Teasing the Korean Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Summer's coming and I love reading stuff depicting the romance and mystery of tropical locales. Examples would include Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon Tiki," William H. Hudson's "Green Mansions," Somerset Maugham's short stories set in Malaysia, etc. Do you have any recommendations? It can be highbrow, middlebrow, or lowbrow. I particularly like the period between the late 1800s and mid 1900s, when the world was still a big, mysterious place, but beginning to get smaller because of technological advances in transportation and communication. I want stuff with vivid descriptions of the locales, animals, foliage, people, etc. I realize that little or none of this stuff will be politically correct by 2011 standards. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Perhaps not quite what you have in mind, but I enjoyed this one a lot when I was eleven or so. Great illustrations, too: http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Balloons-William-Pene-Bois/dp/0140320970On the heavier side, a strong candidate for the greatest English-language novel, Conrad's "Nostromo." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Doesn't Anthony Bourdain write good ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 My first thought was Typee by Herman Melville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 I recommend "Hot Countries" by Evelyn Waugh's brother, Alec Waugh. It was published in 1930, and has striking wood engravings by Lynd Ward, but since it was picked up by the Literary Guild, the biggest book club of the day, there are plenty of copies out there, and they're not too expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Garrett Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 (edited) Anything by Richard Halliburton. Many a youthful imagination of yore was fired by his Complete Book of Marvels. Taschen published a very nice coffee table book, Burton Holmes' Travelogues, which should definitely be of interest. It appears to be out of print but copies can still be had from third-party sellers at Amazon. I got a copy for cheap when Taschen included it in a clearance sale a couple of years ago, guess that was a good indication that it was going out of print. There is an excerpt from it with some photos still up on their website, and a related book of Holmes' photographs is still available. Edited April 1, 2011 by Dave Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 "Yankee Hobo In The Orient" by John Patric, is an interesting read. Patric wrote the book about his visit to Japan in the 1930s, and it is very politically incorrect. The book was given to the USA troops to give them "insight" to the Japanese mind. Might be hard to find, I bought my copy at a used bookstore in Mt. Vernon, WA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Does Joseph Conrad fit into this category? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 I would recommmd four great novels about various Asian locales: 1) The World of Suzi Wong - Richard Mason (1950's Hong Kong). Very underrated and much better than the film. One of the great novels set in Asia. 2) A Woman of Bangkok -Jack Reynolds (1950's Thailand). Obscure and hard to find but to this day the definitive novel about a young westerner discovering the temptations of the East, and paying the price. 3) The Quiet American - Graham Greene (1950's Vietnam). One of Greene's best and a prophetic look at the beginnings of American involvment in Vietnam. 4) Saint Jack - Paul Theroux (1970's Singapore). Set somewhat later than the others this is Theroux at his best and even though relatively recent it still evokes a Singapore long gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 These are great. Keep 'em coming. Yes, Joseph Conrad does count. I've read only "Heart of Darkness" thus far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 I've been fascinated by the books of Sir Richard Francis Burton. I recommend "A Pilgrimage to Mecca." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeith Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 T.E. Lawrence (aka "Lawrence of Arabia") "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Well, you did say "vintage", so there's always this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Norman Lewis - The Voices Of The Old Sea A vivid account from the author's stay in a fisherman's village at the Spanish Costa Brava in the late 1940's. Carlo Levi - Christ Stopped At Eboli A classic memoir from a stay in a small village in Calabria in 1935-1936. Graham Greene - Journey Without Maps Journey through Liberia in 1935. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Yes, Joseph Conrad does count. I've read only "Heart of Darkness" thus far.I'd recommend Conrad's Freya of the Seven Isles and Almayer's Folly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Clugston Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Lord Dufferin's Letters From High Latitudes is about a journey to Iceland, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen. Full of dry humour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_High_Latitudes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Norman Lewis' "A Dragon Apparent: Travels in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam": http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Apparent-Travels-Cambodia-Vietnam/dp/090787133X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301691860&sr=1-1 Actually, anything by Lewis, who was said to be the greatest travel writer of the 20th Century. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Thanks all. Just returned from the B&M book and record store near me. Came back with six books, most of which were your suggestions. First time I bought this many books since I was an English major. First time I exercised this much restraint in focusing on books and ignoring the LPs, which are of course my main vice. I'll search Amazon and eBay for the titles I couldn't find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan; Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan; and Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land. Mark Twain, Roughing It; The Innocents Abroad Paul Wilhelm, Duke of Wurttemberg, Travels in North America, 1822-1824 More to come. I once took a class in travel literature (for lack of a better term). I'm inclined to the non-fiction variety though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Thanks all. Just returned from the B&M book and record store near me. Came back with six books, most of which were your suggestions. Now what did you get, after all? Just to make sure: this is not to open a "why did he buy his suggestion, not mine" contest ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted April 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Now what did you get, after all? As you can imagine, they did not have some of the more obscure titles. Others were pricey early editions in hard back. So, I got these: Melville - Typee Conrad - Nostromo Graham Greene - Journey Without Maps I also got two that disappeared from my collection: W.H. Hudson - Green Mansions Somerset Maugham - The Moon and Sixpense And, completely off topic, a Jim Thomson that I'd never seen before, The Golden Gizmo. These should keep me busy for a while. Not sure where I plan to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Start with the Golden Gizmo. It's fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Conrad - Nostromo Now that's a Conrad I still have to get ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Conrad - Nostromo Now that's a Conrad I still have to get ... It's not an easy book to get into (at least it wasn't for me), but wow. I've read it twice in the last ten years and could read it again. Conrad may have been the wisest man ever to write an English language novel. "The Secret Agent" and "Under Western Eyes" are at the same level as "Nostromo." "Lord Jim" maybe not quite, but it breaks my heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeline Posted April 4, 2011 Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) I am a big fan of Conrad's "Typhoon," much more so than of Nostromo. But to each his/her own... Edited April 4, 2011 by seeline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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