Travel Writing Recommendations?

[Serge]

I've mentioned on here before that I'm a big fan of funny travel books, which all started when I read Mark Wallington's '500 Mile Walkies' in my teens (though his 'Destination Lapland' is a better book), and really kicked into gear when I discovered the greatness of Bill Bryson. I've also gone through most of Tim Moore's books, and Tony Hawks, and several others, and I'm starting to run out of funny ones which don't seem to be Legend Garys On Boozy Trips Around South America WAAEY which usually have 'Better than Bryson!' quotes on the cover, and obviously aren't.

But anyway, I was thinking I should probably read some more serious travel writing, and wondered if anyone had any recommendations? Although I'm interested to hear about anything, I was wondering also if anyone has read any Colin Thubron, if he's any good and if there are any specific recommndations of his stuff?

[mr. logic]

Yoga for people who can't be bothered to do it by Geoff Dyer is one of my favourite ever books, though funny and fairly light in tone so perhaps not quite what you're looking for.  You should read it anyway.

[Twit 2]

Patrick Leigh Fermour - A Time of Gifts

[Neville Chamberlain]

I've also gone through most of Tim Moore's books

Not much to add, just to say that You are Awful (But I Like You): Travels in Unloved Britain is hands-down one of the funniest books I've ever read by anyone.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Although I'm interested to hear about anything, I was wondering also if anyone has read any Colin Thubron, if he's any good and if there are any specific recommndations of his stuff?

When I saw the thread title Thubron was the first name that came to mind.  He's the fucking boss. The Lost Heart of Asia blew my tits clean off.

And, tangentially from The Thub, The Road To Oxiana has aged really well.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Do things like Homage to Catalonia and Down and Out In Paris and London count?
Bad Wisdom by Bill Drummond and Mark Manning
Stasiland by Anna Funder, might be pushing it to calling it a travel book, it's more about life of people in the GDR but she travels around speaking to them and it's a really compelling read.

[Ignatius_S]

English Journey by JB Priestley.

[stunted]

The Crying of the Wind by animist and surreal painter Ithell Colquhoun

Each chapter starts with a description of a place or an excursion. This then becomes the springboard for descriptions of the local folklore, antiquities, flora, fauna and the cultural life of the vicinity. Holy wells, healing wells and ancient chapels jostle with pagan lore, druidic belief and herbal remedies. These vignettes frequently lead to personal memories, literary allusions and other reflections.

Backwards to Britain - Jules Verne travels round 19ty century Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and the highlands.

Haven't read either.

[Serge]

Not much to add, just to say that You are Awful (But I Like You): Travels in Unloved Britain is hands-down one of the funniest books I've ever read by anyone.

Have you read any of his others? 'Spanish Steps' is probably my favourite, but his cycling trilogy shows that he is a constant glutton for punishment.

When I saw the thread title Thubron was the first name that came to mind.  He's the fucking boss. The Lost Heart of Asia blew my tits clean off.

And, tangentially from The Thub, The Road To Oxiana has aged really well.

Ah, excellent! I decided to test the water with 'Among The Russians', though it's currently three books away in my pile. But if I like it, I'll definitely add those to the list.

If a customer comes to the counter with any of his books from now on, I'll have to resist referring to him as 'The Thub'.

Do things like Homage to Catalonia and Down and Out In Paris and London count?
Bad Wisdom by Bill Drummond and Mark Manning
Stasiland by Anna Funder, might be pushing it to calling it a travel book, it's more about life of people in the GDR but she travels around speaking to them and it's a really compelling read.

I've read 'Bad Wisdom' and 'Stasiland', both excellent, so yes! I've never read either of the Orwells, so probably should get around to them one day.

English Journey by JB Priestley.

I have a vague idea that I might have read this in the dim and distant past, but remember nothing about it, so might have to revisit. Either that or my memory is so bad that I've started inventing memories to forget now.

[Fonz]

Pretty much any of the travel books by Lawrence Durrell are worth reading if the European Mediterranean is your thing.
Of course they are out of date now, but I think they still gone the 'Spirit of Place' well.

[touchingcloth]

Death in the Afternoon is brilliant, though even Hemingway is unlikely to turn you onto bullfightning, no matter how eloquent his sozzled defence of the sport as a display of artistry and butch masculinity might be.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Louis Theroux's dad is worth a read. And any of Palin, obviously.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

I've read all of Tim Moore's books, not a duff one amongst them really. He's such a curmudgeonly skinflint.

[Serge]

The Great Railway Bazaar by Louis Theroux's dad is worth a read.

I did read his 'Kingdom By The Sea', where he travels in a clockwise direction around the coastline of the UK, but thought he came across as a miserable bastard. I've also read Jonathan Raban's 'Coasting', in which he sails anti-clockwise around the same coastline, and which he undertook at exactly the same time as theroux was making his journey. They meet up at some point, and both mention it in their respective books.

[G.C.]

I found Bruce Chatwin's Songlines gently life changing when I read it many years ago.

I got a third of the way through Gruff Rhys' American Interior a few months ago and then just stopped. Don't know why, it's good: Gruff undertakes a US tour in his ancestor's footsteps with his knitted avatar. What's not to like?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Patrick Leigh Fermour - A Time of Gifts

Yup

Germania and the recent book Danubia are witty and hugely engrossing books about Germany and the Habsburg empire that double as history and travel writing really.

Another well known classic Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, the most vivid account of Yugoslavia on the run up to World War II and a tangible sense of dread and the breaking of an era. Her asides can occupy entire chapters, she is outdated in her rigid opinions of racial behaviour (though not nearly as bad as her companions, race just seemed to be an even bigger deal governing everything), occasionally petulant and fiercely disrespectful but the volume of work and the dazzling descriptions of the countries and the people are par excellence.

[Serge]

Germania and the recent book Danubia are witty and hugely engrossing books about Germany and the Habsburg empire that double as history and travel writing really.

Yeah, I've definitely got to give these ago. Or, in the case of 'Germania', as I mentioned to you at the last meet, another go! I don't know why I struggled to get on with it, sometimes you're just not in the mood for a book, I suppose.

[Action Fish]

There's an American writer I absolutely love called Tim Cahill who's produced several anthologies of remote travel and adventure writing he's done for Outside Magazine. It's usually funny (and he's very funny) but quite often strays into other territory; there are a few pieces of investigative journalism about things going wrong in lawless places, a sober piece about Jonestown (he was one of the first journalists on the scene after the massacre), descriptive writing about caving that almost makes me think I'd want to try it.

My favourite story is probably 'Drunken Diving for Poison Sea Snakes' from A Wolverine is Eating My Leg.