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Favourite Travel Writers

post #1 of 8
1/12/09 at 3:26pm
Thread Starter 
I'm going to go to Tokyo soon, and I thought I'd try my hand at some travel writing after my trip. It's not a genre I've really delved into much, and I figured it would be good to do some general background reading, so I was wondering if Chewers had any favourite books or authors they could recommend. They don't have to be based around Tokyo or Japan, just whatever you guys enjoy. Thanks.

Also, if you've got any recommendations on stuff to do in Tokyo they would be greatly appreciated. I'm about to start a thread on that as well in fact.
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post #2 of 8
1/12/09 at 3:28pm
Paul Theroux.
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post #3 of 8
1/12/09 at 4:55pm
Twain's travel books are great.
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post #4 of 8
1/12/09 at 7:28pm
Thread Starter 
Is The Great Railway Bazaar the best place to start with Theroux?

I've been meaning to read some Twain for ages, so this will be a good time to rectify that. Thanks for the suggestions.
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post #5 of 8
1/12/09 at 7:49pm
The Beach - Alex Garland

I don't think it fits into the "travel writer" genere, but after initially disliking the movie but loving 28 Days Later and Sunshine, I gave it a shot. It isn't a travelogue, persay, but it is based on his experiences spending a lot of time in the Philippines(His second book, The Tesseract, is also very good too and set in the Philippines, but is more about the location than actual traveling).

I absolutely loved The Beach, and it made me appreciate the movie a lot more.

It also made me want to travel more and to smoke cigarettes.... lots of cigarettes.... all the time. I don't reccomend smoking, but if you do smoke and you read it, you will definitely be jonesing for one. If you don't I don't think it dimishes the book in any way. I am only a social smoker myself, but still.

There is a great quote from Garland where an interviewer asked him if he smoked as much as Richard the main character.

His response- "I smoke more than Richard"

Good stuff. Probably not exactly what you are looking for, but thought I would throw that out there.
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post #6 of 8
1/12/09 at 8:07pm
Thread Starter 
I've read both those Garland books, and you're right, The Beach is brilliant.
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post #7 of 8
1/12/09 at 8:38pm
Steinbeck's Travels with Charley is pretty great. It's a travelogue with the author traveling across America in a camper with his dog. Granted, it's not about a foreign country but it's still a great example of the genre. It takes on a special resonance knowing that Steinbeck could have died at any time and knew it, but didn't care cause he was doing exactly what he wanted to.
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post #8 of 8
1/14/09 at 8:36pm
Alighieri. Dante's Inferno.
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