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TRAVEL BOOKS: WORLD
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ASSIGNMENT #8
DIFFERENCES from place to place inspire geographers in their investigations.
Curiosity about the near and the faraway impels us to read, to dream, to explore.
Our interest is echoed in Carl Sauer's inquiry years ago of his professional
colleagues. "Who," he asked, "has not been with Marco Polo to Cathay, with
Captain Cook to the Sandwich Islands, and with Parkman over the Oregon Trail?"
AS WE APPROACH semester's end, we entertain the prospects--like Robert Frost's
traveler in the yellow wood--of roads to take and of those not taken. With time
and funds no place on Earth lies beyond our reach. With busy schedules or empty
pockets we must content ourselves with armchair travels.
SUCH PLEASURES are considerable. Among the travel writers are many--Eric Newby,
Jan Morris, Edward Hoagland, Paul Theroux--noted for insight. Some of the 20th
century's literary giants--Graham Greene, D.H. Lawrence, V.S. Naipaul--have also
contributed to the evocation of places and peoples.
A RECENT RESURGENCE of interest in travel writing has produced many new and
reissued travelers' books. It has encouraged the publication of bibliographies
like Marge Simony's The Traveler's Reading Guide, anthologies like Eric Newby's
A Book of Travellers' Tales, and critical essays like those edited by Michael
Kowalewski, Temperamental Journeys: Essays on the Modern Literature of Travel.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: PLACES, REGIONS & TRAVELS
Abley, Mark. Beyond Forget: Rediscovering the Prairies. (1986) WESTERN CANADA
Asher, Michael. In Search of the Forty Days Road. SUDAN
Asher, Michael. Impossible Journey: Two Against the Sahara. (1988)
Bailey, Anthony. A Walk Through Wales. (1992)
Booth, Alan. The Roads to Sata: A 2,000 Mile Walk Through Japan. (1986)
Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia. (1977) SOUTHERN ARGENTINA
Chatwin, Bruce. The Songlines. (1987) CENTRAL & NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
Christmas, Linda. The Ribbon and the Ragged Square: An Australian Journey. (1987)
Dalrymple, William. In Xanadu. (1989) CENTRAL ASIA
Davidson, Robyn. Tracks. (1980) CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Frater, Alexander. Chasing the Monsoon. (1990) INDIA
Ghosh, Amitav. In an Antique Land. (1992) EGYPT
Glass, Charles. Tribes with Flags. (1990) MIDDLE EAST
Glazebrook, Phillip. Journey to Kars. (1984) TURKEY
Hall, Brian. Stealing from a Deep Place: Travels in Southeastern Europe. (1988)
Hansen, Eric. Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea. (1991)
Hansen, Eric. Stranger in the Forest: On Foot across Borneo. (1988)
Harris, Eddy. Native Stranger: A Black American's Journey
Into the Heart of Africa. (1992) NORTH, WEST, CENTRAL AFRICA
Harvey, Andrew. A Journey in Ladakh. (1983) CENTRAL ASIA
Hoagland, Edward. African Calliope: A Journey to the Sudan. (1981)
Horwitz, Tony. Baghdad Without a Map and Other Midadventures in Arabia. (1991)
MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA
Horwitz, Tony. One for the Road: Hitchhiking through the Australian Outback. (1987)
Hudson, Peter. Two Rivers: Travels in West Africa on the Trail
of Mungo Park. (1991)
Jenkins, Mark. Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia. (1992)
Jenkins, Peter. Across China. (1986)
Kandell, Jonathan. Passage through El Dorado. (1984) AMAZON BASIN
Kane, Joe. Running the Amazon. (1989) PERU, BRAZIL
Kaplan, Robert. Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History.
(1993) SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
Kpomassie, Tete-Michel. An African in Greenland. (1983)
Lawlor, Eric. In Bolivia. (1989)
Lucas, Christopher. Indonesia is a Happening. (1970)
Marnham, Patrick. So Far from God: A Journey to Central America. (1985)
Maslow, Jonathan. Bird of Life, Bird of Death. (1986) CENTRAL AMERICA
Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leopard. (1978) HIMALAYAS
Mehta, Gita. Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East. (1979) INDIA
Miller, Tom. The Panama Hat Trail. (1986) ECUADOR
Moorhouse, Geoffrey. The Fearful Void. (1973) SAHARA
Moorhouse, Geoffrey. To the Frontier. (1985) PAKISTAN
Murphy, Dervla. Eight Feet in the Andes. (1983) PERU
Murphy, Dervla. In Ethiopia with a Mule. (1970)
Murphy, Dervla. Muddling Through in Madagascar. (1985)
Murphy, Dervla. The Waiting Land: A Spell in Nepal. (1967)
Naipaul, Shiva. North of South. (1980) TANZANIA
Nicholl, Charles. Borderlines: A Journey in Thailand and Burma. (1989)
Nicholl, Charles. The Fruit Palace. (1986) COLOMBIA
Nugent, Rory. Drums Along the Congo. (1993)
Nugent, Rory. The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck. (1991) NORTHEAST INDIA
O'Hanlon, Redmond. In Trouble Again. (1988) ORINOCO & AMAZON BASINS
O'Hanlon, Redmond. Into the Heart of Borneo. (1985)
Parfit, Michael. South Light: A Journey to the Last Continent. (1986) ANTARCTICA
Paxman, Jeremy. Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey. (1985)
Raban, Jonathan. Arabia: A Journey through the Labyrinth. (1979)
Rambali, Paul. In the Cities and Jungles of Brazil. (1995)
Reeves, Richard. A Passage to Peshawar. (1984) PAKISTAN
Richie, Donald. The Inland Sea. (1971) SOUTHERN JAPAN
Salzman, Mark. Iron & Silk. (1986) CHINA
Seal, Jeremy. A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat. (1995)
Seth, Vikram. From Heaven Lake: Travel through Sinkiang and Tibet. (1984)
Theroux, Paul. The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific.
(1992) SOUTH PACIFIC
Theroux, Paul. Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train through China. (1988)
Thubron, Colin. Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China. (1987)
Thubron, Colin. The Lost Heart of Asia. (1994) UZBEKISTAN, TURKMENISTAN
Tree, Isabella. Islands in the Clouds: Travels in the Highlands
of New Guinea. (1996)
Walker, Dale. Fool's Paradise. (1988) SAUDI ARABIA
Wheeler, Sara. Travels in a Thin Country: A Journey Through Chile. (1994)
Wright, Ronald. Cut Stones and Crossroads: A Journey in Peru. (1984)
Wright, Ronald. On Fiji Islands. (1986)
Wright, Ronald. Time Among the Maya. (1991) GUATEMALA, BELIZE, YUCATAN
ASSIGNMENT #8: FALL 2000
Choose one of the travel books above. Note that some of the books are reviewed by critics and
readers at Amazon.com or at the American Library Association's Booklist.
Read the first half of the book by Thursday, November 30th.
Be prepared to discuss the author's itinerary, approach to new places, his/her writing style.
Read the second half of the book by Thursday, December 7th.
Be prepared to discuss the book's insights into
physical geography (e.g., topography, climate, vegetation)
cultural geography (e.g., language, religion, politics, cuisine).
Sample topics will be distributed during the Tuesday, December 5th, class period.
Bring the book with you for the final writing assignment (Assignment #8) on December 14th.