Teasing the Korean Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've finished both "Green Mansions" and "Typee." I am now reading "Journey Without Maps." It is interesting to see how different authors from different time periods will emphasize certain aspects of the story and de-emphasize others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted April 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 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. I have been seeking a reasonably priced copy of this since you suggested it. It has been reissued: http://www.amazon.com/A-Woman-Bangkok-Jack-Reynolds/dp/9810854307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334951136&sr=8-1 I just ordered a copy and cannot wait to read it. I've read online comments from westerners who have spent time in Bangkok, and many seem to think that this book captures the time and place perfectly. Thanks for the recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) First installment: Mark Twain, Following the Equator http://www.amazon.com/Following-Equator-Journey-Around-World/dp/0486261131 Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky http://www.amazon.com/The-Sheltering-P-S-Paul-Bowles/dp/006083482X Henri Michaux, A Barbarian in Asia http://www.amazon.com/A-Barbarian-Asia-Henri-Michaux/dp/0811209911/ Barry Unsworth, Pascali's Island (avoid the awful Merchant-Ivory film. Ben Kinglsey is horribly miscast) http://www.amazon.com/Pascalis-Island-Barry-Unsworth/dp/0393317218/ V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur (long before he became totally full of himself) (also a Merchant-Ivory film, but I haven't seen it) http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystic-Masseur-V-S-Naipaul/dp/037570714X/ R.K. Narayan, The Man-Eater of Malgudi http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-eater-Malgudi-R-Narayan/dp/8122204937/ Amos Tutuola, The Palm Wine Drinkard http://www.amazon.com/Palm-Wine-Drinkard-Life-Bush-Ghosts/dp/0802133630/ Auden & Isherwood, Journey to a War (China, 1938) http://www.amazon.com/Journey-War-Armchair-Traveller-Series/dp/1557783284/ And I humbly submit, for your perusal, my own India travelogue, in 2 parts: http://petercherches.blogspot.com/2007/08/mr-cherches-goes-to-india-part-i.html http://petercherches.blogspot.com/2007/08/mr-cherches-goes-to-india-part-ii.html I'll also second The Quiet American, but my 2 favorite Greenes are the African novels A Burnt Out Case and The Heart of The Matter. Edited April 20, 2012 by Pete C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattes Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 $2.99 TOUR THROUGH THE WHOLE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN / DANIEL DEFOE http://www.amazon.com/THROUGH-WHOLE-ISLAND-BRITAIN-ebook/dp/B004IEA1TE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1334969237&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 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. I have been seeking a reasonably priced copy of this since you suggested it. It has been reissued: http://www.amazon.com/A-Woman-Bangkok-Jack-Reynolds/dp/9810854307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334951136&sr=8-1 I just ordered a copy and cannot wait to read it. I've read online comments from westerners who have spent time in Bangkok, and many seem to think that this book captures the time and place perfectly. Thanks for the recommendation! You are welcome, I am happy to see it has been reissued. Hope you enjoy it, I should reread before my trip to Bangkok this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re-read part of Burton's journey to Mecca yesterday. Fascinating stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 You are welcome, I am happy to see it has been reissued. Hope you enjoy it, I should reread before my trip to Bangkok this weekend! You should look at the Thailand sections of these too: http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Dust-Ian-Buruma/dp/0753810891/ http://www.amazon.com/Video-Night-Kathmandu-Reports-Not-So-Far/dp/0679722165/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 You are welcome, I am happy to see it has been reissued. Hope you enjoy it, I should reread before my trip to Bangkok this weekend! You should look at the Thailand sections of these too: http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Dust-Ian-Buruma/dp/0753810891/ http://www.amazon.com/Video-Night-Kathmandu-Reports-Not-So-Far/dp/0679722165/ Thanks Pete, I am quite familiar with both of those authors and 'Video Night in Kathmandu' is one of my favourite travel books. I know Thailand pretty well, some of my closest friends live there and I have visited numerous times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 In Thailand I had, in general, better food from market stalls than restaurants, and never got sick. In India you can stick to 5* hotel restaurants and you're still going to get sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted May 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 (edited) Bumping my old thread, which has been very helpful! At this juncture, I would like to offer two pieces of poetry and music from the obscure Buddy Collette album Polynesia. I am not sure who the poet/narrator is, or even if the poet and narrator are the same person. Either way, the words sound like the fevered ramblings of a shipwrecked sailor who has contracted a rare tropical disease. Edited May 25, 2019 by Teasing the Korean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 I have never read Patrick Leigh Fermor's books but am thinking of doing so. They're supposed to be very good. See https://www.nyrb.com/collections/patrick-leigh-fermor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Brad said: I have never read Patrick Leigh Fermor's books but am thinking of doing so. They're supposed to be very good. See https://www.nyrb.com/collections/patrick-leigh-fermor Only one I've read was A Time To Keep Silence, and unfortunately, I was not impressed. There's just something about the outlook, the feel of how he looks at things that stuck me a bit off. It's just me, but I've never been a fan of "The Englishman On The Road" style books, Waugh's travel books leave me cold, and Hilaire Belloc's Journey to Rome was a no go for me. Edited May 25, 2019 by Matthew clean up grammar! and syntax!! and spelling!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Matthew said: Only one I've read was A Time To Keep Silence, and unfortunately, I was not impressed. There's just something about the outlook, the feel of how he looks at things that stuck me a bit off. It's just me, but I've never been a fan of "The Englishman On The Road" style books, Waugh's travel books leave me cold, and Hilaire Belloc's Journey to Rome was a no go for me. From what I gathered, his Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, and The Broken Road -which detail his travels across Europe - are quite different than the one you read and are considered the ones to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 I have enjoyed reading Sir Richard Francis Burton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 On 1.4.2011 at 6:14 AM, medjuck said: Does Joseph Conrad fit into this category? I thought of him, too. I'd recommend Lafcadio Hearn - his stories Youma and Chita and the travelogues from the Carribean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Here are some suggestions that appeared in this past Sunday's New York Times Book Review Travel Books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 This is a very cool thread! I'm making notes too. I don't know if mysteries are a genre in which anyone might be interested, but I particularly liked the Colin Coterill novels set in Laos and some lovely ones by Kwei Quartey set in Ghana. gregmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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