SOURCE: Hopkins, Adam. “Unsentimental Journey.” New Statesman & Society 8, no. 381 (1 December 1995): 38.

In the following review, Hopkins evaluates the strengths of The Pillars of Hercules, after confessing his initial apprehension about reading the work.

The night before beginning a bout of “location” research for his new book, Paul Theroux found himself at a dinner in London with the Spanish ambassador. He mentioned that he was going to Spain next day. “Where to?” asked the ambassador. “Gibraltar,” said Theroux. It was a revealing moment, since this “wrong” answer may have sprung from one of several causes, all amply illustrated in the book.

Perhaps he was simply teasing. The Pillars of Hercules reveals Theroux as a great provocateur, willing to throw the stone that will provoke a storm between husband and wife, as in a mean little anecdote about a bus journey—in Spain. Perhaps he simply spoke without much thought. For...