Around the world in 10 really great books
Afew of you have been asking about books with travel themes that I’d recommend as Christmas presents. Goodness, where to start? Obviously, particular countries/ cities that appeal but in all honesty those who are fascinated by travel are generally interested in learning about new places as well as retracing their steps over alreadytrodden territory.
Some great travel-related books have appeared recently but there are also a few classics well worth mentioning. So here, in no particular order, would be 10 of my favourites.
1.THE FLANEUR by Edmund White
One of the ‘Writer and the City’ series published a few years ago by Bloomsbury (in a beautiful smallformat, hardback format), this takes the reader on a wonderfully evocative walk through Paris. A flaneur is a stroller, someone who meanders along, taking in the sights, sounds and the overall atmosphere of the place. Edmund White lived in Paris for 16 years so knows it like the back of his hand. Well-known landmarks are here as are less familiar corners of the city. And it shows off the modernday city while throwing in the odd history lesson. 2. AMONG THE RUSSIANS by Colin Thubron Anything from the prolific Colin Thubron is always worth a look and this is a great read – the author’s story of his car journey from St Petersburg, south to Georgia and beyond, back in the days of the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev. Terrific depiction of how the harsh Communist regime affected ordinary people. Good on both people and landscape.
3. MAP STORIES: THE ART OF DISCOVERY by Francisca Matteoli
Large format and beautifully produced, I bought this as a gift for my travel-mad adult niece last year and then ended up buying another one for myself! Charting 23 different journeys that the author finds inspirational, with beautiful maps by way of illustration, this is a truly fascinating book. The search for the source of the Nile, uncovering the rose-red city of Petra, the untamed American West, Madagascar, Machu Picchu...the list goes on and on. Informative and beautiful, it’s the perfect gift.
4. THE OLIVE FARM by Carol Drinkwater
Of all the ‘I followed my dream, moved to France/Spain/Italy/ Greece and transformed my life’ books, this is one of my favourites. Maybe because I interviewed the actress-turned-author once and liked her enormously. There are follow-up books to this one that continue the saga of Carol and her television producer husband Michel and the development of their olive farm in the hills above Cannes but this is the best. The heat of a south-of-France summer radiates off the pages.
5. CITY SQUARES edited by Catie Marron
This is a new book, and one suitable for dipping in and out of. Essentially it’s a ‘take’ on different squares around the world and features places like Moscow, Kabul, Madrid and Istanbul among others. There are actually 18 in all with each one covered by a different writer. Zadie Smith features, for example, as does The New Yorker’s David Remnick.
6. ON BULLFIGHTING by A.L. Kennedy
This slim little volume doesn’t paint a picture of a particular place in Spain. Rather it captures the essence of the Spanish psyche. So there’s history, psychology, philosophy here – and all laced with some terrific anecdotes. This is bullfighting as theatre – which is what it is – and how it has ended up as part and parcel of Spanish life. It’s also about mortality and not just the bull in question. It makes you think about the bigger picture.
7. TRAVELLING LIGHT by Alastair Sawday
From the man who has given us his recommendations for ‘special places to stay’ in many different countries over the years, this is his latest book. A slim volume that gives his personal view of different places. It’s another dipping into type of read. Perfect for the bath!
8. MIDNIGHT IN SICILY by Peter Robb
It’s hard to believe, as you read this, that this isn’t fiction! Written by Australian journalist Peter Robb and reading like a can’t-putdown thriller, this modern-day tale gets to the heart of the Mafia issue on the island of Sicily. With bombings and shootings punctuating the narrative, it illustrates, through both family context and acts of terrorism, just what it means to be Sicilian. A great read.
9. OUT OF AFRICA by Isak Dinesen
Isak Dinesen is the pen-name of Karen Blixen and this is the book that spawned the Oscarwinning film of the same name, starring Meryl Streep as Blixen and Robert Redford as her lover, Denys Finch Hatton. It’s 1913, just before the outbreak of World War One. Very descriptive, with wonderful snapshots of the Kenyan landscape, it is also good on people. Farah, essentially a servant, but the person Blixen comes to respect and depend upon, is beautifully drawn. When you turn the last page you’ll want to book a flight to Nairobi.
10. BOOKSHOPS by Jorge Carrión
A snapshot of different locations through their bookshops, this takes the reader from Green Apple Books in San Francisco, to the Strand Book Store in New York and to Shakespeare & Co in Paris. Full of anecdotes that capture the essence of each place, Carrión is also a cheerleader for traditional bookshops as they try to cope with the onslaught of the Amazon juggernaut. Perfect.