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A Sense of Place in Books
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Out of Africa by Karen Blixen gave me a sense of Africa. It's somewhere I have never been but Blixen takes me there and quite strangely, I love Africa. The Africa of Blixen's time; now one I could never travel to.
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I read this sommer: canadian landscape is so well descrbide - its light, it's humid scents - that I really want to see it!
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Tonia, I love reading books set in different places - to learn and feel how life might be there. For this reason I file all my books by the country where they take place. I will have to think a bit about which books to mention. There are many.
Thanks all for answering! Another book that gave me a real sense of what it must be like to live in an alien setting, this time the opposite to Africa, is "The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey (pronounce that name if you can!)It is a lovely, poignant book and nature is truly a protaganist. I read just about anything and since I live in Italy where it is not easy to pop out and buy a book in English (I rely on Amazon) I often read what others give me or lend me, so not all are to my taste and yet I still read them. That is why, when I find one that,as I read, drags me inside the pages, I treasure it.
I agree with you on The Snow child. Although I didn't enjoy the book by the end. I really felt I was there. I love the feeling of being completely lost in a book.
I agree Gemma, I loved the first part of the book but not all of it. I do not think I could live in a place like that. It seems a very harsh place and must have an effect on a person's soul.
Yes, definately. And it really did in that book, the main character was very damaged.
Here are a few that have popped into my head: When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine
Burial Rites
Portrait of a Turkish Family
Nothing in the World
Ava's Man
To the End of the Land
I am forgetting tons: my head is blank! Personally, I think the best books do exactly what you are searching for.
The Snow Child as was already mentioned was the first that came to mind.Time and Again by Jack Finney is a time travel story and you feel as if you are in NewYork city in the 1880's.
I recently read , Evergreen and the wilderness of northern Minnesota seems almost like a character in the book.
I looked up Time and Again, Angela. It looks really good so will have to read it soon. Thanks
Tonia, I loved it ! Hope you do too .
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie takes you into Biafra; the landscape, the customs, the people, the famine, the birth of Biafra. I could feel the hot, hot sun beating down on me as I read. It's like a trip to the country without leaving your home address.
Better BookAddict wrote: "Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie takes you into Biafra; the landscape, the customs, the people, the famine, the birth of Biafra. I could feel the hot, h..."Oh yes, I agree about that one!
Definitely agree with Half of a Yellow Sun and The Snow Child. I didn't enjoy all of The Snow Child but the sense of Alaska was awesome
Read Independent People and you will live among the sheep in Iceland. If you love to get a sense of the place that comprises all the senses I think this novel is one of the best that I have read recently which evoked such feelings in me. I think Gill and Jenny would agree with me. We did a Readalong.
Greg wrote: "I agree with Chrissie on Burial Rites. It had a great sense of place."I simply cannot get over that it is written by an Australian!!!!!
Thanks so much for all these answers - I have some new books on my "to read" list now. It would be nice if there were a "like" button or way to comment individually on each post, similar to the way it is done on facebook but anyway, like this I get to say "goodmorning" to you all.
Dhanaraj wrote: "Read Independent People and you will live among the sheep in Iceland. If you love to get a sense of the place that comprises all the senses I think this novel is one of the best that I..."Oh, yes, I can still see/feel the landscape and the weather and the sheep!
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Right there!
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I simply cannot get over that it is written by an Australian!!!!!"
It is amazing Chrissie, but Kent spent an extended time in Iceland and it shows!
Greg wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Greg wrote: "I agree with Chrissie on Burial Rites. It had a great sense of place."I simply cannot get over that it is written by an Australian!!!!!"
It is amazi..."
It does show all the work she put into it!
Chrissie wrote: "Here are a few that have popped into my head: When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine
Burial Rites
Portrait of a Turkish Family
..."</i>
[book:Burial Rites was wonderfully atmospheric. I also really enjoyed the wonderful descriptions found in The Poisonwood Bible and In the Shadow of the Banyan.
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Kalena, I also found In the Shadow of the Banyan very good. Probably the reason I liked it was that it is based on the author's experiences, from which she crafted her novel. I thought the end was better than the beginning. The end very well depicted the horrors and the supreme idiocy of the Khmer Rouge regime. The tamer beginning reflects the innocence of the young girl, which is not inappropriate. Great that she took her own experiences and wove them into a novel.
Greg wrote: "I enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible as well, and it was indeed atmospheric. I think her background in the science of flora/fauna shows too."I have to agree with your choice, Greg. It really did make you feel like you were deep in the Congo; sweaty, the jungle, the 'black mambo snake(?)'.
Am I wrong, or have all these books been rooted in actual places which exist, or have existed? Because I think you can get a definite sense of place from some other types of books, such as SF or Fantasy books, or those which have a magical element. Or historical books which vastly predate the written record, such as Jean M. Auel's "The Earth's Children" series, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear.Or is it that imaginary worlds are not testable in any meaningful way, by comparison with reality?
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I suppose the author has to work harder to create such an effect, in a way, as the reader brings no pre-knowledge to the book.
@Jean. Excellent point. I was encouraged by reviews to read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern; fantasy (not my usual genre), so completely a different world. On looking up from the book, I was always totally surprised to find I was in fact not in this magical place. Morgenstern painted a picture so real and so effectively.
Better BookAddict wrote: "Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie takes you into Biafra; the landscape, the customs, the people, the famine, the birth of Biafra. I could feel the hot, h..."It was perfect and as I lived in the region as a child I can assure you the book was spot on!
I also want to add my vote to The Snow Child was totally immersed in the setting.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Half of a Yellow Sun (other topics)The Snow Child (other topics)
The Night Circus (other topics)
The Night Circus (other topics)
The One-Eyed Man: A Fugue, with Winds and Accompaniment (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (other topics)Erin Morgenstern (other topics)
Jean M. Auel (other topics)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (other topics)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (other topics)
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“ There is a special smell to the Matabeleland bush – not quite smoky, not quite rocky, not truly dusty – somehow harsh, and fresh at the same time. It doesn’t simply enter your nostrils, but seeps through your lungs into every organ in your body, and is absorbed by the very pores in your skin, till you feel light-headed and light-limbed and somehow light-hearted …. Years later it is still with you, when you bring it into your mind’s eye”