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Anton Fridlyand's TOP 10 Travel Books

Most of all, writer Anton Fridlyand loves to read and travel. So travel books are a jackpot for him. Especially for subscribers of Premier Hotels and Resorts, Anton has compiled a toplist of his 10 favorite books.

1. Mark Kurlansky "Havana"

In this short book by an American journalist and writer, the turbulent history of the Cuban capital, from the time of Columbus, is compressed. Here the slave trade, bloody uprisings, street dances, clandestine brothels, rum, cigars and cane sugar. Moreover, this book was not written from the position of an aside observer - this is a passionate declaration of love to an amazing city, which the author characterizes as: "no one other place in the world has such a history of upheaval and change."

2. Lily King "Euphoria"

An unusually sensual but extremely dramatic novel, inspired by the personality of Margaret Mead, a famous American anthropologist whose scientific career dates back to the 1920s. So, the scene is New Guinea inhabited by wild tribes, the time of action is 1932, the focus is on the love triangle, the participants of which are united by a passion for anthropology. The background is the shocking customs of the natives, many dangers, tropical diseases and alcoholism. Can you imagine a more intriguing setting? Me not.

3. Daniel Tudor, James Pearson "North Korea Confidential"

Travel notes about the country you are unlikely to travel to. The authors tried to describe one of the most closed countries in the world, not only as a huge prison. In addition to pompous parades, the ubiquitous propaganda and totalitarian tyranny, they are also interested in quite base aspects. How do North Koreans dress? What do they do at their leisure time? What do they sell and buy in the markets? How much mobile communication cost and to whom is it available? And in the end, is it true that North Korean beer is better than South Korean beer?

4. Albert Podell "Around the world in 50 years"

Albert Podell, a man who has visited all countries of the world, tells in his book how his passion for travel began, how he makes it and how long he needed to go everywhere (spoiler: fifty years). If you expect from this book of poetic revelations and other artistic merits, it is better to take another. In this case, we are talking about a rather dry, albeit detailed report, full of technical details of crossing various borders, as well as a detailed description of the dirtiest, noisy and dangerous places on the planet.

5. Somerset Maugham "The Moon and Sixpence"

The action of this novel begins in London, continues in Paris, and then moves to Tahiti. The main character is the unadmitted artist Charles Strickland, distinguished by egregious cynicism and unprincipled, which, of course, bring sympathy. It's not a secret that Paul Gauguin was the prototype of Strickland, as well as the literary hero who left his family for a paradise in a hut with beautiful natives. The focus of the narrative is not only travel by itself, but the spiritual path of the English bourgeois, who suddenly discovered his outside genius, and such a journey is perhaps much more interesting than a trip from one country to another.

6. Pyotr Vail "The word is in the way"

Vail’s cultural journey through Europe was not only intellectual but also fascinating. The tireless writer’s range of interests encompasses art, architecture, the mentality of different nations, and the psychology of random travel companions. But Vail’s main passion seems to be gastronomy. Everything that he ate and drank in different cities and countries is described with genuine love and even passion. So reading this book on an empty stomach is strongly not recommended.

7. Hunter S. Thompson "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

You probably watched a movie made from this book. The film is gorgeous, but the book, of course, is no worse. The novel of the eccentric father of gonzo journalism was released in 1971, but after half a century has not lost its sharpness and energy. Here you have not one trip, but a whole multitude: the actual movement in space - through Nevada to Las Vegas, and the hero’s difficult spiritual path towards madness and self-destruction, and whole range of narcotic trips.

8. Jack Kerouac "On the Road"

This novel was written in 1951, but since publishers rejected it one by one, the book was published only six years after writing. The result is a bestseller status, inclusion in the list of “100 Greatest Novels of All Time” and the title “Bible of the Beat Generation”. Two bosom friends without certain occupations, three years and thousands of miles of wandering around the United States with a stop in Mexico - in their own car, which falls apart on the way, in stolen cars, on the way, on freight trains ... And in addition, this whole story is autobiographical!

9. Tahir Shah "Year in Casablanca"

All of us sometimes dream of drastically changing our lives, but only a few really dare to do it. The author of this book is just one of them. An Englishman of Afghan descent decides on an adventure: he acquires a large dilapidated house on the outskirts of Casablanca and moves to Morocco with his wife and small children. Each of the stages of this action is a separate adventure: buying a house, restoration, moving, a difficult immersion in the local environment, the full inhabitants of which are all kinds of crooks, sorcerers and even genies.

10. Anton Fridland "Travels instead of tourism"

Taking advantage of the privilege of the author of this list, I also include my own book in it. These travel notes covered thirty of my most beloved countries - mainly Europe and Southeast Asia. I tried to avoid the standard scheme "where to go, what to see", and instead I tried to draw the most vivid portrait of each of the country, not forgetting about the people whom I was lucky to encounter during these trips. And, of course, tourism is not bad at all - when you want to just lie on the beach for a couple of weeks. But travel, you see, is better!