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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Books: Another way to see the world!

It seems as if every few months I have to write "absent" posts here at Novel Spaces. Once again, I'm not here here. I'm smack dab in the middle of a ten-day tour of China's Golden Triangle, and according to the itinerary, I'm currently touring the Hutongs and Temple of Heaven in magnificent Beijing. I'm even supposed to visit a local kindergarten class today! Sweet!

I've always dreamed of traveling, but for this girl who grew up surrounded by sugar cane in South Louisiana, I first toured the world through books. The book that piqued my interest about China was Pa Chin's Family. It is a fascinating portrayal of the structure of Chinese families and the struggles between the generations. It has remained with me for years.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who first saw the world through books. Share some of your favorite exotic locales, and the books where you first discovered them!

Stop in at my personal blog later where I promise to post pictures of my trip!

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4 comments:

  1. Charles GramlichMarch 2, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    There was this series of books when I grew up called the "you were there" books. I read quite a few of those and enjoyed traveling to exotic locals.

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  2. Jewel AmethystMarch 2, 2010 at 10:59 AM

    Congratulations on your world tour. Wish I could go along with you. Growing up, there were few books set on my island so just about everything I read took me to different exotic lands. As an adult, "Return to Laughter," by Elenore Smith Bowen and "The Forest People" by Colin Turnbull took me to Africa, a place I'd like to visit. "I Rigoberta Menchu" took me to Guatemala. These are the top three of an extensive list.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 2, 2010 at 11:18 AM

    Hey Cuz-In-Law! The first “trip” I can remember was in elementary school during world history. When we “went” to Greece I just knew it had to be the most amazing place on earth. Although I have quite a few stamps in my passport, I haven’t made it to Greece. But it’s still on my list of places to visit after ALL these years. As for US locals, I love Hilton Head and Brenda Jackson’s The Ties That Bind and Rochelle Aler’s Lessons Of A Lowcountry Summer does the area justice. Romance Fan in B.R.

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  4. Liane SpicerMarch 14, 2010 at 9:21 PM

    China! How bloody exciting!

    To borrow my sister's words, I've always loved books set 'on location'! These are just a sampling of the places I've visited through the medium of books:
    Twain's Mississippi
    Gerald Durell's Greece, Cameroons etc.,
    Arthur Upfields' Australia
    Pearl S. Buck's China
    Farley Mowat's Canada
    Che Guevarra's Argentina

    Now that I think of it, I'm hard put to name places I haven't visited through the medium of books.

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