READING LIST

June 17th, 2008 admin

One of the interesting dilemmas before starting a journey, especially one of this length, is what reading material to pack. Space is at a premium in a motorhome so you have to choose carefully.

I’ve finally finished reading H.V.Morton’s In Search of England and debating what to start next. Although, to be honest, I’m not getting much downtime to read, hence the length of time it took me to get through Morton! It’s amazing what little opportunity I have after a daily routine of photographing, traveling, finding places to camp for the night, servicing the motorhome (filling with water, emptying sewage, putting up/taking down beds etc), checking posts on the website, researching future destinations and events, updating the blog, loading and unloading film (in a portable dark bag), eating, helping to entertain Jemima and finally Sarah and I trying to get some personal time together!

So here’s a list of what I have to choose from on our cupboard shelf-

A Dream of England, John Taylor

A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (Sarah’s recommendation)

Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh (Sarah’s recommendation)

Catch 22, Jospeh Heller

Ed Ruscha and Photography, Sylvia Wolf

Landscape and Power, Edited by W.J.T.Mitchell

Larry’s Party, Carol Shields (Sarah’s)

Lonely Planet Guide to Britain

Notes From A Small Island, Bill Bryson

On Photography, Susan Sontag

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Sarah’s)

Sugar and Other Stories, A.S.Byatt (Sarah’s)

The Art Book, Phaidon

The English Year, Steve Roud

The Fifth Child, Doris Lessing (Sarah’s)

The Granta Book of Reportage

The Paris Review Interviews, Volume 2 (Sarah’s)

The Photo Book, Phaidon

The Story of England, Christopher Hibbert

The World of Robert Fisk

If you have any recommendations on good books for a journey around England, please post them below.

 

3 RESPONSES TO “READING LIST”

  1. I would highly recomment getting off the Bill Bryson on your little shelf there, that book will have you bent over in stitches, especially when he visits the Lake District, really dry and sarcastic view of Brtish people as well as being a rather ecclectic little travel guide.

  2. I’ve had an email from Andy Greaves who suggested I might find an essay contained in “The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 3” (1943-1945) entitled the ‘The English People’ particularly interesting.

  3. Two other suggestions have just been emailed to me-

    Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin

    Real England by Paul Kingsnorth.

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