Lands of Lost Borders
A Journey on the Silk Road
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Lands of Lost Borders
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Amy Landon
-
By:
-
Kate Harris
About this listen
"Lands of Lost Borders carried me up into a state of openness and excitement I haven’t felt for years. It’s a modern classic." (Pico Iyer)
A brilliant, fierce writer makes her debut with this enthralling travelogue and memoir of her journey by bicycle along the Silk Road - an illuminating and thought-provoking fusion of The Places in Between, Lab Girl, and Wild that dares us to challenge the limits we place on ourselves and the natural world.
As a teenager, Kate Harris realized that the career she craved - to be an explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and metaphysician - had gone extinct. From what she could tell of the world from small-town Ontario, the likes of Marco Polo and Magellan had mapped the whole earth; there was nothing left to be discovered. Looking beyond this planet, she decided to become a scientist and go to Mars.
In between studying at Oxford and MIT, Harris set off by bicycle down the fabled Silk Road with her childhood friend Mel. Pedaling mile upon mile in some of the remotest places on earth, she realized that an explorer, in any day and age, is the kind of person who refuses to live between the lines. Forget charting maps, naming peaks: What she yearned for was the feeling of soaring completely out of bounds. The farther she traveled, the closer she came to a world as wild as she felt within.
Lands of Lost Borders is the chronicle of Harris’ odyssey and an exploration of the importance of breaking the boundaries we set ourselves; an examination of the stories borders tell and the restrictions they place on nature and humanity; and a meditation on the existential need to explore - the essential longing to discover what in the universe we are doing here.
Like Rebecca Solnit and Pico Iyer, Kate Harris offers a travel account at once exuberant and reflective, wry and rapturous. Lands of Lost Borders explores the nature of limits and the wildness of the self that can never fully be mapped. Weaving adventure and philosophy with the history of science and exploration, Lands of Lost Borders celebrates our connection as humans to the natural world and ultimately to each other - a belonging that transcends any fences or stories that may divide us.
©2018 Kate Harris (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersWhat listeners say about Lands of Lost Borders
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-09-2019
Well written, yet looking for more connection
The story itself was very good. Beautiful descriptions of the places Kate travels to made me feel as if I was there myself. I gleaned a keener understanding of the politics in the East and found myself wanting to go there. I loved the perspective of the cyclist.
However I failed to connect to the authour as a person. There was much description of past events and how they led up to the journey taken. There was also a lot of factual narrative. There were certainly many philosophical aspects and musings that I found interesting and agreed with for the most part. However I felt it lacked emotion, passion the deep-feelingness of the traveller. That's not to say it isn't there. It could have been the narrator, who had a lovely voice, but whose speaking style reminded me of the voice on sci-fi movies that says "Ship will self destruct in 10 [pause] seconds).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jenna
- 02-04-2019
Good story but distracting narration
This is a very interesting insight into cultures and lands we aren’t often exposed to in ‘western’ culture.
Thought provoking and well (if though sometimes a tad floridly) written. The pre-journey chapters are a bit drawn out, but the story picks up once on the road.
The narration - I felt - was over dramatised. The ends of sentences had unusual emphasis and tone (breathy). Maybe a North American ear wouldn’t find it odd, but my Australian (living in NZ) ear found the lack of vocal efficiency irritating. There also seemed to be some compression issues, making the voice sound artificial at times. It seems to bother me less as the story went on though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hanabil
- 30-06-2019
A fantastic story but preferred the Kindle version
I'm currently on a long distance cycling trip and this sounds like a super interesting story to listen to on the road. Unfortunately I found the narrators voice distracting, and couldn't relate it to the down to earth person I imagine the author to be after listening to the first few chapters. I ended up returning the book and buying the Kindle version instead. Be sure to listen to the sample first.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-01-2024
not the travel story i was hoping for
nicely narrated, but not the type of adventure story I enjoy reading or listening too. I found I kept skipping large sections, hoping to hear a lot more about the country and its people rather than personal point of view on the authors life. sorry but found this incredibly boring and did not finish the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!