Lonely places, according to Pico Iyer, are the places that don’t fit in, “the places that have no seat at our international dinner tables.”
Falling Off the Map : Some of the Lonely Places of the World is a collection of Iyer’s experiences and impressions visiting some of these places. It was published in 1993, and of course many things have changed since that time, even in the lonely places.
The chapter of the book that I enjoyed the most was the introduction, in which Iyer talks about his definition of a lonely place.
Lonely Places are the exception that prove every rule: they are ascetics, castaways, and secessionists; prisoners, anchorites, and solipsists…every Lonely Place conforms to the Paraguay described by its native writer Augusto Roa Bastos as “an island surrounded by land.”
Pico Iyer’s writing is often described as cool and ironic, which is just what I like about it. His perspective is always that of the outsider, and he is comfortable in that role. He was born in England to Indian parents, moved to California at the age of seven, and was educated in England and the United States, and now lives (mostly) in Japan.
I am a multinational soul on a multinational globe on which more and more countries are as polyglot and restless as airports. Taking planes seems as natural to me as picking up the phone or going to school; I fold up my self and carry it around as if it were an overnight bag.
In Falling Off the Map, he carries it to some interesting, lonely places.
Pico Iyer Links :
- Pico Iyer Interview from Rolf Pott’s Vagabonding website
- Pico Iyer’s Mongrel Soul Interview by Dave Weich, Powells.com
- Postmodern Tourism An Interview with Pico Iyer by Scott London
- The Journey Home “Home is no longer simply a destination, but whatever moves you,” Iyer writes in this essay for a wonderful Time special feature called The Asian Journey Home.
