Tag Archives: Travel literature
Confessions of a graphomaniac.
Doctor, dear doctor, help me for I’m a graphomaniac. Yes doctor, I love paper. I adore the smell of the thing, the muffled noise of a pencil running on a smooth sheet. In a nutshell, doctor, I love writing. I … Continue reading
Posted in Odd ones out, Random memories
Tagged Asia, Beirut, Central Asia, Drawing, Graphomania, Graphomaniac, Italia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mapping, Maps, Memories, Middle East, Mitsubishi, Moleskine, Norris, Note, Pamir, Pen, Sri Lanka, Staedler, Travel, Travel literature, Travelling, Writing
26 Comments
“Out of Steppe” by Daniel Metcalfe, Arrow – Random House
If the passion for travelling off the beaten path, exploring places that don’t make it on the top-shelf brochure at your local Trailfinders (but, let’s face it, they don’t even make it to the bottom one), was a genetic strand … Continue reading
Posted in Books review
Tagged Afghanistan, Aral Sea, Arrow, Asia, Books review, Bukhara, Bukharan Jews, Byron, Central Asia, Colin Thubron, Daniel Metcalfe, Iran, Karakalpakstan, Kazakhstan, Moynaq, Pakistan, Random House, Tehran, The Economist, Thesiger, Travel literature, Travel writing, Uzbekistan, Volga Germans, Wilfred Thesiger, Yaghnobi
12 Comments
“I have never encountered splendour of this kind before”. Visiting Isfahan with Robert Byron
On paper it sounded like a good idea: visiting a country whilst reading about it, journeying through the physical space and the mental one concocted by a great travel writer, attempting to match my experiences to those of the author. … Continue reading
“Arabian Sands”, by Wilfred Thesiger, Penguin Books.
Italo Calvino once wrote that a ‘classic’ is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. If this is the approved meter of judgement for the category, then I’ve no doubts that Arabian Sands belongs to … Continue reading
Posted in Books review, Uncategorized
Tagged Africa, Arabia, Arabian Sands, Bedouin, Bedu, History, Middle East, Penguin books, Travel literature, Travelling, Travelogue, Wilfred Thesiger
8 Comments
“Ninety Percent of Everything”, by Rose George, Picador
I’m an intrinsically sceptical person, the sort of individual who’s the thorn in the side of marketers, focus group organisers or pollsters. Give an advert saying “The best book of the year” and I’ll immediately think ‘bullshit’. Make me read … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Books, Books review, Felixstowe, Maersk, Maersk Kendal, Merchant Navy, mission, Ninety percent of everything, Picador, Pirates, Rose George, Seafaring, Singapore, Slate, Somalia, Travel literature
11 Comments
“Dark Star Safari” by Paul Theroux, Penguin Books
Source http://www.paultheroux.com Paul Theroux and I go a long way. I originally picked up his book almost one year ago, in its podcast form, and then – almost immediately – dropped it. The reason? The voice of the reader: whereas … Continue reading
Posted in Books review
Tagged Africa, Aid policy, Book, Book Review, Cairo, Cape town, Dark Star Safari, NGO, Overland, Paul Theroux, Penguin, Politics, Travel literature, Travelogue
2 Comments
“The Lost Heart of Asia”, by Colin Thubron, Vintage
Then I heard Pasha calling me to return. It was late and dark, he said, and this was not our country. It doesn’t happen often, for me, to arrive at the last word of a book and think Aw fuck, … Continue reading
“Chile – Travels in a thin country”, by Sara Wheeler, Abacus
Having spent most of my reading time engrossed in travel literature I think I’m now adequately equipped to put together a brief phenomonology of the writer of this genre that I so much adore. Let’s assume to have a chart, … Continue reading
Posted in Books review
Tagged Books, Books review, Chile, Pinochet, Sara Wheeler, South America, Travel literature
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