delightfully fun and descriptive writing style keeping a constant smile to my face. If you enjoy motoring cross country and seeing new vistas and people you will enjoy this book.
What was missing? Pictures! For a book that would have been a great vehicle (excuse the pun) for pictures, not one. I hope there is an online picture album or blog somewhere. As a bit of a car guy, I would love to see pictures of their 1940 LaSalle, fellow rally participants, locations and the sights they experienced.
Note: I found the book binding wanting as the book started coming apart within minutes of beginning this delightful story.
July 9, 2014
I can now add transcontinental road rallies to the list of things I will probably never do, but enjoyed reading about. (There was a time when I thought the Mongol Rally sounded like a fun adventure, but it's probably a good thing that I read this book before I delved too deeply into that fantasy. Since my husband hates being in the car for long stretches of time and neither of us knows how to fix one, I now realize that would have been a spectacularly bad idea.) Anyway. I found Dina Bennett to be a relatable and interesting guide to the ups and downs of the rally life. I wished this book had been a little bit more about the countries she visited and less about car stuff and rally tribulations, but it sounds like that's what she wanted out of the experience, too, and it didn't really pan out that way. So I have to give her props for playing the hand she was dealt, and playing it well.
July 17, 2013
I love a book that takes me on an adventure! The cover drew me in immediately and I knew this trip was going to be interesting. Dina and her husband go on a nearly 8,000 mile rally from Peking (Beijing) to Paris in an antique car. Dina's job is to navigate while her husband Bernard drives and fixes the car...and thus begins their adventure. I enjoyed every bump and breakdown as well as Dina's story of personal growth. The writing is humorous and entertaining with Dina's self deprecating personality and ability to wend a story. You can't help but relate to her and her situation and feel like you are there. I read much of the book to my husband who found it entertaining as well.
I was sorry when the adventure was over and I look forward to another adventure with Dina!
I was sorry when the adventure was over and I look forward to another adventure with Dina!
April 18, 2013
*I received an advance copy of this book via Goodreads giveaways - Thank you!!*
I. loved. this. book.
I didn't necessarily relate to Dina at the beginning - my husband and I are freshly out of college, incredibly poor, and already know that we love love love road tripping together (once to Minnesota and back and once to Key West and back, as extravagant as our meager budget would allow.) Her writing, however, kept me interested.
Once they get travelling, my heart was gone.
Her writing is fantastic, their story is incredible, and the trip makes my mouth water.
Keeping this one on the bookshelf for future reference :)
I. loved. this. book.
I didn't necessarily relate to Dina at the beginning - my husband and I are freshly out of college, incredibly poor, and already know that we love love love road tripping together (once to Minnesota and back and once to Key West and back, as extravagant as our meager budget would allow.) Her writing, however, kept me interested.
Once they get travelling, my heart was gone.
Her writing is fantastic, their story is incredible, and the trip makes my mouth water.
Keeping this one on the bookshelf for future reference :)
June 8, 2013
Dina Bennett's Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World was the kind of interesting story that people want to hear or read about because it is not experienced by the majority of the world. The story reads as though Bennett is telling you the story over a cup of tea as well. This book is pretty much straightforward narrating of whom she spoke with and what she saw as she traveled from Beijing to Paris with her husband. Then she sums it up at the end with the life lessons she has learned. I would recommend this book to someone who wanted a light warm-hearted story to read in one afternoon.
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