Old Fart rides train - Rated 
I began reading this book after having thoroughly enjoyed "Dark Star" by the author. "Dark Star" swept me into its narrative, educated me and gave me a real sense of Africa's contradictory nature. It was a wonderful book! However, Theroux came across as an arrogant, ignorant old man who's views of the landscape outside his train car and his opinions of the people inside had no more depth than the narrow route of the train tracks upon which he travelled. If I had wanted a narration of how grumpy and irritable everyone and everything made him I could have listened to my father-in-law! I commend Theroux for learning Spanish but he learned little else and had nothing much to share with his readers. I was looking for some insight into the people and countries but all I got was complaining. Theroux came across as a real old crank in this book. I was very disappointed.
The Old Patagonian Express - Rated 
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this whilst I was travelling through South America (in the opposite direction to Theroux). It even motivated me to search out those of the trains that he travelled on, that were still in service. I found his uncompromising, often critical view of others and himself, a refreshing change from the political correctness that we are accustomised to today. I thought his observations acute and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.
Love him or hate him...but he is good... - Rated
As others have pointed out, Theroux has a rather different style of travel writing from many others. Though he is clearly well read and conveys a great deal of knowledge through his writing, I have to agree that at times his judgemental nature regarding the people and places he encounters is annoying. The arrogance is profound but at times it almost seems naive - which for someone so well travelled seems bizarre.
At one point in the book, he comes across a guy in his young 20s who is reading a comic book. Theroux attacks this as evidence of a poor mind, is disappointed that he is not reading something more intellectually challenging! What exactly is he expecting a poor Peruvian to read - Byron? Bronte? Wordsworth? He almost seems to fail to consider the possibility that, in this young man's life, maybe comic books a form of escapism, where he can forget the poverty he lives in and engross himself in a fantasy.
I preferred Ryszard Kapuscinski's "The Shadow of the Sun" - that is to my mind the way travel books should be written. Tremendously informative yet at the same time capturing the very essence of the places he visits.
The Old Patagonian Express - Rated 
People tend to either love or hate Paul Theroux, and although I can sympathise with his detractors I belong to the former camp. He is an uncompromising author that calls things as he sees them, refusing to romanticise or sensationalise his experiences. Although he comes across as a misanthropist, it seems paradoxal that he should put himself into the situations he does. Travelling in Latin America, as in many parts of the developing world, is not an experience recommended for anyone who values their personal space or desires escaping from humanity.
From 'Riding the Iron Rooster', to the more recent 'Dark Star Safari', to this, Theroux concentrates more on the journies than the destinations, refusing to make life easy (or remotely comfortable) for himself. Theroux's maxim as a travel writer is that transport tells you more about a country than the 'sights' themselves: 'The journey, not the arrival, matters; the voyage, not the landing'.
One of Theroux's main criticisms is that he places himself too centrally in his non-fiction, that we learn more about him than the places he visits. He is at his worst when comparing himself to the other travellers he encounters, categorising and dismissing people with an immense and transparent arrogance. However, if accepted as part of the Theroux 'brand' you can forgive some of his negative characteristics and appreciate his relentless eye for the tragedy and comedy of the developing world. Probably his best travel book, The Old Patagonian Express finds him at his most archly ironic and entertaining.
Reasons Not To Travel - Rated
As other reviewers have pointed out, this is travel writing minus the romance, minus the slight exaggerations, minus... the drama?
I should be thankful for Theroux's honesty, but I guess I wanted that sense of the magical, exotic and adventurous that a reader gets from Bruce Chatwin, or at least the laughs you get with Bill Bryson. There are truly funny parts and characters in this book along with some exciting passages, some colourful local folk lore and some evocative descriptions of the scenery. But Theroux seems so constantly glum about the whole process, one does wonder why he persists on these horrible, festering trains and he doesn't just take the bus/plane like everyone else who can afford it. My abiding memory of this book is an image of the author sitting on an uncomfortable seat, trying to read one or another book and smoking his pipe... I'd hate to be in his carriage.
I wouldn't want to put anyone off reading this book, though. It is superb writing and I will certainly be reading some of his other titles, but I find it hard to imagine that this will inspire anyone to pack their suitcase and aim for Tierra Del Fuego.
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