Books for Traveling: My Favorite Novels

My grand ambition at the moment is to trace all those books that made me travel, curled up under my blanket, on a bus, or in an airplane seat... A huge challenge and, above all, an endless story: the more I retrace the trail of those books I've read, the more I discover others that I want to read!

To avoid getting lost in a lengthy article (which isn't my style, right?), I decided to split the topic into two categories: on one side, fiction and novels, and on the other, travel narratives and journals, leaving two other hybrid categories, consisting of books questioning travel and others related to personal development, which will be developed soon.

Of course, of course, there's Jules Verne! This great man filled my dreams with Around the World in 80 Days and submarines exploring the depths of our oceans... An undisputed master, I won't introduce him to you again: I will rather share with you my recent readings over the past few weeks, months, years...

Since I was little, my favorite books and novels have always made me dream. I remember my excitement when tackling mandatory readings in Latin and history classes, joyfully diving into fictions set in Ancient Greece and Egypt. I particularly remember the books The Sarcophagus Thieves, The Messenger of Athens and of course, many books by the Egyptologist Christian Jacq.

Here are some novels, of quite varied styles, that allowed me to travel in space and time.

I discovered Isabel Allende through this novel, Daughter of Fortune, found in the delightful dusty shelves of a second-hand bookstore within the Spanish literature section. And I was instantly hooked. Since then, I have lost count of the novels of this author that have passed through my hands... In each of her books, the history of Chile intertwines with her family's story, adventures and misadventures, loves and disillusionments, discovery of the meaning of her life.

From this author, I also invite you to read The House of the Spirits, her most known book, but also > and >.

I have a particular fondness for >, which narrates the epic tale of a young Chilean in love in the 1840s, embarking on the traces of her missing lover on a quest in the American West. A journey through a different culture, a different time, and an adventure from south to north across the American continent.

One Hundred Years of Solitude was given to me by a Chilean married to a Cuban and living in Belgium. We were visiting him on the advice of a family friend to learn more about the continent we were about to discover for the very first time. And this man, whom I didn't know just moments before, in the typically Latin spontaneity and generosity, offers me this novel, solely because he enjoyed it and wants to share it.

At the time, my Spanish wasn't sufficient for such a level of literature, so I abandoned it after a few weeks of intense perseverance, but not without first urgently procuring it in French. Because despite the language barriers, the author had already captivated me.

This book takes us through a tangled web of lives and generations that succeed, intersect, and overlap over a period of 100 years, all within a warm and thick jungle environment, sprinkled with a touch of magic and a lot of poetry.

Beware, hold on tight, as the story is not always easy to follow, especially with the many characters whose names repeat throughout the seven generations covered! But the effort is worth it (and help can easily be found on the Internet, for example, a family tree of the Buendía family is available on Wikipedia!).

I read The Alchemist a long time ago, but I kept it in the back of my mind, and now it resurfaces as I write this list! How could I not at least mention it? It has become a classic of travel literature.

This philosophical tale rarely leaves anyone indifferent opened me up to a new style of literature, focused on travel and personal development (which often go hand in hand... and which I will develop in a future article!).

Paulo Coelho has written many novels along this line, such as The Zahir, The Pilgrim of Compostela, Manual of the Warrior of Light, The Fifth Mountain...

The story invites us to follow the journey of the young shepherd, from Andalusia to the Pyramids of Egypt, in search of his >, which he writes as he walks, meets people, and observes the changing landscapes.

Like some teenage girls go through phases where they consume only music from the same band, or movies featuring the same actor, I had my phase with Sepulveda! When I read one of the novels of this beloved author, I savor it, I relish it, word by word, as one delights in a molten chocolate cake... To prolong the pleasure!

What do I love so much about Luis Sepulveda's books? Oh, everything, so many different things! In his books, everything transports me to a level transcending the everyday reality, through both the stories he narrates and the style used to convey them. He is an author whom I can read and re-read without getting tired, and often the books that fall into my hands after a Sepulveda seem dull in comparison, with an easy and flat writing style (small warning: don't be too harsh on the book that follows your reading of a Sepulveda!).

This author has the gift of making us travel through sometimes very harsh realities (like when he transports us to an oppressed Chile), but always with a lot of delicateness and accuracy. His works are heavily marked by a love for travel, political and ecological commitment, and the repression from the dictatorships of the 70s.

Often known for The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, I recommend in addition to the book The Roses of Atacama, The Shadow of What We Were, The Nephew of America

His work > (Marginal Stories) gathers different snippets of life, with a background theme of the resistance for freedom. We travel from the Amazon rainforest on the Rio Mamba River, all the way to Patagonia, emigrating through Europe. This novel inspires us to honor the memory of these individuals and to follow their examples, to do something meaningful with our existence and to live with a purpose greater than our own life. A must-read!

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt is an actor I greatly admire. Recently, I finished The Ten Children That Madame Ming Never Had, which touched me greatly, and one of the books by this author that I would like to share with you is Ulysses from Baghdad.

A current subject: war, fleeing, clandestinity, immigration... And above all, the sensitivity and pen of this author that makes all the difference. I particularly liked the exchanges between Saad and the ghost of his father and their way of reshaping the world.

I think the very first novel by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt that fell into my hands was Oscar and the Lady in Pink, and since then, I often dive back into his books. Also to read: Mr. Ibrahim and The Flowers of the Quran and many others!

Saad lives in Baghdad. When his father, brothers-in-law, and niece tragically die, his mother encourages him to leave for Europe, to find a future and support his family financially. But how to cross borders without a dime in his pocket? How, like Ulysses, to face storms, survive shipwrecks, and escape the multiple traps that lie in wait for him on his journey?

An epic that allows us to travel both through the hero's crossing of the Mediterranean and through his way of thinking and perceiving the world.

• You are an optimist who says >. You have optimism deployed in space while I have planted mine in time.

• Don't underestimate the distance between your attitude and mine. Your sedentary optimism is fatalism.

• And your nomadic optimism is the cowardice of flight. >>

<< Men try to give themselves substance to forget the void, to believe they belong for deep, immutable reasons to a language, a nation, a region, a race, a morality, a history, an ideology, a religion.

However, despite these disguises, each time a man analyzes himself, or every time an undocumented person approaches him, the illusions fade, he sees the emptiness: he could have not been like that, he could not be Italian, he could not be Christian, he could not... >>

surely means >. >>

I realized that until now, I had only talked about Latin American authors. I try to add some nuance to my list by including, in a completely different style, Robin Hobb (real name Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden). A trendy author, her science fiction and fantasy novels signed Robin Hobb are light, easy to get into and get devoured quickly... unlike the more tragic and heavy tone found under her other pen name, Megan Lindholm.

The Liveship Traders Trilogy is the author's first work that came into my hands. The first volume, released in 1998 (2001 in French), consists of 3 volumes, adapted into 9 books in French... which I devoured one after the other! The first volume is titled: The Liveship Traders, Volume 1: The Magic Ship.

I then devoured The Royal Assassin (whose first volume is The Royal Assassin, Volume 1: The Apprentice Assassin) which I also recommend.

The author takes us on a journey through a fictional universe where different peoples and histories intersect... All sprinkled with a good dose of magic. This cycle tells the story of a family of merchants owning a liveship (a magical ship that can become alive and is the only one capable of sailing up the mysterious Rain Desert), named Vivacia. But upon the father's death, the struggle for inheriting Vivacia begins... Many adventures and travels lie ahead!

From her other author name, I invite you to read The Inheritance and Other Stories (> ; 2012). A series of short stories, all very different, yet share deep themes questioning our society, its norms, and values. And many of these stories are invitations to journeys... often quite particular one!

Another author I love! I have read several of his series, including the famous The Pillars of the Earth, and the trilogy > (with the first volume: The Century, Volume 1: Fall of Giants), which I read more recently and was very impactful for me.

What I particularly appreciate about this author is his ability to make us step into the shoes of profoundly different characters, each with their own values and vastly different stakes from one chapter to another... while maintaining this state of tension, transcending simple dichotomous opposition for a richly nuanced approach. Here, there are no goodies or baddies (or very few!), but especially, men and women, with their strengths and weaknesses, their dreams and disappointments, their scars and defenses.

A book that allows you to relive history, to grasp the minute mechanics that led to one of the greatest tragedies; seeing the backstage of the before - during and after war, through the eyes of men and women. And against this backdrop, reviving burning topics of the era (and still today): like equality among all human beings, regardless of their gender, origins, and skin color.

The trilogy The Century begins with > (Fall of Giants), followed by > (Winter of the World) and concludes with > (Edge of Eternity; 2014).

The very first volume came into my hands again by chance, on a boat sailing calmly off the coast of Sicily. I had gone through my novels, and my gaze had stopped on this thick volume sticking out of the little library on board... Curiosity pushed me to read the first few pages... Fatal error, because I couldn't put it down and, to my great dismay, I had to share the book with the captain's wife, who had also started it. I thus took advantage of every nap and swim to dive back into the book (which I still couldn't finish before we reached land, and had to hurriedly procure when I got home!).

Set against the backdrop of the climate before World War I, the narrative takes us in turn to the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, and the United States.

How did I come across this title? With a few clicks on the web, I arrived at this title, Suddenly, Alone, which attracts me immensely. This need for solitude, emptiness, movement, and grounding all at once, and always in landscapes of great nature... That's what I find through the cover of this book.

A novel that reads quickly, the misadventures of this couple become rapidly our own... I saw myself, with François, on this island at the end of the world, reconnecting with our most primitive moments, with the sole objective of survival.

After this first novel that I discover from this traveling navigator writer, I am currently tempted by other of her works, such as Only the Sea Will Remember and The Lover of Patagonia.

What if we left? Launched as a joke, then a catchy refrain, this modern couple in their thirties embarks on a crazy project (The madness of their life, which will finally make them feel alive): to sail around the world! From ocean to ocean, the couple reaches the end of the world, in Patagonia. With each mile traveled, their audacity grows as does their thirst for adventure, and they decide to venture onto a forbidden island, a natural reserve, a tiny stone forgotten by everyone. Just for a few days, no one will ever know... At least, that's what they thought until a violent storm hits them. A dream of wild nature turns into a nightmare. A sailing adventure transforms into a survival camp.

Another quite different style: the kind of short novel you pick up on a beautiful day when you feel like lounging or sitting on the beach while on vacation. From this author, I had already read Sinful Karma, which entertained me with its light tone and quirky universe and >.

The Fabulous Destiny of a Cow That Didn't Want to End Up as Ground Beef: a journey in the skin of a cow for a light, amusing, and original novel!

When Lolle discovers that her future awaits her at the slaughterhouse, she hatches a plan to make it to the only country in the world where cows are safe: India! A journey combining absurdity and lucidity about our modern world.

This book is unlike any others presented so far. And that's also why I love it particularly. A theatrical monologue by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco, this tale invites us for a never-ending sea walk alongside Novecento, a baby found on a boat. While the story is beautiful, it's especially for its words that we cling to the pages. There are certain phrases that you want to read and reread endlessly, to note in a little quote notebook to never forget...

In addition to Novecento: Pianist, I also recommend Silk, the first work of this author that I discovered when I was a teenager, and which impressed me greatly.

At thirty, Novecento has never set foot on land. Born during a crossing and navigating ever since across the Atlantic from continent to continent, he spends his life with his hands on the piano keys, playing his music. The music of the ocean.

<< - What was that?

• I don't know.

His eyes began to shine.

• When you don't know what it is, then it's jazz. >>

A book for book lovers! Its very essence: to travel through words, senses, pages, and landscapes... An experimental book that addresses the reader informally, engaging them, challenging them, accompanying them, celebrating them. A relationship of complicity between two beings, one of flesh and blood, and the other, of ink and paper.

As The Book of Travel says: >. I opened it several times, often putting it down. It wasn't the right moment. The style didn't speak to me, this inner journey wasn't calling to me. Then, one day like no other, I turned a page, then another... This may not be the book I would recommend first, but it offers a beautiful contrast with all the novels presented here, and for that alone, it's worth mentioning.

Particularly well-known for The Ants, I have a strange relationship with this author: sometimes I connect with his tales, at other times not at all! From this other author, I particularly enjoyed The Empire of Angels, which doesn't exactly take you on a journey, except perhaps between life and death... It's full of little thoughts to ponder and good words to make you smile even on a rainy day.

<< Imagine a book that would be like a paper friend. Imagine a book that helps you explore your own mind.

Imagine a book that leads you to the most beautiful, simplest, and most astonishing of journeys.

A journey into your life. A journey into your dreams. A journey outside of time. >>

<< You don't only have five physical senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch.

You also have five spiritual senses: emotion, imagination, intuition, awareness, inspiration. >>

<< Once, 'imbecile' meant 'one who has no crutch.'

An imbecile is someone with no tutor, no stick, no crutch to hold themselves upright.

They stumble, but at least they move forward, and they move on their own.

Imbecile: in fact, it's the most beautiful compliment you could receive. >>

I set myself the challenge of reading several books (many!) that have caught my eye for years and that I had never taken the time to discover. I made a list, created an attack plan... Then my health decided otherwise, as I fell ill at the end of August. Therefore, I didn't have the time to fulfill my ambitions! Here are some ideas for novels that I would like to read. Feel free to share your opinions in the comments if you have already read any of these!

I could also talk about many other books, from the most classic to the most recent, like The Little Prince, by St Exupery, or Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, or The Celestial Vagabonds by the same author.

And again, here I am only talking about novels, there are still many other literary styles to travel through, from the classic travel journals to collections of reflections. And, as announced at the beginning of the article, I will talk about them in future articles.

And as I love discovering new books, feel free to share your favorite readings in the comments!

To Continue Reading

<< Thanks to their intellectuals, Europeans can comfortably live in a double world: they talk about peace while waging war, they create rationality while killing indiscriminately, they invent human rights while achieving the highest number of thefts, annexations, and massacres in human history. Funny people, Europeans, my friend, funny people, a people whose head does not communicate with their hands.