Reading on a jet plane
When I am about to travel somewhere, I like to read a book set in that location so I can get a feel for it. It’s also fun to do things and see places referenced in the book. Right now I’m reading Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream, which takes place largely in the Bahamas (although I’m currently in the Cuba section).
It’s good insofar as I always enjoy Hemingway. I like how he says what he means, and I think he really accurately captures the brutality of human interaction (in both good and bad ways). I’m only about halfway through it, but thus far, the book is a bit of a downer. Hemingway wrote it at the end of his life, around his suicide, so I guess that makes sense, but thus far the themes seem to be failure, desertion, disappointment, and death.
A Moveable Feast, which I read shortly before and during my trip to Paris, was a whole lot more upbeat. The Sun Also Rises, which I think remains my all-time favorite book, takes place partly in San Sebastian. I read that before I went there for the first time. It has its ups and downs.
Maybe I need to find a less-moody favorite author.
Leave a Reply