Don't shoot the messenger.....
A review of two travel books / travelogues
Much in the way that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what makes a good travel book is certainly in the hands (and mind) of the reader. What appeals to me, may not appeal to you. Just like we're all different in our reading preferences, the way that writers approach travel writing differs from one writer to the next.
I guess that what I'm trying to say, quite poorly it seems, is that what follows are my opinions only. Don't shoot me for my preferences. Please take all that I write with a large pinch of salt.
With the arrival of e-books we were lead to believe that the real book was on its way out and would soon be a thing of the past.....of distant memories. However, someone forgot to tell the readers of books about that. Real books, paper and print are still immensely popular.
I don't know about you but given a choice I will take a real book over an e-book every time - even when traveling and space and weight is at a premium. I love the tactile experience of physically opening up a new book and turning the pages.....and smelling the pages. Enough said.
I love to travel and I love to read. I also enjoy writing and photography - have recently written travel blogs of our travels and some years ago wrote a series of travel articles for the Napier and Hastings community newspapers . I know what I like about travel books.
I like books that both inform and entertain - and if they can also make me laugh out loud then the writers of those books become firm favourites of mine.
If I see a book by Bill Bryson I'll grab it up and quickly read a few pages right there in the shop before I buy. I do this because Bryson is one of those writers who either elate or deflate me.
His early books about his misadventures traveling around the world were absolutely brilliant.
The Lost Continent, Made in America, Notes from a Small Island, Down Under (also printed under the title Walkabout) etc. were all wonderfully entertaining books. Factual and informative with lots of detail about interesting places and the people who live there, but what he'd do was to lull you into a false sense of security giving facts and figures about some place hes visited or is about to visit - all very proper and educated - and then he'll throw in a couple of amusing lines that reduce you to a quivering wreck as you giggle like a crazy man. The guy has a way of writing that makes me want to keep the pages turning.
BUT he can also write some stinkers (IMO).....such as his book titled "At Home". It's not a hundred percent a bad book. It's still factual and interesting in some ways. But it seemed to me as though the man was suffering from lack of ideas for a book so just wandered around his house and wrote about every article in it. Now don't get me wrong, some people probably enjoy reading about who invented the tea strainer and how many holes in said strainer produce the best cup of tea......but I'm not one of them.....particularly when there's no snappy punch line at the end of the chapter. It is a great book for bedtime though and soon puts me into a deep and blissful sleep.
I thought the same about his "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which received rave reviews from some quarters but it did absolutely nothing for me. Like I said, what suits one may not suit everone.
I was delighted then to pick up "The Road to Little Dribbling" to see that my hero Mr Bryson is back to doing what he does best - writing about travel and his many mishaps.
This book picks up 20 years after his very funny "Notes from a Small Island" - about the eccentricities of Britain and the British - living in quirky out of the way places as well as the more populated centres. It (Small Island) was voted in a BBC poll as the book that best represents Britain.....as well as becoming the best selling travel book ever.
Little Dribbling is vintage Bryson. He has an eye for the idiotic and the endearing. He writes about his adoptive country with wit, humour and affection and points out everything that is the best and indeed everything that is the worst and most ridiculous about Britain today.
His latest trip around Britain follows a similar but not exact route that of "Small Island - but that doesn't prevent him getting lost, confused and bewildered in equal amounts.
The blurb on the back of the book says "Expect to chuckle, snort, snigger, grunt, laugh out loud and shake with recognition". And indeed I did.
I highly recommend this book and it's predecessor if you can get your hands on either ,or preferably both, I promise you a good read.
Unfortunately for her, the next travel book I read was by a New Zealand author by the name of Mary Jane Walker. They do say - Never judge a book by its cover - but it was the cover of "A Maverick Cuban Way" that attracted me to it in the first place. Then when I opened the book and read "Mary Jane Walker is a writer of historically well-informed travel memoirs. She has been described as a younger, female Bill Bryson..." I knew I had to buy it.
Have you ever stuck a knife into an over-inflated football?
I'm probably about half way through the book but after only a few pages was already feeling like that football. Let down, deflated......my expectations of a female Bill Bryson punctured.
It's not that it's a bad book. It isn't. It was just that after finally reading one of Brysons where he is back to his very best, to then pick up a book written by someone hailed as the female version of Bryson (albeit by the writer herself - it turns out)......let's just say I expected more.
There were facts and figures - historically well informed - but without soul and totally devoid of humour. Yes I want to be informed, but I also want to be entertained.
The book is self published so lacks some of the polish and professionalism of other books and I'm not sure whether a proof reader was employed or not, but if one was, he or she deserves to be shot. The book isn't riddled with errors but there are enough to notice. Sentences where words are obviously missing and lines or even in one instance whole paragraphs printed twice.
I don't pretend to be perfect when I write, but it's mainly for my own amusement. It's a blog after all and I'm not asking anyone to throw good money away on a book.
I will finish reading "A Maverick Cuban Way" - because it is well researched and interesting and there are some useful tips for travelers. It does have the feeling of being more history book than travelogue but I feel that inspite of the initial let down I should give her another chance.
It can't be easy self publishing books - you don't get that back and forth between writer and editor/publisher to give advice on what needs a tweak, what should be left out and when/where to inject a little humour.
With this in mind, I have bought her next two books in the Maverick series - "A Maverick USA Way" and "A Maverick Pilgrim Way". I hope to give her a fair review of both books at a later date.
If you've managed to get this far, thank you.
It's a bit of a departure from the usual "Good Life" posts, but I want to try to bring in everything that that I feel helps to put the GOOD into living the good life.
Books, have and always will, play a huge part in my life.
**UPDATE - I did finish a Maverick Cuban Way and in a way I owe Mary Jane Walker an apology. I found myself warming to the way that she writes and actually enjoyed the remainder of the book - errors apart! If I could give her two pieces of advice they would be to firstly employ a good proof reader and to secondly remove any reference to her being a female Bill Bryson......otherwise, keep up the good work.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
More posts to follow over the coming days and weeks.
