Comments on: The 50 Greatest Travel Books Of All Time

By: Maxwell

Maxwell — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:26:11 +0000

After reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts I have a strong desire to visit India and experience the culture there. I’m serious! The book is based on his real life experience running from the law which lead him to hide out in India. There he learns many languages, gets involved in the underworld…the book is riviting from start to finish. I read the almost 1000 page book in about 4 or 5 days. I simply couldn’t put it down. BTW, the majority of the comments on Amazon by other readers are in the 5 star range.

This editorial I found on it’s Amazon page is spot on:
“Shantaram has provided me with the richest reading experience to date and I don’t expect anybody to unseat its all-round performance for a long time. It is seductive, powerful, complex, and blessed with a perfect voice. Like a voodoo ghost snatcher, Gregory David Roberts has captured the spirits of the likes of Henri Charrière, Rohinton Mistry, Tom Wolfe, and Mario Vargas Llosa, fused them with his own unique magic, and built the most gripping monument in print. The land of the god Ganesh has unchained the elephant, and with the monster running amok, I tremble for the brave soul dreaming of writing a novel about India. Gregory David Roberts is a suitable giant, a dazzling guru, and a genius in full.” – Moses Isegawa, author of Abyssinian Chronicles and Snakepit
Read more: http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0312330529

India, here I come!

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By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:35:46 +0000

I nominate The Quiet American

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By: Abdel Hameed m.Sadiq

Abdel Hameed m.Sadiq — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:29:56 +0000

I invite you to visit Syria.The land of peace,love,harmony,tolerance,and cradle of human civilizations.

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By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:27:39 +0000

Nicholas Bouvier’s ‘Way Of The World’ needs to be on there for certain.

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By: Gurpreet

Gurpreet — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:08:53 +0000

Hehehe – controversial, as these kinds of lists always are, so here’s my contribution to the debate (one that I expect & hope is NOT a controversial suggestion)….

Surely ‘Kim’ should be here as Rudyard Kiplings contribution to this list instead of ‘The Jungle Book’?

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By: Jennifer Tice

Jennifer Tice — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:58:59 +0000

Looks like I have a lot of reading to do, thanks for putting together this awesome list!

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By: R.Sole

R.Sole — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:30:54 +0000

Ted Simon’s “Jupiter’s Travels” has to be on any such list

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By: Lynne

Lynne — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:49:23 +0000

..and for a thoughtful photographic journey across the continents, exploring through observations and reflections themes such as the meaning of travel, childhood, making a living, companionship and spirituality, our similarities and differences, see the colourful photographic gift book CONTEMPLATIONS OF MYRIAD WORLDS (www.deserttree.at, or http://www.amazon.co.uk). Travel is not just touring sights, but a state of mind, which brings about lasting changes to one’s life long after the journey is over…

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By: Gregory Hubbs

Gregory Hubbs — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:38:11 +0000

John Krich,

I would have to disagree that “travel books” need to be narrowly defined. As I said previously, the Odyssey of Homer may be one of the great travel books in human history, and the imaginative travel which takes place in many works of literature transcends the physical requirements of travel. Charles Baudelaire wrote some very fine poems on travel to places he had never been, and countless writers of all types have touched on lack of distinction between physical and imaginative travel.

Both my parents are professors, and they often decried the tendency of academics to consign human experience into artificial categories which can easily be deconstructed. I have never seen a definition of travel writing which is not nebulous on the fringes. Offer me a definition and I will demonstrate the holes in it, just as one can deconstruct any philosopher’s conclusions by looking at their assumptions.

Categories are for computer science, science, or other pseudo-sciences, but I think are irrelevant when it comes to literature and art, with all due respect.

That is not to say that I agree with the creation of “top x lists,” as they are ultimately subjective in nature and are a current journalistic trend designed to grab short attention spans on the part of readers on the Web, but they do provide one point of departure for discussion.

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By: John Krich

John Krich — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:02:34 +0000

As a travel writer, novelist and teacher of travel writing, I was very disappointed with this list. Your selector has enthusiasm but absolutely no knowledge and respect for categories of literature — how can books of collected poetry, novels, ethnographic studies, political reporting, etc., be “travel books” Travel writing is an oft-neglected art and there are many great examples…this list of 50 contains 4 or 5 of them.

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