Tag: Literature
Exploring the Library at Amsterdam’s Ambassade Hotel
by Jim Benning | 09.25.08 | 12:51 PM ET
Novelist and blogger Mark Sarvas offers an “achingly amateur” video tour of the historic library at the Ambassade Hotel, which he calls “the literary hotel of Amsterdam.” The library is packed with thousands of books written by authors who’ve stayed there over the years.
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Yahoo! BuzzSex, Money and a Little ‘Blind Faith’: Travelodge Racks ‘Em Up
by Eva Holland | 09.08.08 | 3:02 PM ET
Photo by ElektraCute via Flickr (Creative Commons)
In its annual survey of books most commonly abandoned in its hotel rooms, Travelodge reports the most popular throwaways include the Kama Sutra, John Prescott’s latest memoir and a whole lot of “lighter reading.” The Guardian has the cocktail-party-worthy survey highlights.
Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux
by Bronwen Dickey | 08.13.08 | 11:53 AM ET
Bronwen Dickey considers "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar"
‘Things Fall Apart’: 50 Years Later
by Frank Bures | 02.29.08 | 11:15 AM ET
For many, Chinua Achebe's classic novel serves as an introduction to Africa. But Frank Bures writes that the place it depicts is now hard to recognize.
Travel Books We Loved in 2007
by World Hum | 12.19.07 | 10:47 AM ET
Our contributors reveal their favorite reads from the past year. Believe it or not, they include a stain-removal guide.
South Africa: Three Great Books
by Eva Holland | 12.18.07 | 7:37 AM ET
In Three Great Books, we highlight must-reads for a topic, city or country.
Photo by Victor Geere via Flickr (Creative Commons)
The German philosopher Friedrich Schiller believed that periods of oppression and tyranny produce the greatest works of art; in his words, that “truth and beauty, with their own indestructible vitality, struggle triumphantly to the surface.” In South Africa’s case, at least, he just may have been right. The apartheid era and its aftermath have inspired a wealth of high-quality literature from the likes of Alan Paton, Zakes Mda and Nobel Prize winners Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee. Three great books:
Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, Jon Krakauer on Charlie Rose/YouTube
by Jim Benning | 09.13.07 | 2:55 PM ET
Photo of Paul Theroux via YouTube video. A slew of interviews from the "Charlie Rose" show archives were recently added to YouTube, including, I learned from a bit of poking around, a number of travel writers' appearances. Among the highlights, posted below: Paul Theroux -- wearing a lovely salmon turtleneck -- discusses The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean in 1995; Jon Krakauer talks up "Into the Wild" in 1996; Bill Bryson promotes "A Walk in the Woods" in 1998; and Peter Mayle holds forth on "Encore Provence."
Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’: 22 Great Links
by Michael Yessis | 09.07.07 | 7:49 AM ET
Coverage of the 50th anniversary of the classic novel reaches its peak this week as everyone from former girlfriends to reverent bloggers look back at the man and his book. Michael Yessis picks some can't miss links.
We Don’t (Really) Know Jack
by Rolf Potts | 09.05.07 | 12:39 PM ET
Though innovative and inspiring, "On the Road" is a bad blueprint for life on the road. Rolf Potts ponders the enduring legacy of Jack Kerouac's travel masterpiece.
Klara Glowczewska: Bringing a Literary Travel Star to New Readers
by Frank Bures | 08.24.07 | 11:01 AM ET
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe. ‘Travels with Herodotus’: Kapuscinski and the Weight of History
by Frank Bures | 07.03.07 | 3:11 PM ET
Frank Bures considers Ryszard Kapuscinski's newly translated book -- and the Polish writer's controversial legacy
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Celebrations and the ‘Soccer People’
by Michael Yessis | 01.26.07 | 9:14 AM ET
Happy Australia Day! This week online travelers are going Down Under, up Mount Everest and around the world via Clarkston, Georgia. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
‘The Soccer People’: Heartbreak and Triumph in Clarkston, Georgia
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
Melburnians Celebrate Australia Day
* Among the highlights of the day for Australians: Whipping England at cricket.
Best Travel Magazine
North American Travel Journalism Association Awards (2006)
Budget Travel
* The list of winners includes National Geographic Traveler (best online travel magazine) and St. Louis Post-Dispatch (best newspaper travel section).
Most Blogged Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Site Calculates Risk Factors for Travelers
* It’s a joint project by “researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, with support from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.”
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Travel With Rick Steves
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Travel Like a Pro: 8 Tips To Make Your Journey Easier
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Online Oracles Promise to Ease Your Airfare Angst
* An overview and comparison of Farecast, Farecompare, Kayak, Hotwire and Airfarewatchdog.
The Critics: ‘Walt Disney’ by Neal Gabler
by Jim Benning | 11.20.06 | 8:15 AM ET
If the world is slowly but surely becoming one giant theme park, as we often suspect, then Walt Disney is that future world’s founding father. So we think it’s worth pointing out a new biography of Disney by Neal Gabler, the media critic who wrote the terrific book Life: The Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality. The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani recently reviewed Gabler’s Disney biography, observing that Disney has long been derided by critics as “a purveyor of the synthetic, the sanitized, the puerile and the cloyingly cute,” but that recent critiques have been more favorable. Gabler’s book would seem to fall in the latter camp. Indeed, according to the book’s publisher, Gabler is “the first writer to be given complete access to the Disney archives.”
“The Odyssey”: The Sir Ian McKellen Audio Version
by Frank Bures | 11.02.06 | 9:35 PM ET
Match the world-class thespian with the iconic travel tale, and Frank Bures believes you get one of the best readings ever recorded.
‘Will Disney Abandon Book-Lovers for Pirates 2.0?’
by Jim Benning | 10.04.06 | 4:14 PM ET
That’s the question Robert Niles poses at Theme Park Insider, reacting to word that Disneyland officials are apparently considering closing Tom Sawyer’s Island, a half-century-old fixture at the theme park, to build another Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. “[A]s much as I love Pirates, it is entertainment, not art,” Niles writes. “In Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain created the most compelling, debated and beloved characters in all of American culture. If today’s kids do not know of them, why, that’s a pretty damning indictment of the rest of us, as parents, educators and artists. That Disney’s failed these characters, and their story, by allowing Tom Sawyer’s Island to fall into decay does not speak to an inherent lack of appeal in the characters, but to a lack of foresight by Disney.”
Killing Yourself to Make a Living
by Jeffrey Tayler | 09.20.06 | 9:51 PM ET
Photo by Kelly Amabile Jeffrey Tayler, who has undertaken harrowing expeditions in remote Africa and Siberia for books like "Facing the Congo," explains how to turn "thrilling inklings" into epic journeys -- and live to tell the tale.
Top 30 Travel Books: Now It’s Your Turn
by Jim Benning | 09.15.06 | 1:32 PM ET
We just finished posting our top 30 travel books of all time, and we know you don’t agree with every selection on our list. Did we leave off your favorites? What’s in your top 30—or at least your top five? Let us know.
No. 30: “A Turn in the South” by V.S. Naipaul
The Hold Steady Pays Tribute to Kerouac’s “On the Road”
by Michael Yessis | 07.31.06 | 12:45 PM ET
The upcoming album from The Hold Steady will be called “Boys and Girls in America,” part of a line from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Lead singer Craig Finn told Billboard magazine, “The line goes, ‘Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together.’ Basically, the songs are about guys and girls, and love. It’s not a concept-type record like the last one—it’s more of a theme record.” The Hold Steady will likely be performing some of the new songs this weekend in Chicago at Lollapalooza. I’ll be there, and I’m looking forward to seeing the band for the first time. Via Syntax of Things.
Reading Rushdie in India
by James Mutti | 07.23.06 | 10:11 PM ET
He carried a Rough Guide on the subcontinent, but James Mutti also devoured "Midnight's Children," Premchand's "Godaan" and other classic works of Indian literature. Those readings, he later realized, influenced his experience of India.
A Tale of Two Twains
by Kristin Van Tassel | 07.14.06 | 6:10 AM ET
Kristin Van Tassel considers two recent books about Mark Twain, arguably America's greatest traveler -- and travel writer