Product Description

Ted Simon is the author of the classic travel book JUPITER'S TRAVELS. It documents his four-year journey round the world by motorbike, travelling through Europe, Africa, South and North America, and Asia. A number one bestseller in the late 1970s, it is still regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle books - indeed, one of the greatest travel books - ever written. In 2001, at the age of 69, Ted Simon decided to retrace his journey, and DREAMING OF JUPITER is the result. It took him two and a half years - during which time he revisited all the countries he had travelled through in the 1970s. He found much had changed, and he reflects upon the increased poverty, political upheavals, environmental issues and indeed the changes in himself. But ultimately, DREAMING OF JUPITER is a hugely inspiring read with a positive message at its heart - that even at the age of 70 you can still set off on an adventure, and be surprised and excited by what life throws at you along the way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37559 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
*'Gloriously luminescent, but always self-deprecating. Simon's physical powers are diminishing, but his writing just gets better. The wonderful portraits of the people he encounters, often redolent of Bruce Chatwin, are sometimes so enticing that, were this a movie, you'd swear they were a plant for later on' OBSERVER *'This book has barely left my side in the past few days. It is, by turns, sad, funny and immensely uplifting' TELEGRAPH 'A trip of dreams - and Ted Simon has done it twice ... a terrific read' RTE GUIDE 'He was on the road for three years, and his new book, Dreaming of Jupiter, is a compelling account of the adventures en route, including breaking a leg in the middle of a vast plain in Ethiopia; a reunion with a camel rider he'd met 25 years before in Egypt; and crossing India and Thailand with Malu, 62, a former girlfriend, riding pillion' SAGA MAGAZINE 'A sharply-written read of incisive observations ... this book is as much about where the boundaries of age and ambitions collide as it is about the 48 countries Simon travelled through' IRISH TIMES 'His prose is crisp and his thumbnail portraits vivid' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 'For anyone who still dreams of zooming across continents, sleeping under stars, discovering beautiful empty beaches and being warmly welcomed by local tribes' TIMES 'His encounters are evocatively observed, frequently poignant and occasionally very funny' TLS 'Simon's immaculate, knowing and unabashedly humble prose makes me wish I was a better writer, so much so that this book has barely left my side in the past few days. It is, by turns, sad, funny and immensely uplifting' TELEGRAPH

IRISH TIMES
'A sharply-written read of incisive observations . . . this book
is as much about where the boundaries of age and ambitions collide as it is
about the 48 countries Simon travelled through'

SAGA MAGAZINE
'A compelling account of the adventures en route, including breaking a leg
in the middle of a vast plain in Ethiopia; a reunion with a camel rider
he'd met 25 years before in Egypt; and crossing India and Thailand with
Malu, 62, a former girlfriend, riding pillion'

Customer Reviews

Dreams are made of this.........
As with the original Jupiters Travels extremely well written,this extraordinary book is imaginative, thought provoking and inspiring to any reader not just lonely adventure bikers. Reading the two books gives a great comparison of the developing world and reflects on the population expansion issues of our greedy western civilisation whilst from a biker angle reads with continual interest ..Well recommended ..you need never have worn leathers, dropped a bike or stripped an engine to enjoy! but you will need to have been in love at least once in your life to understand some of the deeper moments.

A remarkable journey by a remarkable man
Ted Simon is a very remarkable man and, in his 70's, to undertake a 59,000 mile motorcycle journey visiting 47 countries is little short of astonishing.
And he did all this without back up teams of people to support him or arrange his visas or anything else, but on his own.
However, it is a very different book to Jupiter's Travels.
I think this is possibly explained by Ted himself in chapter 27 -'It seemed to me impossible to say anything upbeat and optimistic about the changes I had seen'.
Whilst Jupiter's Travels was full of optimism - indeed Ted describes himself seeing 'in the world of the seventies a kind of innocence' - the world of the new millenium is rather less so. Vastly improved communication has destroyed the innocence. The immolation of the twin towers, and America's reaction to it, has created a very different world.
So Dreaming of Jupiter is not an optimistic book, but may well give you much food for thought.
The good news is that Ted is an optimist himself, because only an optimist could have undertaken this journey, not once, but twice.
Highly recommended.

first few chapters depressing but then full of richness
I nearly put this book down in the first 80 pages-Ted Simons finds anti-climax at every corner-people he met in the 70s have gone-the world seems full of litter and is now built up where once was paradise. However I began to realise that his honesty is part of the author's strength . He equally describes the beauty of Africa-the thrill of the high Andes , the stunning Australian outback and the kindness of strangers.We are left with an impression that it is still a wonderful world out there but it needs protecting.When I look back at Jupiter's travels he also describes misery filth and poverty amongst beauty .Why did that not affect me in the same way when I first read it? It probably did .We look back at Jupiter's travels through rose tinted glasses and I'm sure we will do the same with this book.It is a classic which took me from my hammock in the garden to the wild high places of the world and gently back again-Well worth reading