Enjoyed this piece! But have to take issue with the late lamented A A Gill, whose writing I have loved. He says: "Ask yourself: which long-distance train journey would you make in your own country for fun? So why do you think it’s going to be that much better in someone else’s?”
"For fun ..." depends on one's definition of fun. But better: these days long-distance rail travel is almost always more comfortable and civilised in almost any country on the European mainland than in the UK. Sad ... but there it is.
Totally agree! But also depends on your definition of long-distance. And of course, the Chesterton line about whether you view any experience as an inconvenience or an adventure…
Enjoyed this piece! But have to take issue with the late lamented A A Gill, whose writing I have loved. He says: "Ask yourself: which long-distance train journey would you make in your own country for fun? So why do you think it’s going to be that much better in someone else’s?”
"For fun ..." depends on one's definition of fun. But better: these days long-distance rail travel is almost always more comfortable and civilised in almost any country on the European mainland than in the UK. Sad ... but there it is.
Totally agree! But also depends on your definition of long-distance. And of course, the Chesterton line about whether you view any experience as an inconvenience or an adventure…
dear benjamin,
thank you for these quotes! another bunch of bangers!
love these in particular:
“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.”
— Christopher Morley
“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.”
— G.K. Chesterton
“The most common of all antagonisms arises from a man’s taking a seat beside you on the train, a seat to which he is completely entitled.”
— Robert Benchley
thanks and love,
myq
Thanks Myq! I’ll sit next to you anytime!