Top 5 Books for May 2009
- Lonely Planet Magazine ‐ May 2009
I tentatively started reading the Lonely Planet magazines in the same way fanatic film fans watch the TV spin off of their favourite flick, harbouring a prejudice that it might taint the precursor while also secretly hoping it will provide a healthy and regular infusion of what they’ve come to love so much. Luckily the Lonely Planet magazine in no way diminished my affection for the company keeping guidebooks that have safely guided me around the planet so far. Furthermore the mini guide concept found in the back of this serial is a most excellent, easily removable guide that, unlike many a guide, actually fits in your pocket. In the May edition you’ll find a succinct debrief of the cost, accessibility and culture in Leeds and despite the sweeping comparison to London’s Knightsbridge district, this Yorkshireman thoroughly agrees with the recommendations. In other articles you can enjoy travel commentaries from the finest writers, presenters and producers around, hand picked by the BBC. Matt Bolton’s take on Mardi Gras in Salvador is a fine example of said word‐smithery, capturing you and the atmosphere in the first paragraph before reeling you in and pleasurably dragging you through to the end.
Lonely Planet Magazine is available from all good bookshops and is a monthly publication (£3.50 per edition).
- The Backpacker by John Harris
This one is a classic backpacker accessory from back in the day of 2001, and ahead of it’s re‐issue in August here’s a sneaky little teaser to compliment the free extract served up in this travel edition of the E‐zine. This is a Hunter S. Thompson style, almost autobiographical account of Harris’ trek around the planet and the mayhem that ensued when his girlfriend ditches him in India, only to be quickly replaced by force of nature travel companion, Rick. This read encompasses everything from the meek disappointment at the reality of a tourist riddled Thailand to the impersonation of wealthy socialites, among the drugged up beauties of Koh Pha‐Ngan! If you’re one of those easily impressionable people who switch career directions at the drop of a hat, don’t read this. If however you’re strong enough to enjoy a thorough challenge of your values and goals, then integrate your brain with this one.
The Backpacker by John Harris is published by Summersdale (paperback; £7.99). It is available for pre‐order through amazon.co.uk and is due to be published in August.
- Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Welcome to the island of Bougainville near Papua New Guinea. Here your characters du jour live off the land and the sea in a society that’s slowly having the life squeezed out of it by a military blockade. Despite the degenerating, fuel starved generators and the looming threat of raids by the ‘red skin’ military, a beacon of intellectual defiance shines out from unwitting teacher, Mr Watts. As the only white man on the island Watts is something of a last mammoth standing, but when the civil war kicks off and the teachers leave town, it’s Watts who steps up to the plate and takes over the education of the village youngsters. With no educational tools around, it’s a copy of the Dickens classic, Great Expectations that saves the day. You’ll fall in love with our narrating point of view, also know as Matilda, and when her family feud crosses the path of civil unrest, you’ll feel her anguish as if it’s your own. This is one that should have won the Man Booker Prize.
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones is published by John Murray (paperback; £7.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
- Rob da Bank’s A‐Z of Festivals
If you’ve never heard of the eponymous Rob da Bank then here’s a dose of benefit‐of‐the‐doubt, followed by an injection of biography. Rob da Bank is a famed DJ for BBC Radio 1, the owner of record label Sunday Best, organiser of the festival ‐ Bestival and a Londoner, who’s married to Josie, the illustrator of this badger. Lesson over. This festival guide takes us through an A to Z of world wide gatherings, in a completely comprehensive manner. It’s also laced with an appealing amount of lucid cynicism and genuine, get your credit card out and book tickets ‐ appeal. My personal favourite has to be the description of the Secret Garden Party and seeing as the opening line simply cannot be bettered, here it is: “Never before had I seen a wooden ship on a lake being shot at with burning arrows while a semi naked Grace Jones sang Pull up to the Bumper on stage and the girl in the lion outfit next to me somersaulted backwards, laughing and vomiting at the same time.” Fit.
Rob da Bank’s A‐Z of Festivals is published by Pan Macmillan (hardback; £9.99). It is also available through panmacmillan.com and all good booksellers.
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Ashamedly my only encounter with Steinbeck before this was Cannery Row, bequeathed to me by a drunken and rather absent minded Liverpudlian on the Bruce Highway over in Aus. Comparatively The Grapes of Wrath is a whole different can of fish, and that’s where the strained mixed metaphors come to an end, I promise. In this Pulitzer Prize winning, heavy‐weight of a book, an arsenal of literary devices transport you to the dust bowl territories of California and Oklahoma in the days of the great (twentieth century) depression. The family you follow goes by the name of Joad, who like so many others in their contemporary setting, have no choice but to travel west in the vain search of streets paved with gold. Steinbeck is a master writer because with him you know there’s never going to be a delusional, happy ever after. Instead you’ll find that with his titles, you’re guaranteed a majestic dose of candid reality and a lucid dollop of just how much the human spirit can endure. Now back to the Steinbeck shelf of the local library.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is published by Penguin (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through penguin.com and all good booksellers.
‐ Rob Savage
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