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Original poster

Recommendations please for noble-minded and literary nephew 20

67 replies

traviata · 06/10/2017 08:52

My DN is captivated by noble tales of self-discovery and a search for authenticity, especially against a wild or epic backdrop, and he is nurturing a dream of discovering life's truths through 'life on the road' instead of buckling down to his mundane studies. Americana features strongly.

What else might he enjoy reading?

He has read all of Cormac McCarthy, William Maxwell, Faulkner, 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer, 'Stoner', 'On the Road' & 'Motorcycle Diaries', George Orwell 'Down & Out in Paris & London', and he has probably read Camus and Sartre.

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Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 10:58

who is that well-known woman writer who went to Antarctica not so long ago?

I don't mean Sara Wheeler, although she has written a very good book about Antartica and also a biog of Apsley Cherry-Garrad which might appeal to DN.

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Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 10:51

Mary Wollstonecraft is a good call. Along with the American West, Scandinavia has a particular appeal.

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SukiPutTheEarlGreyOn · 06/10/2017 10:10

Forgot to mention 'into the wild' (Jon Krakaur) and 'the beach' (Alex Garland') and 'Vagabonding' (Ralph Potts) which includes pioneering women of vagabonding. Robert Byron's 'The road to Oxiana' is both a travel classic and describes a young man's journey. Agree there aren't enough titles suggested by by woman so maybe look at Mary Wollstonecraft's 'Letters from Sweden, Norway, Denmark' and Jan Morris 'Coast to coast'? Also recommended is Clare Holtham's 'The road from Herat' which is a hybrid of poetry and photography from her travels.

PerkingFaintly · 06/10/2017 10:09

I assume he's already read Jack London?

And surely there'll be some Hemingway? I've only seen the film of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, but that seems to tick the boxes.

Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man?

Primo Levi's If This is a Man?

And although it seems almost the opposite of your description, for some reason Toni Morrison's Beloved came to mind. It's certainly about the human condition.

Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:54

has anyone read Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez?

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Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:52

I will look at these, thank you.

Something elegiac would be ideal.

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PerkingFaintly · 06/10/2017 09:39

How about Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible? Missionary family learning about themselves in Congo.

Or Margaret Craven's I Heard the Owl Call My Name.

chewiecat · 06/10/2017 09:34

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas by hunter s thompson

SukiPutTheEarlGreyOn · 06/10/2017 09:33

Somerset Maugham's The razor's edge is about a young American's spiritual odyssey. Also Bruce Chatwin's 'Songlines' and John Fowles 'The Magus' - both were resonant of travel and discovery when I was you DN's age.

Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:24

There are mountaineering books by women, of course, I might investigate some more of those, but sometimes memoirs don't have the literary punch of fiction.

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Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:21

Good point Senua and I was thinking about Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild' to add to the list.

The books in the Oprah article sound like they are mostly quite domestic or restrained (eg Forster) - where are the books by women with a wildness at their heart?

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senua · 06/10/2017 09:18

His list is very male and macho, can we get some females in there?
An article from Oprah

Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:11

yy to Touching the Void.

as it happens I am currently reading one of Joe Simpson's later books - This Game of Ghosts - which I borrowed from DN's shelf! It is heartbreaking stuff, a climbing death on every other page.

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Original poster
traviata · 06/10/2017 09:09

The North Water looks great thanks - I missed it when it came out a couple of years ago.

'All Quiet..' is an incredible book, thank you for suggesting it, but I think DN is likely to have read it.

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senua · 06/10/2017 09:09

Touching the Void. Joe Simpson

BakerCandlestickmaker · 06/10/2017 09:03

I have a teenaged nephew who was very taken by All Quiet on the Western Front, he always cites it as the best book he has read. It doesn't fit your brief but it's a story of a young man growing up in war, food for thought for those of the same age now.

Cantseethewoods · 06/10/2017 08:59

The Northwater