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  • Michael Palin: Pole to Pole

  • By: Michael Palin
  • Narrated by: Michael Palin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,154 ratings)
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Michael Palin: Pole to Pole cover art

Michael Palin: Pole to Pole

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
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Summary

In Pole to Pole we join Michael Palin on the second of his epic challenges. Travelling from the North Pole to the South Pole, he experiences every extreme the globe has to offer. As he crosses 16 countries by train, truck, raft, Ski-Doo, barge, balloon, and bicycle, he meets a diverse range of fascinating characters and landscapes while his own endurance is tested to the limit. With his customary aplomb, he plunges himself into the local cultures, starring in a crayfish documentary in Novgorod, attending a baby-rolling ceremony at a Cypriot wedding, and consulting an Mpulugu witch-doctor. He samples the local cuisines, from goat stew in Kigoma to seal lasagne in Tromsø, and the local customs, beating himself with birch twigs in a Finnish sauna and enjoying a mud massage in Odessa. His incredible journey is a delight for anyone interested in our weird, wonderful world.

©1999 Michael Palin (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Michael Palin: Pole to Pole

Average customer ratings
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Travel with the legend

Love it, if you loved the series you're in for a treat. Gives you all that and the different pictures Michael paints with his words.

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great

loved it, - good easily listening , think everything he does is enjoyable - one word remaining

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

How travel writing should be...

By now, pretty much everyone knows what they're going to get when they read or listen to a Michael Palin travel book: If you're looking for a normal travel guide, this isn't it. If you're just wanting an audio version of the TV series, this isn't it either. The books delve much deeper into the day to day of the trip than was conveyed on the screen. You find out more about the crew that travel with MP on his travels, and the things that happen off camera. Think of this as the companion piece to the TV series. To get the full effect, you want both, and ideally you'd watch one episode, then read/listen to the chapters/days in the book that go along with it, etc...

As for the narration, MP is of course the only person who could do it. He's not just narrating the book, he's re-living it, and breathing life into the words for you.

I've only marked the "story" rating as a 4, because whilst it's a grwat read/listen, it doesn't *quite* reach the heights that he reached on Round the World and Full Circle....

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2 people found this helpful

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  • M
  • 03-04-20

Short, Palin-esque, sweet

Palin has an easy style of narration and - unsurprisingly - is completely at home with his text. His knack of noticing the remarkable and unremarkable, and comparing these with our everyday home life is engaging. It’s a wonderful antidote to the (American) “Buy six now!” “Your life depends on THIS!!” style that makes him - for me - such a good travelling companion. Quite short, and definitely recommended.

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Another Palin classic

Pole to Pole is another fantastic travel story from Michael Palin and is full of interesting twists and turns as they travel through Europe and Africa

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Pole to Pole

Another incredible adventure from Michael Palin. Read as always with wit and much charm. Palin really stakes a claim as the greatest living Englishman.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

armchair travel at its pleasantest

nice relaxing light book following the travels of Michael Palin n group from pole to pole over land. narrator has a pretty slow get paced style n the initial frequent pause,-, always a tad too long made me think I cudn't stick with this for long,!
however not sure if MP spoke faster or I just got used to his o intonation but it was entertaining Enuf. As a thwarted global traveler i enjoy the light insights into familiar n unfamiliar places.. some visited long ago. it provoked me to look and learn more about the countries visited especially their stability n current politics

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

This book was absolutely brilliant!
I truly enjoyed it and recommend it!
It makes even more personal when Michael Palin is reading it himself.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Michael Palin at his Best

An extraordinary account of an incredible adventure. Michael Palin recounts his adventure with an honest and down to earth delivery, engaging, interesting and a pleasure to listen to

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Great adventure!

Another Palin adventure from pole to pole. Witty, informative and entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyed this epic journey.

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