Travelling with Laureates

Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, 54, has been awarded the 2006 Nobel Price in Literature, initiating him into the most distinguished and elite group of writers in the world.  Throughout his novels, including The White Castle (1991), My Name is Red (2001), and Snow (2004), Pamuk draws on his own intimate knowledge of Istanbul, where he has lived most of his life, to craft in fiction a portrait of the city that is as rich and evocative as any master travel writer’s. 

Yet, like many of his fellow Laureates, Pamuk’s gift of narrative also extends outside the realms of fiction.  Istanbul: Memories and the City, released in paperback in July, combines a memoir of Pamuk’s childhood with an exploration of the city’s complex history and culture. 

Pamuk isn't the only Nobel Laureate who has applied the same power of description used in his novels to create classic travel writing.  Take a look at some more:

• Earnest Hemingway, Laureate of 1954, A Moveable Feast (1964)        

• John Steinbeck, Laureate of 1962, Travels with Charley (1962)

• Saul Bellow, Laureate of 1976, To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account (1976)

• Elias Canetti, Laureate of 1981, The Voices of Marrakech: a Record of a Visit (1978)

• William Golding, Laureate of 1985, An Egyptian Journal (1985)

• Joseph Brodsky, Laureate of 1987, Watermark (1967)

• V.S. Naipaul, Laureate of 2001, India: a Wounded Civilization (1977), Among the Believers: an Islamic Journey (1981), India: a Million Mutinies Now (1990), A Turn in the South (1990), Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples (1998), and An Area of Darkness (1998)

For more on Pamuk visit http://www.orhanpamuk.com

For more on Nobel Laureates visit http://www.nobelprize.org

the world through a lens ~ travel photography

Browsing the travel shelves, you might pass by the travel photography section. But instead of dismissing these heavy tomes as coffee-table books, we  encourage you to have a peek inside...

Take Through the Lens: "National Geographic" Greatest Photographs (Leah Bendavid-Val), for starters. This stunning book selects 250 photographs from over 10.5 million in the National Geographic collection, so you should be prepared to be impressed. Divided into six sections ("Europe"; "Asia"; "Africa & the Middle East"; "The Americas"; "Oceans and Isles"; "The Universe"), Through the Lens gives us a shockingly personal as well as a loftily birds-eye view of the world around us. You’ll find pictures taken in collaboration with NASA from space, as well as the first color underwater shot. The collection reaches back in time to some of the black-and-white photographs that chronicle the earlier stages of the magazine’s 113-year history, although more than half of the photographs included were taken within the last ten years and are vibrant and crisp with color. The bonus to this book is the affordable price, which is currently $18.90 on Amazon.

Another stunning collection is Weather: Spectacular Images of the World's Extraordinary Climate (Storm Dunlop), which was released last month in the UK and is due out on Nov 28 in the US (by the appropriately titled Thunder Bay Press). Lately there has been a wealth of photography books taking advantage of extraordinary computer technology to satisfy our curiosity about the world around us, whether from above the earth or inside the body. This spectacular collection merges satellite images, computer-generated pictures, and traditional photography to explore and explain the weather.

Most weather books attempt to impress with a few lightening shots and some satellite images of hurricane formations, but this collection gets right up close to the weather, zooming in on the individual raindrops and snowflakes that create massive weather systems. This book places breathtaking photos of tornadoes, hurricanes, rainstorms, clouds, lightening, and every type of weather system you can imagine alongside photographic and textual explanations of what is going on in our atmosphere to cause these natural events. What makes clouds distribute themselves across the earth? What causes rain? How does snow form?

Another recent release is Rainforest by Thomas Marent, a Swiss travel photographer who traversed 5 continents and spent 16 years capturing the incredible photos included in this 500-page book. Marent documents the animals and plants that inhabit the world under the rainforest canopy, a world so vast and primitive that we know more about our universe than we do about what goes on in this lush green world. This book is full of color, and we particularly like the images of camouflage, which show reptiles and other animals lost against the vegetation around them. One warning (from experience...!): arachnophobics beware… check the index before flipping through!

Every copy of Rainforest sold includes a small donation to the Rainforest Foundation. The book also comes with a CD documenting the sounds of the rainforest.

And if all these photos get you inspired, take a look at Lonely Planet’s Guide to Taking Better Pictures, part of their Travel Photography series.
 

new releases

Best American Travel Writing 2006 edited by Tim Cahill with Jason Wilson

Released October 11, 2006 (Houghton-Mifflin)

In this year’s edition of the anthology, editor Tim Cahill, a renown travel writer in his own right, has brought together some of the biggest names in travel writing, including Alain de Botton, Ian Frazier, Pico Iyer, Rolf Potts David Sedaris. Whether you’re a seasoned writer with a more than a few publications under your belt or a newcomer trying to learn a thing or two from the pros, Best American Travel Writing is a great edition to your travel lit shelves.

La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind by Beppe Severgnini

Released August 15, 2006 (Broadway)

You may recognize Severgnini as the author of the popular Caio, America! This time, Severgnini, who was named the 2004 European Journalist of the Year, turns his comical yet analytical eye on his compatriots.

The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards from a Year in Iraq by Rory Stewart

Released July 26, 2006 (Harcourt)

Stewart’s latest book is a memoir of the year he spent serving as the Deputy Governor of two provinces in southern Iraq. The book offers an intimate portrait of Iraq and the challenges faced by a young British diplomat in a chaotic country. This is the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed The Places in Between, which recounts the journey he made across Afghanistan by foot in 2002, shortly after the fall of the Taliban.

Paris pages

Paris has inspired more words than perhaps any other city in the world.  Whether it's the romance or the culture, the history or the architecture, there is just something about Paris that gets people writing.  Here are some great Paris reads.

Paris by Julian Green
One of the most beautiful books about Paris ever written.  Green was born in Paris to American parents in 1900.  Here he presents 19 essays capturing his love for this beautiful city.  This bilingual edition is beautifully presented.  Green perfectly captures the spirit of the city, whether he is writing about a windy day in Notre Dame before the Second World War or lamenting the changes taking place in his beloved city.

Paris in Mind
Part of a series, Vintage Departures (you can also find "France in Mind" and "Italy in Mind"), these anthologies have articles from a huge variety of sources, including some very well-known authors. Travel anthologies like this are becoming more and more popular, so keep an eye on the shelves.

Paris: The Collected Traveler
This wonderful series of books is a reading traveler's paradise. Hand-picked articles and information fill these useful anthologies, along with tips on further reading and some practical information. 

 

Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnball
Australian Turnball gives a firsthand account of moving to Paris and learning the ropes of a new and exciting city.  Falling for a Parisian prompts Turnball to move her entire life to Paris, but the challenges of her new life have only just begun.  She writes about finding work, meeting people, and getting to grips with Parisian culture.  A riveting read.