A mere twenty-four hours after my return from a wonderful holiday, I found myself covertly planning my next trip. I say “covertly” because I am trying really hard to live in the moment this here month and you will know what I am talking about if you have read The happiness project by Gretchen Rubin.
But if you too believe in travel a-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n, then the library is the place to be. Our travel collection is droolaciously comprehensive (8325 items and counting) and is almost certain to deflect your attention from the long list of DIY projects you really should be tackling in your next annual leave.
Book lust to go – recommended reading for travelers, vagabonds and dreamers by Nancy Pearl – “America’s favorite librarian” (I kid you not) is one such gem. Curl up with it long before you find yourself spraying expensive perfumes on your wrists in the duty free shops at Christchurch airport. Here’s why: Pearl believes that you will learn more about a country (120 of them in this case) from its literature than its travel books.
Turn straight to page 123 for New Zealand recommended reads then move on to destinations more exotic like Chile, Laos and Ethiopia. Apparently Ms Pearl actually visited New Zealand and probably popped in at Christchurch library while she was at it. Here’s a few of her Kiwi reading recommendations, all quite lofty and almost certain to bring us a very classy breed of tourist:
- The bone people by Keri Hulme – “not easy but rewarding”
- Towards another summer by Janet Frame – “filled with a yearning for home, wherever that may be.”
- Here at the end of the world we learn to dance by Lloyd Jones – an author who is better known for his novel Mister Pip
- Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all by Christina Thompson – a culture clash memoir with the best title ever
So what that I’m unlikely to be anyone’s favourite librarian, but I do wish I’d thought of writing a book like this first. Still, I can at least add a recommendation to her list. Mine would be A land of two halves by Joe Bennett – not great literature, but a lot of fun.
How about you? What book would you recommend as a way to gain an insight into another culture?
What about Bill Bryson,s Notes from a Small Island and his book Down Under, they are wonderfully descriptive
Please add Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island, and his book Down Under, they are wonderfully descriptive, I’m currently reading Travelling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, the background set in Greece, Turkey and France
You are so right – Bill Bryson must be top of the list. Like the sound of the Sue Monk Kidd as well!
I have been enjoying the Dr Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill – it offers a fascinating picture of Laos, even though I suppose things have changed somewhat since the late 70s, which is the period in which the books are set. I also found the Inspector Chen mysteries by Qiu Xiaolong an eye-opener in terms of their description of daily life for urban Chinese.
I LOVE Dr Siri, if only he could marry Mma Ramotse from Alexander McAll Smith’s detective series set in Botswana!
Now there’s a thought, Roberta! But what about poor Mr J. L.B. Matekoni?
For a meta view, Alain De Botton’s “The Art of Travel” is a fascinating and remarkable digestable read
Oh yes, that is a good suggestion – he is one of my favourite authors.