I love travel narratives.
These are a few of my favorite travel books sure to whet your
wanderlust. These are not typical guidebooks, they represent well-written
travel literature.
Sara travels in a way that I would love to do, but just
don’t have the stamina.
From soggy sleeping bags, to elaborate dinners at elegant
haciendas she shares the highs and lows of Chili—a country of extremes. Home to
some of the highest volcanoes in the world, vast expanse of desert and tropical
forests and of course, the glaciers of
Patagonia, it takes a savvy traveler to navigate it’s wonders. Ms. Wheeler provides a well-informed look
into the culture, history and politics of a place. Her writing is exceptional
with lyrical descriptions and amusing observations. If you contemplating a trip
to this thin country put this books on the top of your list. Right there next
to Bruce Chatwin’s Patagonia
What a wonderful find. Alexandra Fuller captures the
seduction of the African sun burnt landscape. The vast spaces that set the mind
sailing seduced her parents and made them stay against great adversity. They
lived in Kenya when British Colonists spent their days in royal comfort, but
those days ended with a revolution and war in the 60’s. Ms. Fuller masterfully weaves the very
personal history of her dramatic childhood and the life of her stiff upper lip
parents against the backdrop of a tumultuous time. Her parents chose to remain
in Africa after their lands were seized and to set up housekeeping in remote
Zambia where they found peace under the” Tree
of Forgetfullness.” I have ordered the third book in the trilogy of Ms.
Fuller’s stunning memoir.
Adams
delivers a healthy portion of dry information made palatable by interjecting
doses of self-deprecating humor that are often laugh-out-loud funny. The
pasty-white New York journalist trudges behind a leathery Australian obsessed
with the ruins of the Incas, up daunting mountains and then back down into the
soggy Amazonian rain forest.
We follow
in the footsteps of Hiram Brigham III, who dedicated about half of his life to
finding the
Lost City
of the Incas but had to settle for being credited with the discovery of
Machu Picchu in 1911.
Adams focuses mainly on Brigham, geography and history,
but never tells us much about the Incas themselves. I enjoyed the book, found
it very informative and entertaining which is what good travel writing should
be, but I felt disappointed that I didn’t learn more about the culture of the
people who built
Machu Picchu.
Don George’s very
personal travel memoir is about connections with other humans and a few very
large creatures. At Notre Dame he feels connected to the past and all those
that have walked through that portal to Christianity. In
Cambodia, he
spends three nights in the home of a family and is moved to tears by the
simplicity of the way they share life’s chores and joys in modesty. In the Sea
of Cortez he communes with a whale. His writing is poetic broaching lyrical and
is very moving. He raises the bar for travel writers. We are not to simply take
our readers to a place through their senses in good writing we are supposed to
deliver the meaning of life in subtext. I believe the dance is all there is, so
I am determined to get to the Cook Islands where Don connected with the
shimmying hips of natives in the balmy, palmy breezes.
In fact, I have been so stirred by his
descriptions of his experience there that I must go soon! It is no longer some
musing in a distant future. Don’s writing has made me want to be there, to know
the tranquil beauty of the horseshoe shaped lagoon and the laughing eyes of the
Island people. In short to be more connected with the rhythms of life.
The Tao of Travel- Paul Theroux
When I learned that Paul Theroux, one of my favorite travel
writers, had written the Tao of Travel I rushed to get a copy. At first I was
disappointed that Theroux would waste his considerable talent on a compilation
of other travel writers of note. But, as I got into his very personal critiques
and reflections on the greats like Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry David Thoreau,
Sir Richard Burton and Joseph Conrad I looked forward to eaves dropping on the
“long conversation” about travel writers. Theroux talks about the little known
realities of some of the greats. Edgar Rice Burroughs who created the Tarzan
character had never been to
Africa. Steinbeck
did travel with his dog Charlie for three months, but he who also indulged in
conjugal visits from his wife along the way. The book reads like a tabloid
reality check on “who’s who” in the travel writing genre. Theroux also talks
about the paradoxes of travel, the wisdom of travel and its perverse pleasures.
As usual, Theroux pulls no punches in his discussion of his peers or
precursors. I confess in the end I enjoyed what felt like ”Happy Hour with
Paul” even though he slandered my home town, Los Angeles, lumping it in with
Bombay and Tokyo “which are known for their ugly buildings and bad air.”
I love a man with a sense of humor. It’s hard to imagine the
distinguished gentleman I know as James Dorsey to be slinging dun balls at
monkeys, or bouncing unceremoniously across the desert on a camel, but he does.
In his effort to connect with cultures that are rapidly disappearing he finds
himself in some precarious situations. He always handles them with respect for
his hosts and delivers insights to his readers. This is a wonderful
well-written collection of tales from silly to soul searching. Obviously influenced by Tim Cahill, my travel
writing hero, James shares his exploits with self-deprecating humor while
delivering a deeper message.
Lost Angel Walkabout
by Linda Ballou takes the reader out of their armchair and into the vast world
as few travel writers can. Her eye for detail combined with intimate knowledge
of her surroundings sets Ms. Ballou heads above most of the travel writing
pack. In this age when everyone with a back pack proclaims him or herself a
travel writer it takes a book like this one to re-define the genre. The stories
are personal and inviting, giving the reader not only a feeling of
participation but leaving them with a memory of where they have just visited.
This is just plain great travel writing.
Adventure travel writer,
Linda Ballou, has a host of articles on her site along with information about
her novels and articles at www.LindaBallouauthor.com
Subscribe to Linda’s blog
www.LindaBallouTalkingtoyou.com to receive updates on books, and travel
destinations and events.
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