Barely a Book Club #13: Full Tilt
Roxane Hudon introduces Dervla Murphy's Full Tilt: Ireland to India With a Bicycle.
Our fifth book club selection is Dervla Murphy’s Full Tilt: Ireland to India With a Bicycle. Murphy, who died in 2022, set off from her County Waterford home in 1962 with a pistol and a one-speed bike, and the ensuing chronicle, published in 1965, made her famous at home and in the U.K., though her travel writing is perhaps less known in North America. Her journeys took her all over the world, largely by foot or bicycle (she never learned to drive), never shying away from hot spots like Northern Ireland during the Troubles, Gaza and the West Bank, Yugoslavia during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Known for her empathy, her no-nonsense demeanour and her hatred of commercial tourism and its creature comforts, she struck a stark contrast with the entitled, consumer-oriented attitude of so much travel writing.
When I discovered that Roxane Hudon, a writer (and reader of impeccable taste) was a Dervla fan, I asked if she would do us the honour of writing the inaugural issue of this cycle.
I did not go seeking Dervla Murphy. She came to me in a box, a surprise book box ordered from The Word during the pandemic. Between the Edith Wharton and mythology books, there she was, my adopted Irish babushka.
It wasn’t the first I’d heard of her. Being the son of adventurous British hippies, my husband has always loved travel writing. Along with banter and Would I Lie to You?, he brought into my life shelves lined with Wilfred Thesiger, Eric Newby, Colin Thubron, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul Theroux, you know, the lads. Don’t get me wrong, I love the lads, but after reading many of their books, I grew tired of some of their common traits. The most famous travel writers are often male, white, British, of a certain class. I started craving some otherness. That’s when a friend recommended Dervla. “You’ll love her,” he said, “She’s always looking for a pint.”
Published in 1965, Full Tilt was her first and most famous book, documenting her journey from Ireland to India on her trusted bicycle Roz. Her writing is often described as straightforward, which I think undervalues its beauty. Dervla writes what she sees, without embellishing or sensationalizing her stories. She’s very candid about the lows of a long journey. She bears disdain for shortcuts, cars, and unnecessary luxury, but an incredible amount of empathy for the people she meets on her travels. She’s stubborn, often reckless, very funny, and incredibly fearless.
As a reader, there’s nothing better than falling in love with a writer after a few lines. That was my experience with Full Tilt, which made me want to read every book she ever wrote. I have about 15 to go, because our girl was prolific, but I’m going through them the Dervla way, taking my time and savouring the journey. While other travel writers have taught me about peoples and places, Dervla has taught me to be a better traveller, to pack light, roll with the punches, never fear what’s around the corner, to travel slowly to places where others might dissuade you to go, and always, always, make time for beer.
On a recent trip, I thought of Dervla, as I often do when I travel now. We spent a month travelling through Uzbekistan, with little detours to Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and I was struck by the warmth and hospitality of the people. It might be corny to write, but I did come back feeling a tad more hopeful about the state of things; all it took was the reminder that there are pockets of good out there. The kindness of strangers—that’s what Dervla always talked about when asked how she felt about the world, especially after travelling to places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Gaza. She said:
“I’ve always depended, while travelling on people’s helpfulness and kindness and I haven’t been let down. So my experience, my personal experience, is that the majority of human beings are helpful and kindly and honest and this is not the impression you get when you just read the headlines. You know, the world does seem to be in a desperate state and, in many senses it is, but on the other hand, you have this enduring sort of goodness in people.”
I hope this book club and Full Tilt create a few more Dervla heads (but not too many, because her books are often hard to find). Enjoy the ride, crack a cold one, and next time you’re out muddling about in the world, try doing things the Dervla way.
— Roxane Hudon
Full Tilt is available in various editions, but if you have trouble hunting it down, it is seemingly widely available as an ebook. Above pictured is Roxane’s own, presented in the spirit of #nojacketsrequired. In this case I will say the jacket definitely wins.
There’s also an audio version—did you know there’s a site called Libro.fm that’s kind of the Bookshop.org of audio books, which lets you share the profits of your purchase with the indie bookseller of your choice?—anyway, you can find it there or at the usual place.
Thanks again to Roxane for the lovely appreciation. I encourage you to check out her Instagram, Reading on Fogo Island, where she reports on books from her home on a picturesque island off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I hope to see some of you out on the trail soon. Let’s check in sometime in August.
