09-03-2016, 08:41 AM | #1 |
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Recommendations for a Road Trip read
I'm looking for a recommendation for my "Something for Everyone" challenge - A book about a road trip. The obvious choice might be "On The Road", but I read that years ago and prefer not to revisit.
Any suggestions? My tastes are fairly eclectic - anything will be considered, and I read my share of literary works, though I do favour harder hitting stuff - thrillers, crime, adventure, horror (of the Stephen King variety). Last edited by orlok; 09-03-2016 at 07:25 PM. |
09-03-2016, 09:06 AM | #2 |
Unicycle Daredevil
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In a way you could call Gaiman's American Gods a book about a road trip. I remember enjoying that one. I also remember liking Dave Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity, but IIRC the protagonists use different kinds of transport, so I'm not sure if it meets your criteria.
Then there's a wonderful, fun German novel by the late, great Wolfgang Herrndorf, Tschick, which has been translated into English under the title Why We Took the Car. |
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09-03-2016, 09:44 AM | #3 |
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Since you said you read eclectically, here are some wildly differing options.
Contemporary YA: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson or Mosquitoland by David Arnold Grim: The Road by Cormac McCarthy Historical: Company of Liars by Karen Maitland Contemporary non YA: A Hundred Thousand Worlds, Bob Proehl or Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth Fantasy: The Hobbit, obv, or basically any quest narrative Humorous/memoir-y: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson Wild card/crime: The Mereleigh Record Club Tour of New Zealand by Roy Vaughan Even wilder card: the podcast Alice Isn't Dead (and I'm sure you'll have read King's The Stand) |
09-03-2016, 10:19 AM | #4 | |
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09-03-2016, 10:21 AM | #5 | |
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09-03-2016, 10:23 AM | #6 |
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09-03-2016, 10:28 AM | #7 |
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No slight intended! I'm more than happy to dig into the recommendations myself. I like to read a few reviews at the same time, so I'd be doing that anyway.
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09-03-2016, 10:36 AM | #8 |
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A great classic, by Pirsig:
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motor...sr=#nav-subnav |
09-03-2016, 12:04 PM | #9 |
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So here is a list compiled from my Goodreads account:
First off non-Ficton A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/..._Time_of_Gifts Journey to a Revolution: A Personal Memoir and History of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Michael Korda https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...o_a_Revolution Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6563093-endurance On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads by Tim Cope https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...f-genghis-khan The Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga by Sylvain Tesson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...-of-the-forest Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...efore-the-mast Now fiction. It's short because when I think of road trip books [that I've broadened to travel accounts by any means] I do think in terms of someone traveling to real places by real means. Otherwise most science fiction and fantasy books might qualify. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...ssage_to_India I have read all of these. Some I selected myself. Some were recommended by others or a choice of a book club, including the two running at this site. Some I liked, Some I didn't, but that should not necessarily deter you as some have high Goodread ratings or were enjoyed by others. |
09-03-2016, 12:05 PM | #10 | |
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09-03-2016, 12:09 PM | #11 | |
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09-03-2016, 12:41 PM | #12 |
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Three Men in a Boat and its sequel Three Men on the Bummel (also known as Three Men on Wheels) about a bicycle tour through the German Black Forest.
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09-03-2016, 01:01 PM | #13 |
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A Passage to India is both not a road trip book and awful.
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09-03-2016, 01:38 PM | #14 |
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For non-fiction there is William Least Heat-MoonBlue Highways, an account of his travels along America's backroads (which are shown in blue on old road maps) and mainly about the people he meets along the way.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63832.Blue_Highways And Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson about a road trip to Las Vegas. |
09-03-2016, 02:09 PM | #15 |
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Of course one of the most beautiful books of all time is a road trip novel (though it starts on a train), Fritz Mühlenweg's In geheimer Mission durch die Wüste Gobi, published in English in a slightly shortened version under the title Big Tiger and Christian. Long out of print though, and used copies are effing expensive.
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