Pico Iyer
The timestamp for the first chapter is 1990. I imagine myself then, 26 years ago, cognizant of the places being referred to in the book only thanks to an atlas, and a penchant for remembering country-capital-currency courtesy school quizzes. Just text in the head, with no images to go along, in a world before the internet.
What then, are these lonely places? From Iceland up there to Australia down south and from North Korea to the right and Paraguay to the left (ideologically, just the opposite!) Pico writes about seven places (the others being Vietnam, Cuba and Bhutan) that have seemingly exiled themselves from the world. In Pico’s words, “Lonely Spaces are not just isolated places, for loneliness is a state of mind“.
Australia is probably the one place that can be deemed ‘alone’ (in terms of geography) too, but all of the other places are just that – lonely, despite being inhabited by populations vibrant in their own way, or being surrounded by nations that are seemingly not too different from them. “More than in space, then, it is in time that Lonely Places are often exiled, and it is their very remoteness from the present tense that gives them their air of haunted glamour.”
As I read, I was reminded of the Tolstoy quote, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Each lonely place was lonely in its own way, living a distorted reality that was unique to itself and understood only by those living it. There was something surreal about reading of kids watching Bruce Lee in remote Argentina, the Korean population in Paraguay, Thai restaurants in Reykjavik, a Cao Dai faith in Vietnam in which Lao Tzu Jesus, Joan of Arc, Shakespeare etc are deities. I also found Pico’s exploration of telephone directories to be very interesting. It was probably the internet of the pre-internet era, and he seems to have found many quirks within them!
The writing style is stellar as it always is! His powers of observation, and the ability to prise out things that lie far beneath the surface continue to amaze me. As does the skill to encapsulate the soul of a place with one pithy phrase. Take, for example, Australia – English institutions and American lifestyles…and a terra incognita deep inside. Despite what he sees and experiences, there is hardly any judgment, aside from the sharp wit, and even that is cushioned by empathy and self deprecatory humour. Watch out for the fantastic chapter names, another example of how he manages to find exactly the right words, the ones that magically fit together, and gives the reader a vivid portrayal of not just what he looks at, but what he sees as well.
In 26 years, much would have changed, and thus these fantastic travel essays are probably a piece of contemporary history. Many of these countries have probably learnt to posture, and that’s what makes the book even more special. For it tells us that there was a time, when they were just lonely places, and “one of the last corners of the world“
