Something for the Armchair Traveller

Armchair Travellers - Behold!

Here's a roundup of some of the best travel writing on offer - from novels to memoirs, dream holidays and journeys from hell.
Sit back, open a book and let your imagination wander!

 

 

 

 

 

Fiction

The Beach by Alex Garland 

For those who have never been able to take six months off to loaf about on the beaches of Asia - rest assured it can sometimes go horribly wrong. Richard is travelling aimlessly around Thailand when he comes into possesion of a hand drawn map to a hidden Eden. Of course he sets off to find it.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty crisscross America in the ultimate roadtrip novel. A thinly disguised autobiographical account of Jack Kerouac's own wanderings through the American heartland and a novel of reckless youth in a quest for meaning.

Fiesta: The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway

This follows the lives, loves and drunken exploits of  a group of American and English expats living it up in Paris and Spain during the interwar years. Notable for the intense and memorable descriptions of the bullfighting in Spain.

 

Memoir

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

In 1935 when Gerald Durrell was eight his mother moved the household from England to Corfu. This charming memoir tells all about their adventures over the next few years.A warm and funny account of his eccentric family and friends as well as an exploration of the flora and fauna of Corfu.

 

Travelogue

The Great Railway Bazaar: by Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux

Following an epic journey by train from London to Tokyo through Asia and back through Siberia this is a travel classic and deservedly so. An entertaining account of conversations and encounters with strangers across a continent.

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

A fascinating book that explores the history, myth and tall tales that make up the cultural landscape of this country at the tip of South America. You can expect to read about extinct giant sloths, Welsh mining communities and the eventual whereabouts Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

An engrossing account of Dervla Murphy's trip from Ireland to India more than forty years ago. It's remarkable and ispiring to read about her adventures and tribulations travelling alone through Afghanistan and Pakistan more than forty years ago.

 

I need a hero..........

We may not be guaranteed sunny, icecream filled days at the seaside this year (or any year) but one thing that's a safe bet is loads of superhero films at the box office in the coming months. We've already had Avengers - Batman and Spiderman are lurking in a heroic fashion on the horizon.
If the thought of all these cinematic superheros have left you wanting more then we've got a short list of books about and inspired by superheroes for your perusal.
X-ray specs at the ready!

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
He has a secret idenitity and goes about saving folk so the Scarlet Pimpernel is welcome to join the list. Maybe his super power is being extremely dashing in the face of smelly revolutionary proles? Join the swashbuckling Scarlet Pimpernel in his fight to save French aristocrats from the guillotine.

2. The Amazing Adventuresof Kavlier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The golden age of comic book writing is gloriously detailed in this spellbinding book. This is both an epic novel aobut the power of myths and stories and a gripping thriller about the ties that bind and break us. Also there is a Golem.

3. Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Following the evolving friendship of two boys from the 1970's to the present day, this paints an evocative picture of a particualr place and time - Brooklyn in the 70s and 80s. The clue is in the title as to which superhero the boys look up to.

4. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
There's only room for one superhero graphic novel on this list and it had to be Watchmen. The original and best antihero comicbook. A complex and dark story about a diverse group of crimefighters that looks beyond the costumes at issues of power and control.  

5. Soon I will be Invincible by Austin Grossman
The evil Doctor Impossible plots to take over the world from behind the bars of a maximum security prison. The only problem is the pesky team of superheroes continually thwarting his plans. A witty and unexpected take on the superhero genre and it's cliches, told from the villain's point of view.

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The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters By

G.W. Dahquist

Borrow this novel and escape to a historical yet fictional city, complete with evil villains, damsels in distress, and three unlikely Heroes! Join Miss Temple, Dr. Svenson, and Cardinal Chang as their individual circumstances force them to search for answers, leading them into the dark underworld of Victorian society to walk among the wicked. Kind Dr. Svenson is trying to protect his Prince from any further drunken humiliation. Fiercely independent and recently dumped, Miss Temple wants the truth behind her fiancees abrupt actions. Professional assassin Cardinal Chang is determined to find out who killed his latest target before he got the chance. Each one's motives are enough to spur them on, but they must work together if they are to defeat the despicable Madame Lacquer-Sforza and her cronies in their attempts at mind control and political domination.

A page turner from the start, this unique and exciting tale was worth telling and well worth the read!

Emma

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Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Don't let the size of Marcus Sedgwick's book fool you, its comparative slimness packs a punch every bit as powerful as the Colt that gives the story its title. Set in the frozen wastes of Giron in a cabin north of the Arctic Circle in 1910 with flashbacks to ten years earlier, Revolver seizes the reader from the very first line, and doesn't relax its grip until the story's end.
The book tells the tale of Sig Andersson, a teenager alone in the cabin that he shares with his sister, Anna, his father Einar and his fathers second wife, Nadja. Alone, that is except for the frozen corpse of his father, who has fallen through the ice on his way back from the nearest town. Sig is waiting for Anna and Nadja to return with help, but when there's a knock at the door of this remote cabin, miles from any other signs of civilisation, it isn't help that is waiting on the other side, but trouble.
The description of the stranger is chilling, Sedgewick says he is a giant, with a face, not stroked into creation by Gods loving hand, but battered into shape by the Devils hammer.
The writing is sparse and masterful, and the story grips compulsively, once you pick this one up, you'll be unable to put it down. Through the clever use of flashbacks Sig's parents values are imparted to the reader, and their differing viewpoints on life are woven together in the story's climax, when Sig must make a decision that will change his life forever.

Sally Clements

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Swimming by Nicola Keegan

Written in the first person, this book tells the story of how a girl (Philomena) who loves to swim tries to survive as her family falls apart. In a riveting voice, Philomena describes her gradual submersion into the world of competitive swimming as a means of escape from the disasters that befall her family. Growing up with a grieving agoraphobic mother, she becomes wholly focused on her life first as part of the local swimming team and then as part of the US National Team. She goes on to amazing success as a swimmer but eventually has to face and come to terms with the past she was trying to escape. Its a riveting and often funny read and the voice of Philomena is completely absorbing. The writing is superb throughout and the book never falters in pace. Interestingly the author was born in Galway but grew up in America. If you like pathos and humour in a story (in a Catcher in the Rye sort of way) you will love this book. Just ignore the gushing acknowledgements page at the back!

Patricia McAdoo

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Blood Runs Cold by Alex Barclay

FBI Agent Ren Bryce is hard to love. ”Why can't you just get that I say things I don't mean when I'm drunk?” she berates boyfriend Vincent, in Alex Barclay's crime chiller, Blood Runs Cold. Tormented by her secrets, Ren gives everything to her work as she investigates the murder of a fellow FBI Agent on Quandary Peak, in frozen Colorado.
Murdered Jean's secrets are gradually revealed in a complex plot which twists and turns at breakneck speed and along the way tough and tender Ren's are too. Alex Barclay is the consummate storyteller, and many disparate threads are masterfully woven together to create a compelling read.

Sally Clements

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Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden

A shimmering glimpse of modern life as seen through the eyes of an Irish playwright; Molly Fox’s Birthday is a meditation on the nature of relationships and self-knowledge. As the anonymous narrator battles with writers block in the borrowed surroundings of her friend Molly Fox’s Dublin home she reflects on friendships and family matters both past and present. Through this reflection she emerges from stasis.

Vita, Deansgrange Library

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The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas

If you knew this book was cursed would you read it? Ariel Manto is graduate student who stumbles across an extremely rare book in a second hand bookshop. The book is called ‘The End of Mr Y’ and is rumoured to be cursed as everyone who’s read it has either disappeared or died. It contains detailed instructions on how to make a homeopathic tincture that allows access to the Troposhere, where it’s possible to travel through space, time and other minds. Will Ariel follow the instructions and if so what will happen? Was it purely chance that she was the one to find the book? This is an ambitious and imaginative novel, a gripping thriller full of ideas exploring philosophy and science. Ariel is an intelligent and spiky heroine, the plot is fascinating and the narrative well paced. A fantastic read, a mystery and a love story containing elements of fantasy and sci-fi.

Jessica, Stillorgan Library

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Bad day in Blackrock by Kevin Power

'Bad Day in Blackrock' is the debut novel by Dubliner Kevin Power, dealing with the events preceding, and repercussions following, the death of a private school student at the hands of his peers, it is a powerful portrayal of the dark side of Irish modernity. These young men come from wealthy families, their future assured, and their present a tapestry of excess - parties, sex and rugby being their main focus in life. Despite this they are portrayed in an empathetic manner, their tragedy as moving as any hero of literature. Drawing us into their world yet reserving judgement, Power weaves a deeply affecting tale of lives torn asunder in the aftermath of tragedy. Like all great novelists, Power uses an emotive personal tale to discuss society as a whole, his characters indicative of many young people in Irish society. 'Bad Day in Blackrock' is more than simply a crime novel, it is an exploration of the hidden world of the rich and a portrait of Ireland at the peak of the boom.

James, Dún Laoghaire Library

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Q & A by Vikas Swarup

I read this book before it was even a twinkle in Danny Boyle’s eye and I still haven’t seen the film, so I’m writing this review untainted by Oscar mania.
I approached it with trepidation as it seemed to have all the elements usually guaranteed to make me hate a book – all injustice, hardship and abject poverty. But even though it has its fair share of those, it’s curiously un-harrowing. Maybe it’s the device of constructing the story around a well-known quiz show, explaining how the “slumdog” hero is able to answer all 10 questions to win the prize by relating them to events in his past, or maybe it’s the fact that each story reads almost like a child’s fable, but you don’t finish this book wanting to head straight for the gas oven. Yes, it deals with the underbelly of Indian society, and Swarup throws everything into it bar the kitchen sink (there’s even a Bollywood theme in there somewhere), and some might find the quiz show device over-clever, but all in all it’s a rattling good read, and how many books set among the street kids of modern India can you say that about?

Oonagh, Blackrock Library