There is no question that the enforced immobility that Covid-19 has imposed upon us all has set my mind travelling to earlier days of movement, and being in motion makes me feel alive, although "alive" might not be the right word and the more precise word could well be "rejuvenated." Yes, there is no question that looking through a train window, the fleeting glimpse of crimson and white leaves, of towns both walled and towered, of markets with canvass and scent, all gone in an instant with the blow of a whistle and a shrill goodbye, no question at all that this is rejuvenating. Why? Because I have just been to a place where nobody else has been and where nobody else can ever go. Where is that place, heralded by such a shrill whistle of goodbye?
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, it is that point at which the present whooshes by in front of your eyes and immediately becomes past, and movement helps me to assess it, evaluate it, accept or discard it and move on to the next station. Yes, there is no doubt that motion can help put my history either into perspective or to rest and, at 67, I have spent a long time moving through this place and nobody has the slightest idea of what I made of it or how it shaped me.
What I do know is that the past, like the present, is a place of motion and it is the very same motion that takes me back there. I sometimes think that I am at my best while in motion and at my worst when I am static - like now in this Covid-19 lockdown. Perhaps, being static forces me to think of death while movement is always bringing me to the light of somewhere new. In this sense, I am like a gypsy and yet, many people object to gypsies. Gypsies remind them, perhaps, that they are no longer in motion or worse, that they are already dead.
So - I have been dreaming of movement in general and trains in particular. Perhaps trains will enjoy a renaissance when this crisis is over. Instead of taking a one-hour flight from Frankfurt to Venice why not consider the night train? There are huge advantages for the writer and traveller. The greatest advantage is that clattering through the darkness is accompanied by the possibility of adventure or even danger and it could happen at any time - always out of sight and round the next unseen-but-felt curve. Even if nothing happens, the possibility that something might happen is always there waiting for us in the next tunnel or at the next station, something life-changing like love or murder, perhaps, or both - at the same time.
So - let trains be your inspiration. You will be in excellent company. Below, I have listed some great novels in which trains and movement play more or less important roles.
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
A story seen through the eyes of three children uprooted from the London suburbs to Yorkshire. The children wave at passing trains from a cutting near their home and, by doing do, send love to their father.
Stamboul Train by Graham Greene
A novel of espionage and taking place on the Orient Express.
From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
Moving trains are perfect scenes for intrigue, spies and death and this train, the Orient Express, is no different.
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
Alfred Hitchcock made this book into the film The Lady Vanishes. The book tells the story of an English tourist on holiday in eastern Europe. She befriends an elderly governess. When the governess disappears from her carriage, her fellow passengers deny that the woman ever existed. Very creepy and might make you think twice about travelling on the night train!
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