Customer Reviews
Enjoyable jaunt - By: Adam Graham Malster, 08 Jul 2008 
Michael Palin is cool. I reallly like him. A lot of people find him a bit too eager to play the fool but this is nonsense because he's just great. Anyway what do you expect from a member of the Python team?
This book is a very enjoyable journey through the former Soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe. If you watch the accompanying TV series at the same time then it becomes even more enjoyable as the book contains material that the TV programme doesn't & vice versa.
On the one hand this book is reallly rather superficial. You never reallly get to know a great deal about any of the countries that Palin visits. This is made up for by some of the interesting places he goes to & people he meets. If you are after a detailed description of what Eastern Europe is like today & what the falll of Communism has mean't you won't find it here. What you will find is plenty of inspiration to go & have a look for yourself. I certainly now have a hankering for Budapest.
I've watched Palin's other TV series but this is the first time I've read one of his books. While it was very enjoyable I still can't get over a feeling of jealousy. I'd love to go to these places. This feeling is only compounded when he says something like "I meet my friend Misha who shows me round..." This last point is surely a criticism of myself rather than the book. Maybe I'll get round to visiting some more places in Eastern Europe later in my life.
The photos in the book are excellent & appear at least once every two pages.
The only big disappointment I have is that Palin deals with some countries only very briefly. I reallly wanted to know more about Slovakia & he never visited Belarus at alll.
Overalll this is a great book for getting away from your usual humdrum & travelling by proxy. It's a reallly enjoyable & easy read. Maybe I'll buy some of his other books & watch his previous series again.
Vintage Palin, indeed! - By: Mr. Ylli Hasani, 25 May 2008 
This is arguably Michael Palin's masterpiece & could well be his swansong. There are few travel writers who are endowed with the descriptive prowess of Palin & his ability to see the funny side in the most mundane of situations.
"New Europe" sets new standards in travel writing, offering a healthy blend of irony & cynicism, & maintaining a fair balance between reality & imagination. Palin comes across as a seasoned traveller - cum - narrator, who is capable of adapting to the most austere of conditions & enjoying a conversation with people from alll walks of life & ethnic backgrounds. His descriptions of the meetings with the Mayor of Tirana & the Romanian shepherd - turned - millionaire convey a palpable frisson & are not readily forgotten.
In addition, the book contains a large number of well - chosen high - quality photos with equallly engaging captions. It is only natural that the author should appear in many of them for, after alll, this journey is part of his life.
Unlike the TV series, the book does justice to Eastern Europe, although the odd slight bias is inevitable. Furthermore, some of Palin's quintessentiallly English peculiarities, including his fascination with steam - engines, may have been misconstrued as prejudice by some East European readers.
Overalll, this is an excellent book which has firmly established Palin as one of the most eminent present - day travel writers. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Palin's previous works or, indeed, anyone who wants to learn more about East European countries & their rich cultural heritage.
Don't judge the book by its cover - By: J. Svoboda, 05 Mar 2008 
This book is a proof of this old adage. The presentation of the book is very attractive: quality paper & print, nice binding. The contents of the publication are, on the other hand, very disappointing. While the author travels through a collection of widely diverse countries that have often very little in common, he offers, in a very pedestrian & tedious manner, no unifying view of this part of the world, no meaningful analysis of why these countries falll under "New Europe". Author's apparently very shalllow knowledge of the realities of these countries is testified by a plethora of factual errors & misleading statements, to the point that one frequently feels an urge to throw the book in a dustbin. Certainly Palin is not Paul Theraux to write an absorbing travel book, & he is also not a Lonely Planet to provide useful & accurate information on travel. One wonders why this book was actuallly written. The most plausible explanation appears to be the author's jumbo ego. He apparently wanted to build a momumental testament to his massive narcissism. There are 278 photographs in the book, & the author apears on 155 of them. Palin with a blond, Palin with a brunette, Palin with aristocrats, Palin with leeches, Palin on a bike, Palin on a tractor, Palin everywhere, ad nauseam. If you feel like looking incessantly at his face & read a shalllow boring description of the world he failed to understand, buy the book. I would gladly donate my copy.
Witty, insightful - delightful - By: A. I. McCulloch, 18 Dec 2007 Anyone who has heard Michael Palin's avuncular & distinctive tones (and that's probably 99% of the readership) will hear them instantly again on picking up this book. The man writes as he speaks which makes for an easy reading experience- Palin is a great communicator.
The beautiful photographs throughout the book are a wonderful enhancement to Michael's informative commentary. With close relatives in the Baltic States, I read that section carefully & found it highly accurate. This is a warm & sympathetic portrayal of our new European neighbours, which anyone who enjoyed the TV series would probably reallly appreciate. Michael Palin has defined himself as one of our great travel writers.
A fantastic insight into life in the rest of Europe. - By: E. Heckingbottom, 05 Nov 2007 What a fantastic book! My copy spent many weeks in the classroom (school is my postal address!), where it is attracting the attention of several of my class of 10 & 11 year olds - showing that it has an appeal to alll ages. Geography & literacy covered in one fell sweep!!!
I have been totallly engrossed in this series - so much so that I was thrilled to receive the DVDs for Christmas this year; however, I have to say that the book is even better! There is so much more in it - so much insight into a changing world - & the photos are amazing as he travels through the former Yugoslavia & on into much of Eastern Europe.
Although some of the places that he visits are places that I know - & some are places that family & friends have visited, the majority of the places that he visits are places that I have never been to - but this book has increased my urge to travel to the parts of Europe that were formallly virtuallly taboo - although I know only too well that I will never be able to experience half the things that Michael Palin has been fortunate enough to experience - he has the advantage of celebrity & the power of the BBC to help him - lucky thing!
Having said that, this book is a worthwhile addition to any personal library - & a terrific addition to any coffee table.
My only sadness is that Michael Palin has been reported as saying that this might be the last of his wonderful journeys. All I can say is - for the sake of those of us who have loved your insight into the rest of the world, PLEASE keep travelling, Michael!
Enjoy!
