Many families are going on vacation this spring break. A professor once told me he doesn’t like to do any research or planning before he travels — that way his experience in a new country will be fresh and unclouded by preconceptions.
While this would nicely reduce prep time, I’ve ignored that wisdom. I’m not sure you can go anywhere without a suitcase of preconceptions, researched or not, because one of my favourite parts of travel is reading about the destination beforehand.
You can make even a sun-filled getaway so much more by perusing a history book, or digging deeper with social commentary such as John Valliant’s portrayal of Mexico in The Jaguar’s Children, or Nicole Dennis-Benn’s dark depiction of Jamaica in Here Comes the Sun.
Even a short trip can be enriched by reading. Before a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago, I read I Will Fight No More Forever by Merrill D. Beal, the true story of how the U.S. government forced Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce from their land in the late 1800s. That certainly changed my perspective when driving past Chief Joseph Dam. Imagine having a mechanism that flooded your land named after you.
Travel memoirs, like history books, are obvious choices for trip preparation. That said, I often read travel memoirs about places I’m never going to visit and about trips I’m never going to take — such as Rob Lilwall’s Walking Home from Mongolia, or Marq De Villier’s Down the Volga, which documents his 2000-mile trip through central Russia.
For me, historical fiction is the best entry into the mindset of another place. I just recently read a classic: the first of James Clavell’s Asian sagas, Shogun. It was an epic story, but when finished, I realized that my prof may have had a good point. Clavell’s bestseller served to give millions of Westerners an oddly inaccurate perception of Japanese culture.
In fact, this book written 40 years ago has made me realize that historical fiction can be as much about the time it is set, as the time it was written. Shogun is dominated by themes that were at the forefront in 1970s America — a fascination with Eastern philosophy, free love, emerging gay rights and changing divorce laws. I was reading about feudal Japan, but also weirdly taking a trip to mid-‘70s California.
As a counterpoint to this outsider’s viewpoint, I’m now digging into The Tale of Genji, a famous Japanese novel written in the 11th Century. While it may not be particularly relevant to a trip in 2018, it can’t help but add to my experience.
For armchair travelers, some anticipated historical fiction set to come out in 2018 include The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar, which is set in Georgian London, and Circe by Orange-prize winning author, Madeline Miller, who makes the time of Odysseus come alive once again.
Heather Allen is a book reviewer and columnist for the Penticton Western News.