Most books, if they do their job well, transport us to a different place and time. I feel like I have been all over the world, and yet, I have not left the comfort of my own home. There are too many stories to remember. Nonetheless, here are ten random books I have read and shared a journey with a character or two.
1. Around the World in 80 Days - Verne
A race against the clock to make it around the world in eighty days, using different modes of travel, set in the late 1800s. Traverse three continents, two oceans, and experience numerous adventures with several fascinating characters. Also enjoy a few good laughs.
2. Over the Edge of the World - Bergreen
The shocking story of Magellan and his crew as they circumnavigate the globe in the 1500s. Absolutely exhausting what men put themselves through for cloves. Yeah, cloves.
3. A Room with a View - Forster
Mostly pleasant coming of age story set in romantic Florence, Italy.
4. Travels with Charley - Steinbeck
Something I've always wanted to do, but not with my dog. Hop in alongside Steinbeck as he drives his way through America, encounters characters, experiences history, and draws opinions and conclusions about his country. My favorite part was his five minutes spent in Yosemite.
5. The Road - McCarthy
On a more depressing note, McCarthy wrote a dark story about a father and son trying to survive, on foot, and walking towards the Gulf Coast after an catostrophic disaster in America. Nothing looks the same, and McCarthy does such a good job that is impossible to remember having clear visuals of the environment.
6. Gulliver's Travels - Swift
This satire follows a surgeon on four different voyages to fictional lands, people, and the troubles he confronts. Swift wrote this to mock the British government and society of his time.
7. The Oregon Trail - Parkman
This was an interesting and very well written true account of the experiences and realities of those who took the Oregon Trail west.
8. The Journey of Lewis and Clark
One of my favorite expeditions of the west. Both Meriwether Lewis and William Clark kept journals with detailed descriptions and illustrations of wildlife and native people, while they explored the terrain of the Louisiana Purchase and searched for a waterway to the Pacific Ocean.
9. These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881 - 1901 - Turner
An historical fiction of one woman's life on the frontier of Arizona.
10. The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway
Travel through Spain with disillusioned ex-patriots following WWI. Some people find this fictional story annoying, but I found Hemingway's writing effective.
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This week's TTT theme reminds me of reading Moby Dick and experiencing a dangerous whaling expedition with a crossed sea captain and a well-grounded introspective narrator, traversing the seas in search of revenge.
I've read Travels with Charley several times and it seems increasingly more melancholy every time I do -- perhaps because I understand Steinbeck's unease with the homogenization of everything.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why. Steinbeck himself is a melancholy vibe.
DeleteWhat lovely choices! I've read numbers 1, 3, 6, 8, and 10, and definitely see why you included them :-)
ReplyDeleteRachel, btw, I think you would really like #9.
DeleteI've read 1,3,4,6, and 10 from this list and found the most interest in #'s 4 and 10. Forster's Aspects of the Novel I found to be more absorbing than I would have expected, given its title. Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose made me feel like I had taken the expedition with Lewis and Clark.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read Undaunted Courage. I found it at a used book store last year, and it is on my TBR this year. Just waiting to fit it in.
DeleteThis book is so good that the liner notes barely do it justice, effusive as they are. I think you will revel in the experience of reading it.
DeleteGreat! I'll start it soon...
DeleteGood going!
ReplyDelete