Cultural Meanderings

Reviews of things I've read ¦ seen ¦ watched

  • Travel Writing
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Category: Travel Writing

North America / Paul Theroux / Travel Writing

Deep South, Paul Theroux

Less travel book and more reportage as Theroux engages with the problems of race in America’s south. There’s real insight into the systemic problems that mean many poor families struggle to survive. Theroux talks to farmers, social workers, pastors and authors – all the while debunking some of the myths of the south. Anyone interested… Read More

Posted 5 years ago April 8, 2018
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

Love and War in the Apennines, Eric Newby

This isn’t really a travel book, but Newby’s standing as a travel writer is enough to justify its inclusion here. The author describes his amazing experiences during the Second World War after he escaped the clutches of his Italian guards in a PoW hospital and – aided by some brave locals – headed for the… Read More

Posted 13 years ago September 13, 2010
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

Best Foot Forward, Susie Kelly

Here we go again… mad English person does crazy walk. This particular walk crosses France from La Rochelle on the west coast to Lake Geneva on the eastern border with Switzerland. It’s hard to know what to say about this book. It’s gently amusing and mildly frustrating. Fifty-something Kelly chooses not to explain the circumstances… Read More

Posted 18 years ago April 22, 2005
By Jonathan Turton
0
Asia / Travel Writing

An Unexpected Light, Jason Elliot

The covers of my edition of this book are littered with accolades from impeccable sources. A cynic might notice in the acknowledgements that Nobel-nominated author Doris Lessing appears to be a family friend and wonder whether Jason Elliot merely has good literary connections. Frankly, whether he does or not, this book is still outstanding and… Read More

Posted 18 years ago April 3, 2005
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

Over the Land and Over the Sea, Edward Lear

Edward Lear, a travel writer? Who knew? Famed for his books of nonsense poetry and accompanying doodles, Lear’s love was in fact lanscape painting and in the mid-19th century he travelled Europe and beyond in search of scenes suitable for his oils and watercolours. This collection brings together the familiar nonsense and the less familiar… Read More

Posted 18 years ago March 8, 2005
By Jonathan Turton
0
Asia / Travel Writing

Two and Two Halves to Bhutan, Peter Steele

What do you know about Bhutan? Probably not very much, apart perhaps from it being a Himalayan kingdom somewhere up around Nepal and Tibet. Even now Bhutan is a remote and inaccessible corner of the world. There is no British embassy or other representation – the nearest consulate is in Kolkata (Calcutta) – all visits… Read More

Posted 18 years ago January 22, 2005
By Tony Turton
0
Jan Morris / Travel Writing

Destinations, Jan Morris

Jan Morris was surprised when hip US magazine Rolling Stone asked her to write for it in the mid-1970s. She felt that the avant garde brand of journalism was perhaps at odds with her own style and approach to writing – and accepted immediately. The results are collected in this anthology, and they are excellent.… Read More

Posted 18 years ago December 28, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Africa / Paul Theroux / Travel Writing

Dark Star Safari, Paul Theroux

This book is simply magnificent. All of Theroux’s travel books that I’ve read have been engaging, but this one stands out above the rest for me. The premise here is simple: Theroux wants to travel overland through Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town. The cultural, geographical, and political contrasts he experiences are all brought to… Read More

Posted 18 years ago December 16, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

Two Degrees West, Nicholas Crane

This is an account of an eccentric journey by an eccentric Englishman. Nicholas Crane is the man who, a few weeks after getting married, left his wife at home while he spent 18 months walking along the watershed of Europe from Galicia to Istanbul. Five years later, in 1997, equipped with his trademark umbrella and… Read More

Posted 18 years ago November 30, 2004
By Tony Turton
0
Australasia / Travel Writing

Down Under, Bill Bryson

Bryson well and truly returns to form with this book on Australia. It is the best of the self-deprecating and exaggerated humour that won him his fans in the first place. But he also steers clear of overdoing the sermons on how places have changed – and never for the better when viewed through BrysonVision.… Read More

Posted 18 years ago November 14, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

French Revolutions, Tim Moore

It is hard to believe that Tim Moore is quite the couch potato he would have us believe. Although anyone daft enough to attempt to tackle the route of the 2000 Tour de France with even some training must be a sprocket short of a chainring. Moore claims less training than this and thus is… Read More

Posted 18 years ago October 24, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Travel Writing

Round Ireland with a Fridge, Tony Hawks

Starting your book, “I’m not, by nature, a betting man. I’m not, by nature, a drinking man”, raises a certain level of expectation in the reader – and happily Hawks’ book lives up to this. Englishman Hawks takes off on a one-month quest to hitchhike around the circumference of Ireland with a 2’x2′ foot fridge… Read More

Posted 18 years ago October 14, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Europe / Paul Theroux / Travel Writing

The Pillars of Hercules, Paul Theroux

Theroux exports his acerbic wit to the Mediterranean for this reconstruction of the Grand Tour. It is pointless berating him – as many do – for his constant criticism and disparaging remarks. What is more remarkable in this book is the contrasts he throws up, both in his own writing – the tone of which… Read More

Posted 19 years ago September 26, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
South America / Travel Writing

The Trail to Titicaca, Rupert Atlee

While the pantheon of travel literature is filled with accounts of journeys in, to and from Asia and the Silk Road, Latin America is less well covered. Perhaps it’s because writers have only ventured there more recently, or because it is perceived to lack much of the exoticness of India, China, Afghanistan et al. Trail… Read More

Posted 19 years ago September 25, 2004
By Oliver Ralph
0
North America / Travel Writing / United States

America Day by Day, Simone de Beauvoir

In 1947, French philosopher, novelist and feminist Simone de Beauvoir left her native Paris and spent four months in the United States. She had never been to the US before, and as she travelled from coast to coast she kept a diary. Re-published in English 50 years later it offers a fascinating view of America… Read More

Posted 19 years ago August 27, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Asia / Jan Morris / Travel Writing

Hong Kong, Jan Morris

The 1997 edition of Jan Morris’ well-loved, and re-issued Hong Kong book was updated just before the handover of the former British colony to the Chinese government. The new section attempts to deal with the emotions of the residents of this anomalous state on the eve of their migration to another government. The 2000 edition… Read More

Posted 19 years ago August 15, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Travel Writing

The Faber Book of Exploration, Benedict Allen

On one level, Benedict Allen has compiled an impressive volume of accounts of exploration throughout history that can be enjoyed as heroic adventures and tales of “derring-do”. But I can’t help feeling depressed as I read story after story of exploitation, greed, cruelty and murder, often carried out in the name of “civilisation” or religion.… Read More

Posted 19 years ago August 7, 2004
By Tony Turton
0
North America / Travel Writing

The Great American Bus Ride, Irma Kurtz

I like this book. Partly, it’s true, because it brings back memories – uncomfortable and chuckling alike – of my own Greyhound exploits. But mostly because it is so simple. It is a straightforward unpretentious account of a middle-aged American expat travelling across the US in that most democratic of vehicles: a bus. A quick… Read More

Posted 19 years ago July 31, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Australasia / Paul Theroux / Travel Writing

The Happy Isles of Oceania, Paul Theroux

This is one of Theroux’s odder travel books. The spectre of separation from his wife haunts the narrative as the veteran travel writer sets off to paddle the Pacific. Not, mercifully, in a Thor Heyerdahl non-stop-adventure kind of a way, but in a more relaxed pottering-around-the-islands sort of way. It is a difficult book to… Read More

Posted 19 years ago July 12, 2004
By Jonathan Turton
0
Africa / Travel Writing

Muddling Through in Madagascar, Dervla Murphy

It’s hard to reconcile the Madagascar of Murphy’s 1985 travels with the tales of dispute verging on civil war that have been emerging from the country in mid-2002. The ravaging effects of the recent disputed election are at odds with the relaxed, apolitical country that Murphy presents. But 15 years is a long time, and… Read More

Posted 19 years ago June 25, 2004
By Oliver Ralph
0

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