a blog about travel literature
Why does too much often mean too little?
In the early 1990s, Nadine Hudson from Switzerland is struggling with mental health issues, most notably an eating disorder. She decides to embark on a backpacking trip through Asia…
Is this book going to be any good for you even if you’re not a fan of hardcore punk?
it’s 1980, and a young punk enthusiast called Henry Lawrence Garfield from DC gives himself a new last name, thus becoming Henry Rollins. When his favorite band Black Flag asks him to become their new lead singer, he accepts…
Can this be a new way to write travel literature, or will it always turn out terrible?
in the early 2010s, Huang Nubo, a Chinese billionaire who climbs mountains and writes poetry, gives to charity, and supposedly tries to protect cultural relics in China, decides to embark on a mission that is supposed to last him ten years: a visit to each and every World Heritage Site on the face of the earth…
What’s the difference between telling anecdotes and writing a book?
we’re at the end of World War II, and Brian Dawtrey is a young man from England who is crazily in love with a girl. He writes her a ton of letters…
If this guy writes so well and goes to so many cool places, then just why is this book he wrote so bad?
in the early 2000s, Xiaopeng is a young Chinese white-collar worker who decides to see the world. He travels around China, then ends up as an exchange student in the Netherlands. From there, he sets out to do the Grand Tour of Europe…
How far can British humor carry a story that otherwise revolves entirely around itself?
We’re in the late 1990s, and Tony Hawks is a British music composer and comedian who frequently gets mistaken for a pro skater. In 1997, he sets out to lug a refrigerator around Ireland. You might have already guessed it: he is trying to win a bet…
Can we read about warfare as if it was just an adventure?
at the outbreak of World War I, Gunther Plüschow, a young pilot in the German air force, gets dispatched to the German colony of Qingdao (they call it “Tsingtau” back then). He is supposed to be one of only two pilots on guard against the Japanese and the British there…
Fate.
In the mid-1980s, British oilfield worker William Lindesay has a thing for jogging and for maps. He sets his eye on The Great Wall of China…
Poetic, but…
In the early 1930s, Laurie Lee is a man of just about twenty who he steps out of his door in Southwest England and decides to walk to London…
Dirty Harry.
In the early 1820s, Heinrich Heine is already a pretty successful German poet/journalist. He goes on several journeys to Berlin, Poland, the Harz, the North Sea, Italy and England…
The real Baudolino.
In the 14th century, English knight Jean de Mandeville claims to have traveled around much of the known (and unknown) world…
Short and good.
In the year 1782, German philosopher Karl Philip Moritz follows his “most fervent wish” and embarks on a two month journey around England – mostly on foot…