Sunday, May 21, 2006

Jan MORRIS ... Travel-Writer Extraordinaire

DESPITE constant talk predicting the demise of the travel-writing genre, travel writers like Bill Bryson, Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin, Redmond O’Hanlon, Colin Thubron and Jan Morris still manage to convey the joy and wonder of travel and are always a delight to read and reread. The milieu and the sense of place and time they conjure in their writings are rendered with such exactitude, detail and insight. For those of us who believe there are no more places left to explore or discover on earth in these jaded times, read these great travel writers and they will change your mind about the world we live in. Bryson, for instance, has an eye for the lively anecdote and beautiful turns of phrases sprinkled with humour and irony, while Morris has a great sense of history and language.

Bibliography
MORRIS Jan [1926-] Travel writer, journalist, historian, essayist, novelist. Born James Humphrey Morris in Clevedon, Somerset, England. Novels Hav (2006); Last Letters from Hav (1985: shortlisted for the 1985 Booker Prize for Fiction) Stories The Upstairs Donkey, and Other Stolen Stories (1961) Biography Fisher’s Face: Or, Getting to Know the Admiral (1995) History The Pax Britannica Trilogy [comprising Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat (1978); Pax Britannica: The Climax of Empire (1968) and Heavens Command: An Imperial Progress (1973)]; Coronation Everest (1958) Memoir Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001); Pleasures of a Tangled Life (1989); Conundrum (1974) Travel Europe: An Intimate Journey (2006); A Writer’s World: Travels 1950-2000 (2003); Sydney (1992); Hong Kong (1988); The Matter of Wales (1984); The Venetian Empire (1980); Oxford (1965); The Presence of Spain (1964); Venice (1960: winner of the 1961 Heinemann Award); The Hashemite Kings (1959); South African Winter (1958); The Market in Seleukia (1957); Sultan in Oman (1957); Coast to Coast (published in the U.S. as As I Saw the U.S.A) (1956: winner of the 1957 Cafe Royal Prize) Essays O Canada! (1992); Locations (1992); Among the Cities (1985); Journeys (1984); Destinations (1980); Travels (1976); Places (1972); Cities (1963); The Road to Hudersfield: A Journey to Five Continents (1963); The Outriders: A Liberal View of Britain (1963)

RECOMMENDED
Novels Hav (2006); Last Letters from Hav (1985)
History The Pax Britannica Trilogy [comprising Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat (1978); Pax Britannica: The Climax of Empire (1968) and Heavens Command: An Imperial Progress (1973)]; Coronation Everest (1958)
Memoir Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001)
Travel A Writer’s World: Travels 1950-2000 (2003); The Venetian Empire (1980)

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