Round Ireland in low gear

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Touring Ireland by bicycle in the winter is a daunting prospect even for the most seasoned backpackers, but Newby and his wife Wanda weathered it with good humor and resilience. The author of such classics of travel literature as A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush and Slowly Down the Ganges takes the armchair traveler with him as he and his companion contend with misleading signposts, lonely roads, torrential rain, gale-force winds and unhelpful natives who describe any destination as ``up the road a bit'' although it may be circular miles away. As a result, the Newbys fall upon many culturally significant points by absolute chance. Trips to remote castles, holy wells and splendid ruins in the west of Ireland are enlivened by lashings of Guinness and tea, and by the often antic behavior of the locals met in omnipresent pubs. The Newbys, who live in England, returned to Ireland in the summer, when travelers are more expansively welcomed and more places are open, but it is their winter tour that captures the essence of the country and its delightfully idiosyncratic populace. Illustrations. May

Library Journal

Veteran travel writer Newby reports on four treks through parts of Irelandmostly by bicyclewith his wife Wanda, in the foulest weather. His expectations were made realistic by memories of much time spent there in the Sixties, so that his caustic comments, about the bad food, general dilapidation, boredom, and dotty natives, do not come from a disillusioned romantic. Despite the drawbacks of their travels, the account offers humor, too, and the couple also come up with a book's worth of holy wells, gutted castles, moving statues of the Virginall that makes Ireland distinct. Laurence Hull, Cannon Memorial Lib., Concord, N.C.