Skaičiau tuo pat metu su "Pėsčiomis aplink pasaulį" - puiku palyginti skirtingų žmonių skirtingus keliavimus. Čia - užkietėjusių motociklininkų, žibančios Ewan McGregor sumanyta kelionė aplink pasaulį motociklais.
Kur kas šviesesnės spalvos (nei aiškia depresija paspalvinta "Pėsčiomis...") - bet ne be didaktikos. Herojai kniaujasi, baisisi, renkasi motociklus, vartosi (su motociklais) po Kazachstano, Mongolijos, Rusijos purvynus ir tik pagaliau iš jų ištrūkę, vos po dienos kitos, pasijunta kad tik ten tikrai ir gyveno - be naujienų, su skurdžiom degalinėm, nežinodami kur kitąnakt nakvos, kas padės įveikti upę ir t.t. Daug verkia, pyksta ir ilgisi namiškių.
Kiek nulaižyta redaktorių, kiek pernelyg glotni, bet atskleidžianti bene didžiausią pavojų į ilgą kelionę susiruošusiems draugams, artimiesiems ir t.t. - mirtinai susipykti. Ne be reikalo sakoma, kad po ilgų kelionių išyra poros, nutrūksta draugystės ir t.t.

My love of Long Way Round is purely emotional. We are not talking about great literature here, nor should anyone expect it. After all, the book isn't written. It is spoken. But that adds to the charm.

As these two spoiled boys travel around the world from London to New York, cutting through places like Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, it is the chattiness and comradeship of such close friends living a "Boys' Own" adventure that sucks us in. Whether they are shitting their pants when a Russian miner comes down the stairs with an AK-47 on his hip or they are overwhelmed with emotion when they spend time with Mongolian kids in the sewers of Ulan Bataar, whether they are arguing over the killing of a Grizzly Bear along the Road of Bones or they are worrying for Ewan's life after a car crash near Calgary, they are really just two real blokes enjoying a lark.

But they do it all with humility, which suppressed my usual annoyance at rich folk whining about supposed adversity while doing something the rest of us never will. Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman actually seemed to get the immensity of what they were doing (and how insanely lucky they were to be doing it), and even though they complained about the rough roads and the cold and the wet and the adversity, they really learned some important lessons during their trip -- particularly when it came to the importance of their families.

As for me, well, I was surprised to discover that I was inspired by Ewan and Charlie to make a journey of my own. It hasn't happened yet, but it will. But I think I'll be taking my son.

This book may not be for you, but it was definitely for me.

It’s impossible to divorce the (amazing) show from the book. Really, watching and reading side by side is the best way to join in on the adventure with Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor.

While the show has the obvious benefits of visuals, music, editing, etc, the book allows you to get more insight to the two men and their relationship as they deal with the highs and lows of traveling around the world.

I come back to this (and Long Way Down) every couple of years because while I’m not a biker, it’s a well-told tale of two mates embarking on a terrific adventure.
Highly recommended!

Let me first commend Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman for actually DOING SOMETHING worth writing about. No matter how they did it, how much money they put into it and all the expensive gear they used, they actually had the guts to leave the comfort of their home and go travel round the world - something that most people won't even attempt.

The book was very enjoyable (for me anyway) not because I'm a big fan of the two actors, but because I'm a big fan of travel literature and I was happy the pair went into as much detail about the countries they visited as the bikes they were riding (which they blatantly loved).

I was a little annoyed by the pace of their journey though. Both riders wanted to cover as many miles in a day as possible, and from the onset it was clear they both wanted to finish sooner rather than later so they could get back to their families - which kind of defeats the purpose of travel. This means they didn't have enough time to kick back and go 'fishing in the afternoons' and really get a feel for the region they're visiting as Ewan explains early on in the book. As well as that, Ewan goes on a bit about missing his family - which is I suppose understandable, but perhaps he should of enjoyed and appreciated his time on the road a bit more rather than worrying about home and consequently getting depressed all the time.

Other than that the book was a pleasure to read and I'm looking forward to reading 'Long Way Down'.

I rate the book 3.5 stars really; the trip was obviously full of action and adventure, but I did not feel that the authors relayed that to me as the reader and I was left slightly bored.

Author B in my A-Z was Charley Boorman although it says that Long Way Round was just written by Ewan McGregor.
I'm a fan of both actors but I've never seen the TV show so I went into this with a fresh mind not really knowing what to expect. And can I say it was the biggest disappointment.
Both authors moaned, whined and cried their way around the globe. I know it must be hard to miss those you live with constantly, but they were crying when they left and cried during a lot of the journey. When they weren't crying they were moaning about the conditions of the road, which they should have expected and each other.
On top of that it was hard to tell which of them were narrating. Their writing styles were very similar and when events happened they were brushed under the carpet. Nothing was explained in much detail. In fact more time was spent complaining about the state of the roads.
In Ewan McGregor's sections he would constantly 'film drop' mentioning what he'd been in as well as any encounter when someone recognised him from a film. Although I like him as an actor, I didn't really care about that in this context and when he started worrying about his career I skipped large chunks of text.
There were a few bits I enjoyed when there was a lot of tension, or funny moments, which it should have been for the majority of the book in my opinion, which is why I'm giving it two instead of one. But overall it was a complete and utter let down. I don't think I'll be reading one of their books again.

Okay...two guys on bikes around the world. Sounds pretty awesome, right? Well...wrong! I expected no professional writing, but I've read loads of diaries from non-writers as well as travel literature and in my opinion that's not how things are done. Too much whining, too fast on changing countries and usually I never had the feeling they were even there. You know, t h e r e. When you travel, you stop, breathe in, soak in...whatever it is that makes traveling traveling. It's a journey. And I never got that feeling with them. One minute they were in "poor" Slovakia, the next somewhere in Kazahstan. If I wanted to know the tarmac conditions, I'd read a viamichelin report on road conditions. I wanted to know what they had to say. I am very disappointed and would find out more about the culture of any of those countries from a general Lonely Planet book guide. No feelings, no soak in events, no emotional moments, besides the whining.
PS: the photos and maps were not bad.

Ewan and Charley want to travel around the world on their motorcycles. After thinking about it the Authors turn to their natural instincts and pitch it as potential television show. This not only helped them out financially but the crew became their problem solvers and fixers. This was a turn off for me. It then became everything planned out because this will look good for the TV bike ride.

I am going to give it three stars because I did find parts of it interesting but was disappointed in it overall. I have not seen the DVD about this journey, I might give it a try, only to see more of the places they were talking about.

The first 50 pages were excruciatingly tedious as I'm NOT interested in motorcycles at all, but the book got more interesting when they finally started the journey. Over three months, 20 000 miles, through the most difficult conditions... you can't help but admire their journey! I learned new things as well and updated my geography of Asia (Kazakhstan is huge!).

There are certain books where you feel so immersed by what the author is writing about that it's almost like you're there. This was one of those books. The descriptions sometimes were so vivid I actually felt like I just climbed a bike with Ewan and Charlie and went for a stroll around Russia, and all those magnificent countries they visited.

The TV miniseries didn't even begin to capture their adventures. Quite the tale, especially the bits in Mongolia.
I admit to watching/reading because I really like Ewan McGregor. I think he's a talented actor; he's funny and charming and seems to have a kind heart.

I wanted to rate this book as two-and-a-half, but I don't know how to award half-stars.

I really envy them the trip they did (apart from the motorcade that accompanied them) but their description of it was not very exciting. I think Claudio von Planta should have received more notice than they gave him, considering that he rode the same route as they did AND filmed and photographed them in the process; no mean feat. Perhaps he also deserves some kind of fortitude award for not walking out on them or knifing them in their sleep.

They came across as entitled and arrogant, condescending and lacking in cultural sensitivity, as well as quite thick. And the constant whinging about missing their families and what a hard time they were having on some of the roads made me wonder why they set out on this trip in the first place.

Having said all that, I have to concede that this book and the TV series have done much to promote adventure motorcycling. I guess it's true; there's no such thing as bad publicity. Also, the fact that someone was willing to publish this narrative has encouraged me to have a bash at getting my own manuscript about my motorbike travels published.

If you want to read a really great RTW motorcycling story, then rather get ‘Lone Rider’ by Elspeth Beard.