Book 3: Eight men and a duck

I admit it. I judged this book its cover. And its title. Honestly, who can resist a book named “Eight men and a Duck”? This is the story of a journey from Chile to Easter Island on a reed boat with the aforementioned crew on board. Actually they started out with two ducks but one of them went for a poorly timed swim. In the middle of the ocean. RIP Pedro.

One would think building a reed boat would be a fun, if foolish, endeavor but that would be wrong and simplistic. Anyone sailing a reed or raft-like boat comes up against the infamous Thor Heyerdahl, of Kon-tiki fame, and some very grumpy purists who have tried and failed to cross oceans in their own reed boats.

A sidenote on construction of reed boats. Reeds are cut and grouped into columns lashed together. These columns are grouped and lashed together, creating larger circumferences eventually comprising the hull of a ship. Spars are added and sails of canvas attached. The result is a viking sailing ship which absorbs water from the first day it’s launched and becomes a ticking time bomb slowly sinking a couple inches each day.

Controversy arises in the construction of Viracocha when it’s discovered that about 10 meters of lashing line is actually plastic. Sacre bleu! This is not a pure reed boat and, to those who care, this is not a legitimate test of oceanworthy reed voyages. International faxes fly and there is no shortage of press coverage.

On a more practical and hair-raising matter is the crew itself- well meaning, excited, novice sailors with no navigations skills. After a chance encounter on a bus with a young, philandering Frenchman, the author is invited to join the crew. And make the sails for the boat out of the enormous pile of canvas that is sitting in a corner of the boatyard. Other crew members are tasked with food, supplies and navigation when their only accomplished sailor and navigator packs it in and head home, frustrated by delays and the carefree (some say careless) nature of the voyage’s captain. The easy-going optimism of this voyage alternates between alarming and fun. Thorpe reveals himself as somewhat neurotic and uptight, not the best qualities for close quarters on an ocean voyage and halfway through this book I found myself wondering why they didn’t exile him to a dinghy off the stern of Viracocha. I’m not unsympathetic, ocean sailing is fraught with dangers seen and unseen, but why not make the best of it? In the end this book is like the journey itself, well meaning, humourous, foolhardy and slightly emphemeral leaving little imprint of the journey or its writing…

Book 2: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

In January 2002, weeks after the fall of the Taliban, a mad Scotsman walked from Herat to Kabul. Starting in the West near the Iranian border and traversing long-forgotten valleys, this is the history of a country so fragmented many local Afghan leaders have lived their entire lives within 50 miles of their birthplaces. This is a country in need of some old-fashioned smoke signals. No wonder the Taliban took over so quickly.

Traveling by foot, Rory Stewart encounters a very personal Afghanistan. Taking advantage of the Muslim tradition of hosting traveling strangers, each day he knocks on a village elder’s door, who is obliged to provide shelter, often a spot on the floor and a simple meal of rice and beans. Complications arise when Stweart acquires a large Afghanistan mastiff, Babur, who accompanies him for the second half of his journey. Dogs are considered filthy animals and Stewart’s demands for food and shelter for his dog are met with extreme disdain. But they persist through snow and rain and cold winds all the way to Kabul. Humorously, Babur proves barely capable (or willing) of walking long distances and the author finds himself often carrying, cajoling and pushing his dog beyond his geographical and physical comfort zone. It’s not a stretch to see that Babur is an Afghan through and through and their struggles personify our efforts to ‘improve’ Afghanistan.

This book illuminates Afghanistan in a way no newspaper, TV or radio story yet has. Afghanistan is a weather-beaten country where survival has been the norm for centuries. Most recently, along the way Stewart meets people who have fought with/against the Russians, with/against the Taliban, with/against the allied forces and with/against neighboring villages. Women barely factor in this society. 90% of the country is illiterate and life is eked out from agriculture and traditional livelihoods. Life is nasty, short and brutish for most of the outlying areas of Afghanistan. In the coming years, Kabul and some of the larger cities will have better schools, roads and economic prospects but those projects might as well exist on the moon for those who live in the place in between.

Book 1: The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

This book will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed it’s barely my cup of tea.

A lovely brown , pseudo-leather hard cover journal with gold embellishments, this books is like carrying around a worn journal. Unfortunately, I was looking to The Art of Travel to jumpstart my Cannonball Read. The best travel writing illucidates places in the world while expounding on the meaning of life. I was looking for an over-arching theme on “Why we travel”. I was NOT looking at the book’s description. Part art history lesson, part literature review, Mr. de Botton trips along talking about creativity, beauty, eye-opening art.

If one is in an expansive and whimsical mood, preferably and art history lover, this book is a lovely little bite. If, however, one is looking for enlightenment based on action and adventure, based on human interaction, endless transportation and, preferably, a mugging or near death experience, this is not the book for you. I found this book to be like that dull philosophical graduate student who waxes on and on about beauty and the human condition but has only been to Paris once (and nowhere else).

I promise this to you, Alain de Botton, I will try to read your book in a year or two, preferably on a train in Europe, and I will almost certainly re-write this review. But tonight it stands.

Suggestions- for those books I’ve already read and won’t be included in Cannonball Read

These are the books which I’ve already read but would suggest. A quick one or two sentences on each to let you know what they’re about!

The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) Translation by Robert Fagles
The classic tale of a man traveling home after the Trojan War. It takes almost 20 years and many travails. Read it and you’ll be joining the literate and educated. Plus you’ll have quotes to drop at your next office party.

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
Orwell’s first novel (really more autobiography) of living and working in Europe. Fun fact- T.S. Eliot rejected it for (probably) being too grungy for his taste. Shows him…

On the Road (Penguin Classics) by Jack Kerouac
The highly influential beatnik novel and cross-country bohemian odyssey filled with a (thinly veiled) cast made of Kerouac’s real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. It will make you wish for an America where hitch-hiking is still a viable mode of travel.

Maiden Voyage
Started as a dare “go to college or sail around the world” from her father, Tania picks the latter and sets off for the adventure and lessons of a lifetimes. Originally published as a series in SAIL magazine, this is the novelized version of the trip.

Cannonball Read

Welcome to My Travel Bug’s Cannonball Read! The rules as laid out by the good folks at Pajiba: 52 books in 52 weeks, starting November 1, 2009. A book doesn’t count until there’s a written review, somewhere, anywhere, online. Bragging rights and edification to the finishers. Many a new blog created this week…

We’ve added a twist to Cannonball Read. I will be concentrating on travel related literature, both new and classic. I admit I’m a slow reader and I probably won’t finish in time but here is my public record for all to see and read. Check out the Queue and please feel free to suggest any travel or international books you think worth a look.

Welcome to the ultimate arm chair travel library!

Amanda O’Neil
Executive Director
My Travel Bug, Inc.

P.S. Books on this page are linked to Amazon. This will in no way impede my reviews of the book. If I don’t like it, I won’t recommend it. Proceeds from all sales will be divided up to My Travel Bug, Inc. and Little A’s College Scholarship Fund (see Pajiba for information).

Queue: The prospective list for Cannonball Read

The following is a prospective list of my Cannonball Read books. In no particular order. As books are reviewed they will be moved to the bottom of the Queue. Don’t see your favorite? Add a comment below!

I’ve linked the books to Amazon. All proceeds will be split between My Travel Bug, Inc. and Little A’s College Fund (see Pajiba for more information) This will in no way impede my reviews of the book. If I don’t like it, I won’t recommend it.

1. Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism by Thomas Kohnstamm
2. Into the Heart of Borneo (Picador Travel Classics) by Redmond O’Hanlon and James Fenton
3. The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux
4. Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer (Travelers’ Tales Guides) by Rolf Potts
5. Travels with Charley: In search of America by John Steinbeck
6. Not So Funny When It Happened: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers’ Tale) by Tim Cahill
7. Following the Equator by Mark Twain
8. The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists by Peter Laufer
9. Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers by Mary Morris
10. The Last Navigator: A Young Man, An Ancient Mariner, The Secrets of the Sea by Steve Thomas
11. A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (New York Review Books Classics) by Patrick Leigh Fermor
12. Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople: From The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates (New York Review Books Classics) by Patrick Leigh Fermor
13. A Time to Keep Silence (New York Review Books Classics) by Patrick Leigh Fermor
14. The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll (New York Review Books Classics) by Alvaro Mutis
15. God’s Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant
16. Brazilian Adventure (Marlboro Travel) by Peter Fleming
17. The Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
18. Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
19. The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom (P.S.) by Simon Winchester
20. The River at the Center of the World, Revised: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester
21. In Patagonia (Penguin Classics) by Bruce Chatwin
22. Smile, You’re Traveling (Black Coffee Blues Part 3) by Henry Rollins
23. The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
24. Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy
25. Daughter of Persia: A Woman’s Journey from Her Father’s Harem Through the Islamic Revolution by Sattareh Farman Farmaian and Dona Munker
26. Golden Earth: Travels in Burma by Norman Lewis
27. Chasing Mammon: Travels in the Pursuit of Money by Douglas Kennedy
28. Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island by Lea Aschkenas
29. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
30. A Dragon Apparent: Travels in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam by Norman Lewis
31. Cut Stones and Crossroads: A Journey in the Two Worlds of Peru by Ronald Wright
32. Shadow of the Silk Road (P.S.) by Colin Thubron
33. Our Man in Havana (Penguin Classics) by Graham Greene
34. A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition by Ernest Hemingway
35. Beyond the Pyramids: Travels in Egypt by Douglas Kennedy
36. Arabia through the looking glass by Jonathan Raban
37. A Winter in Arabia: A Journey Through Yemen by Freya Stark
38. Lone Traveller: One Woman, Two Wheels and the World
39. The Danakil Diary: Journeys Through Abyssinia, 1930-34 by Wilfred Thesiger
40. Where the Pavement Ends: One Woman’s Bicycle Trip Through Mongolia, China & Vietnam by Erika Warmbrunn
41. Blue Horizons: Dispatches from Distant Seas by Beth A. Leonard.
42. Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure by Maria Coffey.

Been there, done that:

43. The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
44. The Places In Between by Rory Stewart

Suggestions from my well-read and erudite father:

Don’t forget Homer’s Odyssey. (Done and read)

Some other authors:
· Chas. Dickens – American Notes; Pictures from Italy;
· Henry James – several works on Continental travels, especially Italy (he loved Florence; saw Venice as the repository of consolations, perfect for those with broken hearts);
· Mary McCarthy – Venice Observed;
· John McPhee – close your eyes and pull one off the shelf;
· Mark Twain – Life on the Mississippi; Innocents Abroad;
· George Orwell – Burmese Days; some of his essays

In general:
· The Acts of the Apostles;
· James Hilton – Lost Horizon (where we get Shangri La);
· Xenophon – Anabasis (AKA: “The March of the Ten thousand”);
· Caesar – The Gallic Wars;
· Marco Polo – The Travels;
· ibn Battuta – The Adventures (story of his 14th Century trip to Mecca from Tangiers) –
· Wu Cheng’en – Journey to the West (AKA “The Monkey” or “The Monkey King” – or several other titles) – kind of a travel book, kind of a fable;
· Janet Soskice – Sisters of Sinai (just out, only in hard cover. Put at end of your list and it might be in paperback in a year);
· Rose Macaulay – The Towers of Trebizond;
· Mary Simeti – Travels with a Medieval Queen; On Persephone’s Island;

Getting Your Feet Wet:
· The Vinland Saga (or other Norse & Viking Saga);
· St. Brendan (the Navigator) – The Voyage (first Vikings to Iceland found Irish monks there);
· Joshua Slocum – Sailing Alone Around the World; (we’re a sailing family with lots of Slocum)
· Richard Hakluyt – Voyages and Documents;
· Erskine Childers – The Riddle of the Sands;
· Joseph Conrad – The Mirror of the Sea;
· Jerome Jerome – Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog);
· Farley Mowatt – The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float; Grey Seas Under;
· Richard Henry Dana – Journey Around the World; Two Years Before the Mast;
· Helmuth von Mucke – The Emden-Ayesha Adventure;