I hope Marco Polo was a better explorer than he was a writer, because this was not good. I'm now going to tell you what was bad. The writing. I've now told you what was bad. The booklet is filled with these completely unnecessary sentences where Polo explains what he is going to say in the next or has said in the last paragraph. Maybe the people of his time had a short attention span, but it really annoyed me. Also, unicorns in this supposedly non-fiction report.
~Little Black Classics #16~
This was an interesting read. The Hippo Banquet features travel stories by Mary Kingsley, being an explorer in a time where female explores where very rare. So for that I found it interesting to read about and she actually writes quite well. However, her views are very Victorian (obviously) and I've found that I never like these travel stories very much.
~Little Black Classics #32~
This book takes the reader on an adventure with the great outdoors as a backdrop and a burgeoning supporting cast of characters from across the country, seen through the eyes of the author and his partner, through filter of life experience and a stark spirituality that eschews the written page to draw you in as if you were actually there to experience the stark joys, the near-crippling fears and aggravating frustrations.
The author explores the pitfalls and joys of life on the road with charming honesty that it reads less like a book and more like a great evening with friends and the slide show of their latest great adventure. Yes, I know that last sentence, seriously tells my age, however it is with fond warmness that I recall many evenings in my childhood spent in just such a way.
At the end of the book the Mr. Rosch includes his ‘information guide’ to owning, buying and running an RV, complete with anecdotes. If you are contemplating such a life changing journey of your own and the preceding book hadn’t kept your attention then a read through the appendix will probably convince you that this life is doable.
All in all I have to say this was a seriously enjoyable, not-to-be-put-down kind of read and I am glad to have had the chance to gain some insight into the RV travel lifestyle and learn more about this author.
5 stars
This book was well worth the price of purchase.
| Using The Odyssey and The Iliad as travel guides Brad Herzog travels the U. S. stopping in small towns between his home and his alma mater using the 30 days given to him by his wife to solve his mid-life crisis. This was an interesting travel story. He hits a lot of small towns with classic names to determine what he has accomplished and what has brought him satisfaction. He does come to an answer. I liked how he compared his life to Odysseus' life. It helps to have read The Odyssey for the frames of reference. I liked the people he met and the stories he told of them. An neat way to get through a mid-life crisis. |
The first time I heard of Three Men in a Boat it was while reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Part of her story pays homage to Three Men in a Boat, and both stories are enjoyable.
I laughed out loud several times at the antics of George, Harris, Jerome, and Montmorency. I loved the British humor, the slapstick, the sarcasm and tongue-and-cheek remarks. The book was an entertaining and (mostly) pleasant trip down the Thames, and I can't imagine spending it in better company than with these three men and their dog.
Several times I thought of Mark Twain's writing as I read this, in particular Life on the Mississippi and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book was significantly shorter than those two stories, and I wouldn't really say that it was laced with social commentary, but it was every bit as humorous and interesting as those works. Well worth it if you need a quick pick-me-up and a good laugh or two.
The version I listened to on audiobook was narrated by the marvelous Hugh Laurie, and I am certain that his narration enhanced the humor even further.
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