Theroux: ‘The Netherlands has Struck Me as the Most Robust Literary Culture in the World’

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  04.21.10 | 10:29 AM ET

Paul Theroux weighs in on the state of fiction in the age of eBooks—and touches on travel—in an interview in the Atlantic.



6 Comments for Theroux: ‘The Netherlands has Struck Me as the Most Robust Literary Culture in the World’

Dave 04.22.10 | 10:19 AM ET

Paul Theroux is still obsessed with being controversial after all these years. The Netherlands, in fact, by any objective standard is one of the least racist countries in the world.

Eva Holland 04.22.10 | 10:26 AM ET

Dave - I don’t see Theroux describing the Netherlands as racist anywhere in the interview.

maria altobelli 04.22.10 | 11:13 PM ET

Great interview in the Atlantic, especially since the author is a bit of a recluse. Theroux is one of my favorite travel writers even though I can’t read one of his books without calling him an arrogant SOB. Be that as it may, the dude sure can write which keeps me coming back again and again.

I loved the part about the best advice he had for a traverler is to be polite and keep smiling (more precisely, grinning like a dog). It is surprising how well this works.

Never saw any reference to racism in the Netherlands in Theroux’s interview, either, although I would have to say I’m more impressed with Latvia as a haven for the literary set. When we first went to the country in 2002, I was in awe how the bookstores were packed and people were buying.

There are statues to writers, musicians, and artists in the parks, usually with little bouquets of flowers around them. The sight of a pretty bouquet left on a tiny moss-covered slab in downtown Riga that was dedicated to an obscure poet set me reeling.  It’s an image I recall to this day.

Very good website/blog by the way.

Saludos,
Maria Altobelli

Kevin Evans 04.30.10 | 10:35 AM ET

@ Maria - I had the same experience in Zagreb a few years back. Walking around the old town at night, there were an equal number of people in the bookshops as there were in the bars. It felt like Vienna must’ve been like 150 years ago.

maria altobelli 04.30.10 | 5:06 PM ET

Hope Zagreb continues to be civilized as you describe, Kevin.

My history buff of a husband says that even a hundred years ago, Vienna had a coffee shop with luscious pastries on every block where residents congregated to read any one of fifteen or twenty newspapers from all over the world. 

On the other hand, the last time my husband and I were in Riga, cheap airline flights and cheap beer made Old Town rather raucous. There are even signs on some buildings saying “Brits Not Welcome.” Riga also earned the title Sex Capital of the Baltics, but that’s another story. It still is a fabulously beautiful city and one we enjoy very much.

chrisbryon 05.07.10 | 12:42 AM ET

I loved the part about the best advice he had for a traverler is to be polite and keep smiling

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