Reports from Beyond
A Journey Through Life to Remote Places

Reports from Beyond: A Journey Through Life to Remote Places by Patrick Richardson (Paperback) (9780955844805)

'Patrick Richardson is an authentic traveller, who is intrepid, curious and endlessly resourceful. He writes about his unusual and adventurous journeys with eloquent zest, with an eye for the revealing, quirky detail, with an open mind and a carefully controlled lyricism. Like the best travel writers, he does not only journey through faraway places; he also journeys through his own imagination. He well understands danger, strangeness, difference and contingency; and he knows that the exotic is not necessarily glamorous. He is a master.' Harry Reid Author and former Editor of The Herald

'This is a record of the most sustained travelling I have ever come across. On tiny budgets, over forty years Patrick Richardson has probably seen more remote parts of the world than any other traveller. He is not looking for funny stories or opportunities to advertise himself; he merely seeks to be there, to see, to look, to listen and to witness. Cities generally leave him cold; it is to the rural, the village, the road, mountain and desert that he is drawn. These reports are at times almost melancholy, openly admitting to suffering, deprivation and isolation as much as to exultation. We, the readers, peek over his shoulder into the dizzying multiplicity of our planet. He has endeavoured to bring it all back home in this remarkable book.' Andrew Greig, Poet, novelist and mountaineer.

'Patrick Richardson's travelogue and memoir is a joy to read. It takes you back to the time when travel was something we did for its own sake and the world was all to be discovered. Reading his fluid and evocative prose is like going down that dusty road again, not knowing where we'll be tomorrow.' Peter Irvine, MBE , Journalist and author of 'Scotland The Best'.

This book gives a short glimpse into the author's colourful and adventurous life and beautifully describes his unusual journeys to remote and fascinating cultures. His reports are varied in character. Some are very dramatic, such as when he falls through the ice in Lake Baikal in Siberia, is attacked by a pack of dogs in Vanuatu in the Pacific, or is trapped on top of a derailed train in the Congolese jungle. Others are more descriptive and lyrical, for example when he travels up the Amazon River, climbs sacred Mount Emei in western China, or sails down the Niger River to Timbucktu in Mali. He paints captivating pictures of the landscapes and the people he encounters, into by describing context while at the same time he puts them the history of the civilizations he meets. As a result, he lures the reader into a sensory - but always realistic - world of foreign sights, sounds and smells. His journeys reflect his desire, both in his life and his travels, to take risks, explore his limits, and go 'beyond'.

Check out Patrick Richardson's new website Reports from Beyond

This book gives a short glimpse into the author's colourful and adventurous life and beautifully describes his unusual journeys to remote and fascinating cultures. His reports are varied in character. Some are very dramatic, such as when he falls through the ice in Lake Baikal in Siberia, is attacked by a pack of dogs in Vanuatu in the Pacific, or is trapped on top of a derailed train in the Congolese jungle. Others are more descriptive and lyrical, for example when he travels up the Amazon River, climbs sacred Mount Emei in western China, or sails down the Niger River to Timbucktu in Mali. He paints captivating pictures of the landscapes and the people he encounters, into by describing context while at the same time he puts them the history of the civilizations he meets. As a result, he lures the reader into a sensory - but always realistic - world of foreign sights, sounds and smells. His journeys reflect his desire, both in his life and his travels, to take risks, explore his limits, and go 'beyond'.

 

ISBN	955844800
ISBN13	9780955844805
Publisher	Ultima Thule Press
Format	Paperback
Publication date	00/06/2008
Pages	400
Weight (grammes)	1500
Published in	United Kingdom
Height (mm)	240
Width (mm)	190

Patrick Richardson was born in Sussex and raised in Edinburgh, where he went to university. He lived in Amsterdam for eleven years before he returned to Scotland. He has been travelling for forty years, and writing free-lance for The Herald, the Sunday Herald, The Scotsman, The Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph for the past twenty. He has also had several exhibitions of his travel photography. He lives in Edinburgh with his partner, and continues to travel to remote parts of the world, exploring threatened cultures. He regards himself as a traveler who writes, or a writer who travels.