Book Review: Around the World on a Motorcycle 1928 to 1936 by Zoltan Sulkowsky: Part 2

Yes, to really enjoy this book you need to know the secret. The book is really no more than Sulkowsky’s journal notes of the trip, expanded upon after he returned to Hungary. The text seems to skip from one situation to the next very quickly. For instance, when the guys meet with Benito Mussolini only a couple of sentences in the book mention it. Then the story moves on. It is the same with most all famous people, political or celebrity, that they meet. Just a couple lines about the meeting. Most folks tend to go on about meeting someone famous. Name dropping.

Not these guys. That wasn’t their gig. That’s when I figured it out. The book is about everyday people and culture. That's the secret. That’s what slowed me down. Once I started to pay attention to the everyday folks these two Marco Polos came across, the cultures they strove so hard to understand and explain, Around the World became an adventure, an education. I didn’t want it to end. I read more slowly and enjoyed more. Another secret: take your time reading this book.

Did I mention when these guys got lost THEY ACTUALLY ASKED DIRECTIONS? Unfortunately, when they did ask, the locals knew little more than they did. It became a matter of finding the best road and hoping it led where they wanted to go. Many of those good roads were … ah … not so good. They did use discretion, though. When confronted by bandits (more than once) they opted to run, rather than ask “Which way?” Road maps weren’t state of the art back then, even if you had one. GPS! What’s that?

This book doesn’t read like some cultural text. It can be quite funny. Take, for instance, when the Harley breaks down (gotta bite my tongue here) in the middle of the Australian outback. Our two heroes are down to very little food and water. There are wild animals howling in the night. They are thinking of when the next traveler will find their bones and wonder who they were. There may have been a bit of hallucination going on. They wrote letters of farewell to family and friends. Just in time, they hear someone coming. They are going to be saved! They look out through the shimmering heat waves to see a cotton caravan approaching. Not just any cotton caravan. One huge wagon stacked high with cotton bales being pulled by sixteen camels.

Or, the time they were held ransom in the middle of a river by the fellow that brought a knife to a gun fight.

While Around the World could have used some sort of time line to anchor it to history, it is a minor point. What impressed me was the display of Hungarian national pride. Whenever discussing anything to do with their country, or their heritage, Hungary was shown in a positive light. National pride is something seen too little of these days.

There are just too many stories to talk about. The cultural studies are really amazing, opening us to worlds that will never be seen again. Worlds between World Wars. A time of Depression and change and innocence. It is truly an adventure.

Gertrude Stein said, “If it can be done, why do it?” Well, this adventure hadn’t been done. They took the challenge. They did it. This is a must read…especially if you own a Harley.