Rainy Day Reading

[whynotwalk]

I happened to be interviewed about my love of nature writing during the wettest week we've had in years (almost everywhere in Tassie). You can read the interview on my blog at http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/

But it got me thinking, so I want to expand it out and ask what you enjoy reading when you're

* tent bound
* stuck inside on a rainy day
* wanting inspiration for getting out there

Please name names. Which books, which authors, which magazines inspire you about getting out there?

cheers

Peter

[rucksack]

OK .. I'll start.

* tent bound | Philippe Petit, To Reach the Clouds, Faber and Faber (2003) .. If you have read this book, nothing more needs to be said; if you haven't, it's the perfect book for a tent bound day (or two). Inspirational.

* stuck inside on a rainy day | Robert Macfarlane, Mountains of the Mind, Granta (2003) .. Brain food for mountaineers and those who love mountains.

* wanting inspiration for getting out there | Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, Penguin Classics (2007) .. newly translated version by Michael Hofman. Metamorphosis is guaranteed to make you want to get out of the tent, out of the house, out of wherever you are and start walking and breathing in fresh air. I promise. Kafka's short stories offer many good reasons to flee to the hills and keep walking .. and walking.

rucksack

[Dave051w]

From the left field Harry Middletons "On the Spine of Time" - does have a flyfishing theme.

And when you want to look at "us lot" and have a laugh Bill Brysons "A Walk in the Woods"

[flyfisher]

Good rainy day book is Frog Call by Greg French. Yeah I know it's a bit of a fishing book but there's a lot more than that.
Interesting read.

ff

[HitchHiking]

Anything by Louis Lamour! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_L'Amour Great for Tent time, when housebound, and the bus, and when I should be working on something else!

His descriptions of the country and the way his characters interact with it make it great fun! I havent read one that I have put down and been dissapointed!

[whynotwalk]

Some nice thoughts everyone.

I'm pretty sure I came across an old Louis Lamour in a hut once, HH (It might have been Junction Lake Hut??) I agree too about Greg French's "Frog Call" FF - I don't even fish, but he nails the atmosphere of being out there in Tassie. Bill Bryson amused me for the first book or two, until I felt there was a formula (involving wry self-deprecation, making fun of the fall-guy etc).

As for books that are very light, small, and ideal for taking on walks, Shambala Pocket Classics are great. Some of my favourites include "Walden" and "Walking" by Thoreau; "Nature" by Emerson; and "The Pocket Thomas Merton". I'm hunting up one on Rumi at the moment. More info at http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/subject/31.cfm

cheers

Peter

[north-north-west]

Work is my inspiration for 'getting out there'. Work & life and a good atlas . . .

Tent-bound: I'm not fussy, though I prefer the classics. Shakespeare, Byron, Tolstoy, Austen. Or I sit there and pick holes in Chapman (sometimes out loud: "you *expletive deleted* moron, that *expletive deleted* section isn't *expletive deleted* flat, it's the *expletive deleted* Beggary Bumps in miniature"). Or just look at the maps. Maps can keep me entertained for hours on end.

[Lindsay]

I am a huge fan of historical fiction and fantasy, which seem to take on an extra something when read out in the wilderness. Sitting on a hillside in Scotland reading Bernard Cornwells 'The Pale Horeseman' and more recently in a remote hut in New Zealand reading book no 12 in Robert Jordans 'Wheel of Time' series were some of the most sublime moments of my walks. I am always happy to make an allowance for the weight of a really good book. I think it a necessity rather than a luxury.

[Phil]

I'm not a big fan of Fiction actually. I do love a good biography; "Scar Tissue" (biography of Anthony Kiedis) would have to be one of my favourite reads.

[stepbystep]

I've been trying to read The Grapes of Wrath lately, it's so bleak I have to put it down and pick up a guide book or some track notes just makes me thankful I live where I do, in the time I do, and that I can do the things I do.
Tentbound it's usually maps or trip reports but I took Quentin Chester's Tales from the Bush into Pelion last year, easily digestible short stories.

[HitchHiking]

Forogt to Mention Jack London- White Fang and the Call of the Wild

[north-north-west]

I've been trying to read The Grapes of Wrath lately, ...

*shudder*
Literature to slit your wrists by. All you need is some suitably depressing music to go with it and you'll just wander off the nearest cliff to end the misery.

[Nick S]

I reckon a good adventure or sci-fi book is important to have on a multiday walk. I have good memories of spending a rainy day at Lake Oberon reading Conan Doyle's The Lost World. The weather was pretty wild when we woke up at High Moor too, but as I'd finished the book already we had to move on as I couldn't handle a day in my tent with nothing to do.

Some interesting reads:
Walden - Henry Thoreau. Can be a bit dry at times but I'd always wondered what one's reflections would be from living like this guy did for a year.
Listening for Coyote - Will Sullivan. The author describes his hike across Oregon state over a few months.
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card. Had to include this as I think it's one of the best short stories around.

Heh not sure I'd bring a Wheel of Time book due to it's size but it is a great series. Brandon Sandersons own books are quite good as well.
Reckon I'll order Mountains of the Mind thanks rucksac, looks like a good read!

Nick S

[juju]

Forogt to Mention Jack London- White Fang and the Call of the Wild

- a great book, my son loved it
I just finished Tim Winton's 'Breath', wow.
I heard of someone traveling in a small group who shared a book by tearing out chapters, I don't know quite how this would go as someone would be waiting at the ens of the line, but it would be a fun thing on a long walk.

[HitchHiking]

Forogt to Mention Jack London- White Fang and the Call of the Wild

- a great book, my son loved it
I just finished Tim Winton's 'Breath', wow.
I heard of someone traveling in a small group who shared a book by tearing out chapters, I don't know quite how this would go as someone would be waiting at the ens of the line, but it would be a fun thing on a long walk.

Yeah the last few pages of The Call of the Wild are just amazing!

Between me and my good mate in canada I dont think one book we have taken bush has come back without a few chapters torn from it. Mostly they are old guides with the route plan in them and our notes everywhere!

[juju]

Between me and my good mate in canada I dont think one book we have taken bush has come back without a few chapters torn from it. Mostly they are old guides with the route plan in them and our notes everywhere!

If anyone found pages 233, 234 and 237, 238 of 100 walks in NSW by Tyrone Thomas (1991 edition), lost somewhere between Cooyoyo Creek Camp and Monoith Valley last October please let me know...

[rucksack]

Nick S

If you manage to lay your hands on a copy of Robert Macfarlane's Mountains of the Mind, you won't regret it. It is a very absorbing read; quite an unusual book. It is sub-titled: A History of a Fascination and it interweaves our fascination with, and understanding of, mountains with his personal experiences of mountains and mountaineering. It's a very readable, yet penetrating book.

Enjoy it!

rucksack

[whynotwalk]

I agree with rucksack - Robert Macfarlane's "Mountains of the Mind" as well as his "The Wild Places" are both great. He was a friend of the late Roger Deakin, who wrote a marvellously eccentric book about swimming across Britain. It's called "Waterlog", and is one of my favourites. A good book by a writer who is also a climber is "Native Stones" by David Craig.

There are quite a few authors who are climbers first, and writers second. While not as 'polished' in literary terms, their writing can be very atmospheric when out in high places. They include Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington, Jim Perrin and Jon Krakauer.

So many mountains, so many books

cheers

Peter

[north-north-west]

If anyone needs motivation to go walking in the Snowy Mtns, read Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby books. I still take a copy with me when I'm heading up that way. And I'm STILL trying to find Thowra's Secret Valley . . .

[Liamy77]

Aussie author (name escapes me atm) but the book of short stories is twisted, funny n really well written "Dead Fishy" - yeah mostly fishin stories but not all of em!

[Phil]

Just read a book last week called "Going Postal". The account of a young Englishman who when required to leave Australia only a couple of years ago (due to his VISA expiring) decides rather than flying, to ride his postie bike all the way back - firstly from Sydney to Darwin, then island hopping across Indonesia, through SE Asia, the sub-continent, and then makes his way through western China and Russia etc through to Europe. Very enjoyable and easy read.

[sailfish]

One of the books I have really enjoyed recently is The Unlikely Voyage Of Jack De Crow. An Australian working in England sails and rows a Mirror dinghy through the canals of England. The adventure grows as he continues across The Channel, through the French canals, to the Rhine, the Danube and eventually to the Black Sea. He couldn't even row when he set out.

Currently returned to the Earths Children series after many years, Valley Of Horses. Hmm.... There is a lot of repetition in these books, like a TV series giving the background you may have missed (padding). I often don't finish books that I get annoyed with the writing but for some reason I'm still going at it. It must be the unlikely story itself.

Ken

[whynotwalk]

I'm enjoying the variety of responses on this thread! And thanks Phil for the mention of "Going Postal". I just got myself a copy courtesy of some credit at Fullers. It looks like just the thing for the winter weather that just struck Hobart today

And speaking of snow, a friend from Alaska recently sent me a superb book called "Wild Moments: Adventures with Animals in the North" edited by Michael Engelhard. It's a collection of tails about encounters with wildlife in Alaska, and there are some brilliant pieces. It's probably not available in Australia, but if you're interested try here: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Wild-Moments-Michael-Engelhard/9781602230484

cheers

Peter

[ILUVSWTAS]

Heh not sure I'd bring a Wheel of Time book due to it's size but it is a great series.

Nick S

It depends where your going Nick.. I took vol.5 into the walls recently, such an easy stroll up there it doesnt really matter how heavy your pack is. On the Eldons or POW however I dont think I'll take ANYTHING to read.

A great series indeed thanks again for putting me onto it Nick! Im now onto vol.6

[gayet]

I have wondered why there has been no mention of some of the historical accounts of mountaineering here. I don't climb mountains, don't have the knees for it, but I find reading some of the accounts, trip and track reports if you like, from the 1850's onwards fascinating. Not having the particular book to hand I can't state the name of it but it was a compilation of articles from a British climbing club, covering the European Alps and noteworthy efforts from early 1850's to early 1860's if I recall correctly. The book is in a box somewhere but I doubt it is in print now. It was elderly when I found it in a 2nd hand shop, but not ancient elderly only 1970's elderly.

[Lindsay]

Heh not sure I'd bring a Wheel of Time book due to it's size but it is a great series. Brandon Sandersons own books are quite good as well.
Reckon I'll order Mountains of the Mind thanks rucksac, looks like a good read!

Nick S

Wheel of Time no 12 weighs 513g Nick, and I thought hard before taking it, but it did last me the whole walk plus the airport waiting and plane trips to and from NZ, so it worked its passage!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Nick S

Wheel of Time no 12 weighs 513g[/quote]


Sigh.... and im only up to book 6... When on earth am I going to find the thime to read the 9th book in the THOMAS COVENANT series!!!!

[Nick S]

It depends where your going Nick.. I took vol.5 into the walls recently, such an easy stroll up there it doesnt really matter how heavy your pack is. On the Eldons or POW however I dont think I'll take ANYTHING to read.

A great series indeed thanks again for putting me onto it Nick! Im now onto vol.6

Its great when people enjoy a recommendation... George Martins song of fire and ice series is just as epic and now has a well made tv series showing on HBO in the US. Na I tend to alternate between sci fi, fantasy, and classic novels in my reading

[Nick S]

It depends where your going Nick.. I took vol.5 into the walls recently, such an easy stroll up there it doesnt really matter how heavy your pack is. On the Eldons or POW however I dont think I'll take ANYTHING to read.

A great series indeed thanks again for putting me onto it Nick! Im now onto vol.6

Its great when people enjoy a recommendation... George Martins song of fire and ice series is just as epic and now has a well made tv series showing on HBO in the US. Na I tend to alternate between sci fi, fantasy, and classic novels in my reading

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yes I aim to read Mr Martins series next, probably in 2013. Got another 6000 pages in the WOT series to go yet.