Book Picks: Europe

Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen. Benjamin Disraeli

EUROPE (IN GENERAL)

Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Bill Bryson

Although most anyone who has read Bryson is immediately drawn to his eccentric and funny sense of humor (I defy you to read any passage in this book about his sidekick Katz and not laugh out loud), his genius is evident in the things reader don't notice: his informative tidbits and his ability to simultaneosly convey the sense of wonder of a first time traveler and the sophisticated comments of a lifelong adventurer. As a writer, I respect Bryson immensely. Combining both the ability to entertain and inform is hard and no one does it as well as Bryson.

Europe from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Traveler's Abroad
Mark Pearson and Martin Westerman

Europe from a Backpack is a unique book.  Pearson and Westerman have collected approxiamtely fifty short stories from young Americans living, working, studying, and traveling around the continent.   These stories collectively reveal the heart and soul of the "backpack culture" better than any other book on the market today.  If you've dreamed of donning a backpack and seeing Europe for more than just a two week tour, then read this book! 

WESTERN EUROPE


Great Britain

The Kingdom by the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain
Paul Theroux

Kingdom by the Sea is one of Theroux's best work. While ostensibly a tale of the people Theroux meets while traveling around the country (just like his other books), Kingdom by the Sea displays a subtle sense of intimacy with the people under examination -- the British -- that does not exist in Theroux's other tomes. Reading this book gives you a revealing, and ultimately flattering, view of the British soul (at least as it existed twenty years ago).

Ireland

Round Ireland with a Fridge
Tony Hawks

Round Ireland with a Fridge is one of the most entertaining and ultimately uplifting travel books I've read. Hawks' journey which originally started out as a pub bet (the bet is that Hawkes can't make it all the way around Ireland hitchhiking with a refrigerator within a month's time) becomes a funny and enduring look at the soul of the Irish people. Hawks' descriptions of his adventuring wooing the daughter of an island King and taking his refrigerator out surfing are classics!

The Road to McCarthy: Around the World in Search of Ireland
Pete McCarthy

The Road to McCarthy is an entertaining and informative look at the Irish diaspora around the globe.  After reading this book, you'll realize how many Irish reside in remote and odd corners of the planet (I loved the chapter about trying to find McCarthys in Morocco) and understand much more about the role of the Irish in settling North America.    

France

A Year in Provence
Peter Mayle

A Year in Provence launched a movement. Mayle's deft and endearing description of the French people and countryside ignited a movement in the US and Britain. Thanks to Mayle thousands of tourists have discovered this corner of France, other authors have been inspired to write literary memoirs extolling the joys (and trials) of living abroad, and some inspired souls have even decided to set up a new life in this beautiful, rich corner of Europe. Who can blame them? Mayle's descriptions of the region's gourmet meals and lavender fields are enough to get anyone packing.

Italy

Under the Tuscan Sun
Frances Mayes

Ever wanted to chuck it all and live in the romantic Italian countryside? If not, you will after you read this book. Despite of (or maybe because of) all the difficulties that Mayes experiences in renovating her Tuscan villa, you can't help but fall in love with Tuscany. I will never forget Mayes descriptions of the food and sights of Tuscany. My mouth waters just thinking about the Mayes' Tuscany (and I read the book six years ago)!

As the Romans Do
Alan Epstein

During my seminars, I've frequently met people who dream of living in Italy.  I must admit that while Italy is a great country, I never really shared these students' enthusiasm for living there until I read As the Romans Do.  Epstein's passion for Italy is palpable on every page.   He truly loves and understands the Italian soul!   After reading this book, I developed a true passion for Italy.  In my mind, there is no higher praise for a book than that.

 The Mediterranean

The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean
Paul Theroux

In typical Theroux style, the Pillars of Hercules is a literate and entertaining look at diverse cultures found around the Mediterranean. Theroux is at his best when he describes places like Albania that are off the typical tourist map. His interviews with prominent authors and his discussion of the work of the region's great classical writers (set against the backdrop of the places he visits) bring this book to life.

EASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA

Kosovo

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo
Paula Huntley

Probably because I taught English to Russians in 1994-5, I love books about teachers in foreign lands.  I can truly relate both to teachers' efforts to connect to their students in another land and, conversely, the way that students prove to be the teacher's key for unlocking the mysteries of another culture.  The Hemingway Book Club is one of my favorite teacher stories.  Huntley captures the voices and surprising optimism (in the midst of war torn Kosovo) exceptionally well.  She makes me want to teach again.  That is high praise, indeed.

Moldavia

Playing the Moldavians at Tennis
Tony Hawks

While not as funny or gentle as Hawks' Round Ireland with a Fridge, Playing the Moldavians at Tennis is nonetheless a great read. Hawks interweave cultural and historical tidbits about this obscure corner of the world with a hardbitten, yet ultimately sympathetic, portrait of the Moldavian people. He also does a better job than other book I've read giving voice to the way that Eastern Europeans feel about life in the post Communist era.

Russian Voices
Tony Parkes

Though written during the Soviet Union's glasnost period, Russian Voices still serves as the best primer you can read into the psyche of that vast country. Of all the books I read before I went to Russia ten years ago (I lived there for a year and a half) the interviews in this book with ordinary Russian citizens did the best job of preparing me for what I saw and felt. I would love to find a similar book about post Communist Russia today.

All the Clean Ones are Married and Other Everyday Calamities in Moscow
Lori Cidylo

I love this book. Of all the books I've read about Russia, Cidylo does the best job of capturing a real sense of life for everyday Russians today. If I were to write a book about my experiences in postwar Russia (note: you can read some of my observations in my sample article: The Other Side of the Moon), I would hope that it would be as insightful and entertaining as this book.

The Land of the Firebird
Suzanne Massie

While most people associate Russia with drabness and Communism, most don't realize that it was during Czarist times one of the most sophisticated societies on the planet. Massie's excellent treatise examines in great detail the beauty and richness of Czarist Russia's artists (I love their impressionist painters), authors, and craftsmen. Land of the Firebird is one of those rare books that though academic in tone never becomes pedantic. Read this book before you go to Russia. You'll be able to talk to Russians knowledgably about their most proud possession -- their rich culture.

Empire of the Czar
Marquis de Custine

Justifiably compared to Alexis deTocqueville's Democracy in America, the Empire of the Czar is a thorough portrait of life in Russia during the early nineteenth century. Though not terribly sympathetic, the Marquis de Custine (like deTocqueville) managed to capture a view of many aspects of Russia's culture that still seems fresh and accurate almost two centuries later.

Casino Moscow:  A Tale of Greed and Adventure on Capitalism's Wild Frontier
Matthew Brzezinski

Brzezinski lived in Russia only a couple years after I did.  However, because I lived in an off-the-beaten path community with ordinary Russians while he resided in the midst of  "the New Russian capitalists", it is almost as if we lived in two totally different countries.  My Russia is a land of poor, highly educated doctors, engineers, and teachers struggling to make ends meet on a salary of $100 a month.  His Russia is populated by smooth talking, corrupt, and cunning people who could easily spend the same $100 just to enter a gilded casino.   All-in-all, I enjoyed Brzezinski's glimpse into the other Russia. Yet, I can't help but be grateful that I got a peak into Russia's real soul instead of Brzezinski's surreal experience. 

The Fire Escape is Locked for Your Safety
Molly J. Baier

Unlike Casino Moscow, this book does a good job of revealing the Russia that I experienced during my stay there.   Baier, who spent two years in the former Soviet Union as a human rights lawyer and a traveler, does an admirable job capturing daily life for most of the residents.  She skillfully reveals the craziness of dealing with Russian bureaucracy, the grinding efforts of most Russians to make a living, and even some of the extremely funny and truly odd things that happen in Russia.  All in all, this is the best book I've seen about everyday life in the former Soviet Union today (my only criticism:  I wish Baier had talked more about her experience as a lawyer in the Ukraine). 

Fifty Russian Winters: An American Woman's Life in the Soviet Union
Margaret Wettlin

While a spate of books exist that describe the experience of Americans living in the Soviet Union before the collapse of communism, no othe book captures the spirit of life in the Soviet Union as well as Fifty Russian Winters.  Most of the other books were written by journalists who, by their nature, seek hyperbole.  Wettlin, on the other hand, by living the everyday trials and tribulations of Russians, creates one of the few accurate, heroic, and sympathetic views of life behind the Iron Curtain during communist times.  (I remember, for example, reading in one book by a journalist who lived in Russia in the 1970s that Russian lived in homes as bad as in Upper Volta.  Clearly, this author never visited any Russian apartments.  When I was in Russia, I visited probably close to one hundred apartments, most of which were built in 1970s and 1980s, owned by ordinary Russians.  They were admittedly cramped and a bit old fashioned.  However, they were also mostly comfortable and functional).

Notes

• I, (Paul Heller, founder of Big Blue Marble) have prepared these reviews after scouring the internet and book stores to select the best resources to help you travel like a local more inexpensively, safely, joyfully, comfortably, and purposefully.
• Check out my upcoming reviews of links related to travel in the Europe.
• Do you agree or disagree with my comments about the books listed on this site? Know of any books that should be added? If so, please send me your comments. I promise to post your comments on the Big Blue Marble blog.
• indicates that I highly recommend these books.