Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once.
-Audrey Hepburn
THE REVIEW
I usually do not do a, let us say a big dog review (for example Kirkus, The New York Times, or any of your other best selling news papers) on a book I am currently reading, but I was so curious because I am enjoying it so much. So here is a review on a book I am currently enjoying immensely.
The Wet and The Dry by Lawrence Osborne
KIRKUS REVIEW
A cosmopolitan and prodigious drinker conducts a tour to selected locales where alcohol flows easily and to others where such spirits are strictly forbidden.
Peripatetic imbiber Osborne (The Forgiven, 2012, etc.) recounts getting drunk in many places and recalls libations from hospitable venues like his British home, Brooklyn and Sweden. He also discusses arid Islamic precincts like Islamabad and the Bekaa. We visit Cairo, under the Brotherhood, and southern Thailand, where they host Malaysian Muslims seeking sex and whiskey. Osborne makes an ardent, artful contribution to a great body of literature on booze. Though he had difficulty scoring some bubbly for his girlfriend on a New Year’s Eve in Muscat, Osborne is still a debonair drinking partner, one who knows the authentic bars and pubs of the West and the wet oases in the parched lands of the Islamic Levant and Orient. Kota, he reports, “was a much nicer city than Sungai Kolok or Hat Yai.” In the meyhanes of Istanbul’s Istiklal, we learn, you will “down your raki with plates of borek, and slowly realize that you are an alien.” Adept of Dionysus and Bacchus, Osborne provides a convivial discourse on how liquor is made and marketed in exotic places. There are thoughts on the history and politics of potent drink and the Muslim antipathy to satanic Western ways. In the bars of the West and the speak-easies of Araby, the author celebrates intemperate alcoholic befuddlement and also the hangover after too many drams of distinctive distillations and fine fermentations, of Pernod, Jim Beam, Cutty Sark and Stoli.
For tipplers or teetotalers, an extended essay on drink in some precincts where it is welcome and others where it is criminal—rakish, rich and nicely served.
THE LIST
I love Bear Gryllis so I was surprised to see he had a book out. So with that, he listed his top favorite adventure books. It is a pretty great list.
Adventurer and chief scout Bear Grylls chooses his favourite tales of survival and bravery, from Daniel Defoe to Michael Morpurgo.
Bear Grylls is one of the world's most well-known adventurers. He has climbed Mount Everest, crossed the Arctic in a small boat and explored deserts, jungles and swamps worldwide. In 2009, Bear became chief scout to the Scouting Association. His latest book, Strike of the Shark, is the sixth in his Mission Survival series and takes Beck Granger into the Caribbean where he is shipwrecked in the open seas. In order to stay alive, he'll have to work out who wants him dead, and why. That is, if the sharks don't get him first...
1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
The original survival hero! After being shipwrecked on an island, Crusoe shows real grit as he works out how to build a shelter, hunt for food and even grow crops and raise goats. He manages to live for many years on the island and, most importantly, he never gives up hope. Most of the books on this list owe a debt to this thrilling tale.
2. The Coral Island by RM Ballantyne (1858)
One of the first novels written for children that also features children as the heroes, this classic follows three teenage boys who are shipwrecked on an uninhabited Polynesian island. It's a brilliant blend of survival and adventure, featuring cannibals, pirates and even surfing, and it inspired both Treasure Island and Lord of the Flies.
3. Treasure Island by RL Stevenson (1883)
This was definitely my favourite book as a kid – such an exciting adventure of life on the high seas! Jim shows incredible resourcefulness as he deals with treacherous pirates, hidden treasure and the villainous Long John Silver. Sadly, I've never managed to find any buried treasure on any of my expeditions!
4. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (1812)
The Swiss Family Robinson always impressed me – the way they worked together as a family to survive being stranded on an island in the East Indies. Family is really important to me, and my kids are becoming very skilled at survival life, so I like to think we'd work together as well in a similar situation – although let's hope it never comes to that!
5. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)
This story a young British orphan who learns how to survive on the streets of India is a thrilling adventure in its own right, but it's also noteworthy for inventing Kim's Game: a game of memory and observation that is a great tool for developing the senses you need to live in the wild.
6. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne (1926)
OK, so not maybe this isn't as much of a thrilling tale of survival-against-the-odds as some of the others on this list, but it's still a brilliant book for getting kids excited about the outdoor life. It always made me want to explore the Hundred Acre Wood with Christopher Robin – perhaps stopping for a game of Pooh sticks on the way!
7. The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton (1948)
Enid Blyton wrote so many books, but her tales of the wild adventures of Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann all feature an element of survival and the outdoor life. This was always my favourite with its exciting mix of camping and exploring in a remote Scottish island, and a thrilling mission to outwit a gang of gun-smugglers.
8. Volcano Adventure by Willard Price (1956)
Willard Price wrote many exciting adventure books, and this is one of the best. Hal and Roger Hunt have a fantastic never-say-die attitude, and show great problem-solving skills as they save the lives of people from deadly volcanic disasters. It's very well researched too, and most of the events are based upon real-life volcanic disasters.
9. Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl (1948)
Thor Heyerdahl's story has always been an inspiration to me: not only for the physically gruelling feat of traversing the Pacific Ocean on a raft of balsa logs but for his determination to prove wrong the naysayers who said it could never be done. Required reading for all those serious about survival life.
10. Tintin in Tibet by Herge (1960)
Surely every young adventurer read Tintin growing up? This has always been my favourite of the Tintin books. Our hero heads off into the Himalayas in search of his young friend Chang, who is missing and assumed killed in a plane crash. The determination and belief Tintin shows in his friend's ability to survive against all odds really impressed me – and the quest is made even more interesting by the haunting presence of the Abominable Snowman!
And two bonus choices!
Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
Who would have thought a story about rabbits would be so thrilling, so full of nail-biting adventures? This classic really stands the test of time – and is packed with brave heroic characters. For me, the most compelling character is Blackavar, a battle-hardened and defiant revolutionary rabbit, who fights for Fiver and Bigwig, determined to save their burrow from the evil General Woundwort.
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo (1999)
A modern desert island story that has a lot in common with Robinson Crusoe. Young Michael is shipwrecked on island in the pacific with no food or water and almost gives up entirely. But then he meets a mysterious old man who gives him the strength to learn how to survive in this strange new environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment