a blog about travel literature
Why is this book so legendary when it comes to travel literature?
it’s the year 1956, and Eric Newby is an Englishman in his thirties who works in the fashion business. One day he decides that he’s sick of it all, and so he sets his mind on a mountain climbing expedition to Afghanistan. His friend Hugh Carless, who speaks a bit of Persian, comes along…
A sophisticated mind.
In 1953, Swiss law student Nicolas Bouvier and his friend, the painter Thierry Vernet, decide to go on a road trip to Afghanistan…
Not personal enough.
In the late 1990s, French manager Philippe Valéry is in his thirties when he decides to walk from Marseille to Kashgar…
The real Baudolino.
In the 14th century, English knight Jean de Mandeville claims to have traveled around much of the known (and unknown) world…
A wagging finger.
In 1325, young Moroccan scholar Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta embarks on his hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. But he doesn’t stop there…
A (medieval) average Joe.
In 1394, Johann Schiltberger is still a teenager when he embarks on what historians have later dubbed the “Last Crusade”. He gets captured in the Battle of Nicopolis and serves as a slave to the Ottomans for six years…
The ultimate travelogue is a bit slow.
In the 13th century, Marco Polo, a merchant’s son from Venice, accompanies his dad and his uncle on a decades-long trip to China and back…