I've got to chime in my agreement for Posession - or anything by A.S. Byatt - particularly if you're travelling to England. Also, the Diane Gabaldon books are great - you have to suspend disbelief in order to get into the whole time travel thing - but you have to suspend disbelief to read many novels. I'd also like to put in a conditional recommendation for one of my favorite books: Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt. It's a little bit big to carry, and it can get a little...dense at times (like footnotes in Greek!) but it's about a treasure hunt that ranges from England through Rome, Greece and Africa - check it out - as I said, it's a conditional recommendation. <BR>Have a great trip!

I had originally replied directly to Gina in response to a personal Email from her. I had no idea this query would prompt so many responses. It's obvious that Fodor's contributors have two loves - travel and literature. You may then find some of the following of interest. <BR> <BR>Gina, <BR>You're quite perceptive! My home is a quasi-library; every room has a bookcase <BR>or two or three; the garage has three just for travel literature! From being an inveterate reader of fiction, in recent years I've become more and more <BR>interested in history and biography (particularly of a European bent). In <BR>retrospect, I realize that much of my current interest in travel has been <BR>prompted by the rather ecletic but specialized (is it possible to be both?) <BR>fiction that I've read in the past and return to frequently. Specialized, in <BR>that it is regional fiction, eclectic in that it covers a wide spectrum of <BR>cultural differences, accents and jargon, urban and rural environments. At the top of my list as an all time favorite is the author Ferrol Sams, a general practioner in Fayetteville, Georgia who has written a superb <BR>semi-autobiographical trilogy commencing with "Run with the Horsemen" followed <BR>by "Whisper of the River" and ending with "When All the World was Young". He <BR>has a collection of short stories that are thoroughly delightful titled "The <BR>Widow's Mite" that truly captures the flavor and humor of the rural south. Many Southern women have the tendency to inflect their sentences in such a way that even a simple declarative sentence ends up sounding like a question. In an <BR>amazing and masterful manner, Sams has written a short story, all in monologue, <BR>in which every sentence ends in a question mark! Truly a bravura piece of both comic and regional writing. Ivan Doig's novels of Montana, particularly <BR>"English Creek", are distinctive in their "regionality"; George V. Higgins <BR>captures the idiosyncrasies of blue collar Boston amazingly and embellishes them with the ingrained humor of the Irish who populate so many of his novels. Look for his "Defending Billy Ryan" and "Sandra Nichols Found Dead". Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard have mastered the foibles of Florida, particularly Miami, with phenomenal insight. Evan Hunter, writing as Ed McBain, has written fifty novels set in a police precinct house in the city of Isola, in actuality a very thinly disguised New York City. He has truly captured the essence of New York <BR>from its slums and ghettoes to its moneyed penthouses and the broad range of characters that inhabit them. Interestingly enough to me, all of these authors use humor, from Hiaasen's near slapstick to Sams' gentle smiles, to enhance the ambiance of the environments in which the authors' characters live. <BR> <BR>Now, if you want a book that you can't put down (but can hardly lift up), I've <BR>got three suggestions. Long out of print but worth hunting down is the R. F. Delderfield trilogy commencing with "God is an Englishman". It is a fascinating saga of an entrepreneur, his employees and their intermingled families from the time of the Crimean War to the First World War. Another invitation to a hernia is Galsworthy's "Forsyte Saga" encompassing the novels "A Man of Property", "In Chancery", "To Let", "The White Monkey", "The Silver Spoon", "Swan Song" and "On Forsyte Change". All were faithfully presented in a lengthy series on Public <BR>Broadcasting's Masterpiece Theater a good many years ago. Finally, another <BR>Masterpice Theater series - Paul Scott's "Raj Quartet" encompassing "The Jewel <BR>in the Crown" which gave its name to the television series, "The Day of the <BR>Scorpion", The Towers of Silence" and "A Division of the Spoils". The novels <BR>trace the transformation of India and its peoples, both natives and Colonial <BR>British during and following the Second World War up to the time of India's <BR>independence. A fifth and little known novel of Scott's "Staying On" deals <BR>with a couple of minor figures in the Quartet who attempt to adjust and <BR>accommodate themselves to the changes in India following its independence from <BR>the Crown. <BR> <BR>

My suggestions are neither thick nor fiction. But on my last trip to Europe I read Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes on the way over and A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle on the way back. They were the perfect length to read on the plane and they are both well written and interesting. In fact I was so enthralled with A Year In Provence that I wanted the pilot to do a u-turn and take me to France. Another good one is Italian Days by(I think) Barbara Harrison.

Has anyone read "Fall On Your Knees" by Ann-Marie MacDonald? I'm 300 pages into this 500+ page masterpiece and can't put it down. This is a book that will keep you engaged on the longest of flights. I agree wholeheartedly with one Amazon.com reviewer who says, "The tale told here is captivating in its intricacies of plot alone but the language of this book, its phrases and images that caress then spear, this is the gift of a writer who is truly aware of the magic of words. Never can I recall being so overwhelmed by a single sentence that I had to stop, look about me for a beacon in the real world then plunge again into the waters of this author's imagination." Too true.

Hi: Start with "The Magus" and end <BR>with "Corelli's Mandolin "- and don't <BR>worry about Greeks bearing gifts - <BR>they are both wonderful presents! <BR>Also, for England/Scotland try <BR>Dorothy Dunnett's "Lymond" books <BR>or her series about Nicolas van Poele <BR>- she writes so convincingly you really <BR>see the panorama or history! Fun.

We're getting far afield from Gina's specific trip, but I have recommnendations for England. PRIOR to your trip, My Love Affair With England-- basically a memoir with lots of evocative details about the country. And for absorbing reading, Susan Howatch's Glittering Images and the rest of the series. All the stories take place in a fictional town that resembles Salisbury. I also see that someone already mentioned Pillars of the Earth-- loved it.

Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett, and anything by Jane Austen. <BR> <BR>Katherine - Anya Seton <BR> <BR>I only saw one other vote for Anya Seton (Elvira you're the greatest). Seton's novel "Katherine" is my favorite book. My mother gave it to me when I was 13. I've read it countless times since. It started me on my obsession with English history, gave me my major in college, and still fascinates me. I haven't made it to Lincolnshire yet. Planning on it in March 2001.

I've got a lot of great ideas for future reading--thanks! One of my all-time favorites is "Kristen Lavrensdatter" by <BR>Sigrid Undset, who won the Nobel Prize <BR>in 1928. It takes place in medieval Norway. I have this unforgettable book in one 1000-page volume, but it has recently been reprinted as a trilogy.

TRIVIA: "Correli's Mandolin" is being filmed right now in Greece. Nicholas Cage is the main character, Sean Connery is the father and Penelope Cruz (Spanish actress) is the daughter.

top

Just picked up David Guterson's East of the Mountains last night and i'm really enjoying it this morning. But I like Mr. Faulkner's reply, when asked what his top three recommendations were, replied: "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina." Great book...a long and wonderful munch.

These suggestions are great! I'll be traveling in Italy and was thinking of reading A Room With A View, which I don't think anyone has mentioned. Can someone recomend it?

OK. I'm a Comparative Lit major, so I feel a little sheephish in recommending this book, but I have to say it's one of my all time favorites. - Here goes: "The Stand" by Stephen King. It's enthralling and, in my opinion, well written. Again, like many others that were recommended above (many of which I have read as well), this is one of those that you wish would never end. <BR> <BR>I'll be visiting several countries this summer and I am sure I will benefit from several of the above postings. This is going to kill my little Canon printer, but I HAVE to print this thread.

Am assuming that since you are female you "must" enjoy romance....Please try Outlander by Diane Gabaldon. It is funny, serious and the story is to die for. AND it's long...800 or so pages.

Have you thought about listening to a book on tape? I love them. You can get bridged, or unabridged. It's nice to listen, you can close your eyes, and if you get a reader with a good voice it's wonderful. Enjoy your trip. <BR>Robbyn

Anything by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Most people know her as the screenwriter Merchant & Ivory always work with. She has penned all their movies, as far as I know, translating great classics into screenplays. However, I love her as a novelist. Her novels take place either in India, NYC or England. One of my favorites is Three Continents, a hilarious and rich story concerning a shady guru and the family who fall under his spell, thereby endangering their inheritence and property. The Householder, Esmond in India and Heat and Dust are other great titles.

Dodi - I agree with you on "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. And the great thing is that it's the first in a series of four. Each of them are 900+ pages. I'm leaving for Europe on 6/7 and am taking numbers 2 & 3 with me. The series: <BR>1.Outlander <BR>2. Dragonfly in Amber <BR>3. Voyager <BR>4. Drums of Autumn <BR>For those of you unfamiliar with the books, they're historical fiction with a fantasy twist set in 18th and 20th century Scotland.

Fantastic thread, everyone! <BR> <BR>My suggestions: <BR>An Equal Music - Vikram Seth (London) <BR>War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (Russia) <BR>Tandia - Bryce Courtenay (S. Africa) <BR>(sequel to Power of One- more action) <BR>Wild Swans - Jung Chang (China) <BR> <BR>And question: can anyone suggest good books on Vienna, Rome, Paris, & London? <BR>Preferably fiction or easy-reading non fiction, not too long. <BR>

Hi, <BR> <BR>I just got back from a lovely trip to Ireland, and one of the last things I did in Dublin was to go on a "Literary Pub Crawl". It was a HOOT. Actors/guides, putting on short skits from various Irish plays, as well as peppering the "lecture" with hilarious tidbits about famous Irish writers - all while crawling from pub to pub, sampling the craic and the Guinness. I wish I had more time in Dublin, for sure. <BR> <BR>It REALLY piqued my interest - and I shall soon be searching for everything on BRENDAN BEHAN as well as SEAMUS HEANEY and OSCAR WILDE (I have actually only read The Portrait of Dorian Gray by him, can you believe it?) <BR> <BR>So, even though I have yet to read much of the above, you can bet I would include these authors on a book list... <BR> <BR>Beth

To the top!