5 Fiction Books that Make You Want to Travel
Fiction is supposed to whisk you away to some alternate reality. After all, the novelist's primary concern is having you care for the characters he or she creates so you will relate with them, feel what they feel, experience what they experience. Coming right behind that–or some say before–is plot. You need a damn good story to get the reader involved and turning pages. What is sometimes overlooked, however, is setting. I've read so many stories set in New York City they all blur into one. (Actually, I shouldn't talk, as the current novel I'm writing is set in the Big Apple X_X). Anyyay, point is, it's sometimes nice to get away to a different, exotic location. Below are a few great books that do just that.
1) The Beach - Alex Garland
In a cheap hostel on Khao San Road in Bangkok, Richard, a young English traveler, meets a strange Scotsman going by the pseudonym of Daffy Duck who leaves him a hand-drawn map of a supposed hidden beach located in the Gulf of Thailand that is inaccessible to tourists. Together with a young and beautiful French couple, Étienne and Françoise, the trio sets out to find what they believe must be paradise on earth.
This really is the epitome of the beach book, no lame pun intended. What better story when you're sunning yourself at some resort than to read about sun, sand, and some very very good suspense. The movie remake of this one wasn't bad, but if you haven't seen either, read the book first. Otherwise you're going to have a stoned Leo DiCaprio in you're head the entire time.
2) The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
A group of American and British expatriates travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights (which I've seen!). The setting reveals the seedy café life in Paris, and the excitement of the Pamplona festival, with a middle section devoted to descriptions of a fishing trip in the Pyrenees.
To talk about this one you have to talk about the man himself. Ernie had it all. A haunted past. Functional alcoholism. An adventurous spirtit. A way with women. And one hell of a beard. You'll find all that packed into this novel (except maybe for the beard), which is what makes it such a jolly good ride, as they say.
Best way to read it? With a bottle of absinthe!
3) Into the Wild - John Krakauer
This one's based on a true story, but since no one knows exactly what the protagonist, Chris McCandless, did, it sort of qualifies for fiction. The story: After graduating in 1990 with high grades from Emory University, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave away his college fund of $24,000 to Oxfam, and began traveling, later abandoning his car, ending up in Alaska with only ten pounds of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, several boxes of rifle rounds, a camera, and a small selection of reading material.
The book exposes the true power of nature by revealing what it would be like to be plucked from your comfortable modern-day life and dropped into one of the most inhospitalbe environments on earth.
Interesting note: This was published in 1996, the same year as The Beach.
4) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
The full title–Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze.
Las Vegas might not be as exotic as some of the other locations on this list, but it still remains one hell of a travel destintion. The book will take you on a bizarre, twisted journey and show you a side of Sin City best left read and not experienced.
5) Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)/Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
Heart of Darkenss centres on Charles Marlow, an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a river-boat captain in Africa.
Lord of the Flies is about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results.
Both these are fantastic, quick reads, that take you to the Congo and a deserted island respectively. How much more exotic can you get than that?
