THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO LITERATURE
Sep. 19th, 2009 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogITEM: Bookride has an interesting list of popular books amongst backpackers.
Criteria (alleged):
Which may or may not apply to the actual list, which looks a lot like the usual “Top 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die” mix of classic lit and modern classics (plus The DaVinci Code, for some reason).
Anyway, it’s an interesting list. Feel free to start one of those “How many of these have you read?” memes, though as I said, a lot of lists have these books. For the record, here’s how I rate:
Number of books read: 17
Number of books read while actually backpacking: 0
That second stat is worth qualifying. I’ve never backpacked in the trad sense – which is to say, the “explore America/Europe/Asia” sense. I’ve done camping trips, and I’ve done military field exercises in the middle of deserts, and was never without something to read. But what I brought with me was usually whatever I happened to be reading anyway – which at the time meant either SF or detective fiction.
The interesting thing there is that when yr in the military, in the middle of nowhere and have nothing to read (as I did when I lost an entire rucksack full of gear, as well as the books I’d brought), you can always scam a book off someone who’s already finished it. But you can’t be choosy. And you’ll read anything. I read a lot of Stephen King that month. (And also a PD James novel.)
Lonesome traveler,
This is dF
Criteria (alleged):
A backpacker classic should have an element of profundity, preferably mystical - if not it should have cult status or be a statement about who you really are. There is an element of self discovery in setting off - the path to enlightenment, the journey inwards... A backpacker book is not a 'beach read' -- the book must be worth the weight and space it takes up and should be reverentially handed on to other travellers or left in a hotel or bus station for another seeker to chance upon.
Which may or may not apply to the actual list, which looks a lot like the usual “Top 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die” mix of classic lit and modern classics (plus The DaVinci Code, for some reason).
Anyway, it’s an interesting list. Feel free to start one of those “How many of these have you read?” memes, though as I said, a lot of lists have these books. For the record, here’s how I rate:
Number of books read: 17
Number of books read while actually backpacking: 0
That second stat is worth qualifying. I’ve never backpacked in the trad sense – which is to say, the “explore America/Europe/Asia” sense. I’ve done camping trips, and I’ve done military field exercises in the middle of deserts, and was never without something to read. But what I brought with me was usually whatever I happened to be reading anyway – which at the time meant either SF or detective fiction.
The interesting thing there is that when yr in the military, in the middle of nowhere and have nothing to read (as I did when I lost an entire rucksack full of gear, as well as the books I’d brought), you can always scam a book off someone who’s already finished it. But you can’t be choosy. And you’ll read anything. I read a lot of Stephen King that month. (And also a PD James novel.)
Lonesome traveler,
This is dF
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on 2009-09-19 07:16 am (UTC)I'm amazed there's no Kurt Vonnegut books on that list. OR, for that matter, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I've read about five of those books. A couple more I started but never finished for whatever reason. And I've seen the cartoon version of MOBY DICK.
I've been backpacking, with an actual backpack and no fixed itinerary, a couple of times, but never for an extended period. I didn't read any of those books while so doing.
Usually I travel in the company of Iain (with or without the M) Banks and Elmore Leonard. I ALWAYS have more books with me than I can read, just in case the unthinkable happens and I run out of literature.
-- JF