Long Way Down

In contrast to their first adventure, the entire franchise has been entirely compromised by this incessant need to indulge Ewan's emotionally-challenged wife. Although Charley appeared to cope admirably with what transpired to be a truly bizarre set of circumstances, Ewan's persistent lack of spirit certainly detracts from this otherwise unique and quite remarkable journey. As Charley indubitably secures his reputation as both hardened-adventurer and well-balanced individual, I am loathed to conclude that a more suitable partner would have yielded greater enjoyment for both reader and rider alike.

Long way down (0/0 people found this helpful)

I really enjoyed their first book and accepted the occasional 'F' word as their way of writing. I bought Long way down and by the time I had read a quarter of it I discovered that it contained far more totally unnecessary obscene language. It just turned me right off, my opinion of these two young men changed, I was very dissapointed and couldn't read any further. I would add that I am fairly broad minded but this is not a book I would want on my book case so I gave it away. I am puzzled as to why two apparantly intelligent chaps feel the need to pollute their prose with expletives. Do they use that kind of gutter language with their own parents,wives and children? I doubt it so why pollute their own books with it. It is not clever it is immature,crude and offensive to the reader and it does them no credit whatsoever. They and their publishers should be ashamed!

A story about human bravery and compassion (0/3 people found this helpful)

Long Way Down tells the tale of the second journey made by the two crazy guys. Their aim: to travel on motorcycles all the way from John O'Groats... but not to Land's End. Cape Town, no less! Along the way they arranged to make stop-offs with three different charities that they're involved with, in order to raise awareness and therefore hopefully more cash for these good causes. Because of this, the book was a real mixture of tension (bike problems, falling off, scary roads, border problems etc), fun (when everything is going right, and the guys are happy on the open road) and emotion (charity visits). It all made for an enjoyable and informative read. For a non-fiction title, there was a great deal of description of many of the places the guys visited, which gave a real sense of place, and the people in the places. The poorer parts of Africa, certainly seemed a million miles away from some of the adverts you see on the television, which give the impression all the people are unhappy. According to Ewan and Charley, although, yes their lives are far from ideal, they're happy. The poor souls living with landmines, HIV and poverty, despite their hardships, still have hope. And they have one another. It was touching to hear about how kind and welcoming the people are, despite the language barriers. The book really opened my eyes to some of these places, and I'm sure it had the same effect on many other people.

The charity work the guys did is great, and the way it's been written about increases the possibility of more people wanting to help. But rather than just sending money and forgetting about it, the pictures painted are more likely to have people wanting to visit, and see for themselves. And given that tourism is the biggest industry in most of these areas, despite their tiny visitor numbers, it can only be a good thing.

This is a book about a journey, but there are so many other things packed in there too, it's a really good read and I think it'll appeal to everyone, regardless of whether or not they're interested in biking or travel. It's also a story about human bravery and compassion. The only downside were the number of photographs - I'd have liked to have seen more.

Disappointing, but eventually worthwhile. (0/1 people found this helpful)

Back in 2004, actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman took off on a trip from London to New York, travelling the 'long way round' by motorbike. They started in London, crossed to France and then drove by road and dirt track across Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia, from where they caught a plane to Anchorage, Alaska, and continued by road through Canada and the USA to New York City. A thoroughly entertaining documentary series (and DVD) and an interesting book were released to accompany the journey.

Three years later McGregor and Boorman regrouped to do it all again. This time their plan was to ride from John O'Groats at the northern-most tip of Scotland to Cape Angelhus, the southern-most point in Africa where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian, a journey of some 14,000 miles. Again it was all done by motorbike, a few ferry crossings excepted.

Where Long Way Round was entertaining from start to finish, Long Way Down feels a little off as a book. This is a huge adventure, involving the crossing of the most dangerous and unstable continent in the world from north to south, but it all feels a little slick and sanitised. The fun of Long Way Round was that Boorman and McGregor didn't know what the hell they were doing, and for all their preperations and precautions, the entertainment came from watching them grapple with the elements, deal with the people (friendly and not) they met along the way and exploring some of the remotest and least-well-known landscapes on Earth. Long Way Down is not really the same thing. Learning from the lessons learned on the prior trip, it feels like they've massively overcompensated. Their journey this time is timetabled almost down to the hour, and the constant need to be on time for ferry crossings or meetings with UNICEF charities takes a lot of spontaneity out of the trip, meaning less time for random stops or side-trips along the way. To be sure, the writers' highlighting of the excellent and eye-opening works being done by UNICEF in Africa is very worthy, but they aren't doing the cause any favours when it feels like 50% of the book consists of them whining about the timetable situation. In addition, because Africa is far more heavily populated and far more dangerous than the their prior trip across Asia, they tend to be accompanied by their support vehicles or even armed guards for long stretches, reducing the feel of 'two mates against the world on bikes' that made the first book a lot of fun. To be sure, no-one would want these guys put in danger for their entertainment, but the dynamic feels a little off. Maybe giving more focus to the other guys on the trip and making it more of a gang adventure rather than focusing on just MacGregor and Boorman would have worked better.

Tellingly, it is in the second half of the book, once they're free of the ticking hand of the clock and can do their own thing, where the journey comes to life, more amusing anecdotes about the people and wildlife they encountered emerge and we get more of a sense of excitement about the whole trip. However, it comes a little too late in the day to make the book as good a read as Long Way Round.

5-Star reviews (4/4 people found this helpful)

If no one else has noticed; the people giving 5-star reviews seem a bit strange

I checked their other reviews, barring Robert D Lee; it's the only product they've ever reviewed
wouldn't be a big deal, yet if you look at their names, they all have a pattern of having their 'real' name, followed by a nickname surrounded by quotation marks which are all pretty similar in style such as..

Maverick "Mav"
K Stokes "K Stokes"
Emma Anderson "Em"
Holly Williams "Holls"

click on the 5-star reviews only link and see for yourself

Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman

Reader Reviews:

Thoroughly Disappointing (2/2 people found this helpful)

Long way down (0/0 people found this helpful)

A story about human bravery and compassion (0/3 people found this helpful)

Disappointing, but eventually worthwhile. (0/1 people found this helpful)

5-Star reviews (4/4 people found this helpful)

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