Around the World by Private/Public Library

This brochure was in my mailbox (the one outside my house: how long will we be able to say that?) last week and at first, had me a bit frightened that Orwell's 1984 had manifested itself in the form of Big Brother's mind-reading, then it just irritated me. 


I haven't been on an airplane since May 2008 for a number of reasons, but the primary one being, for me, for domestic travel, it's just not worth it.  It's gone way beyond a-bus-in-the-sky experience.  And I've often said that the only way I'd travel by plane, domestically, would be by private jet. Then this brochure arrives and I start dreaming of where I'd go, all before even opening the brochure.


National Geographic's stellar reputation precedes itself and this brochure only confirms that:  there's a team of experts, researchers, explorers, all top-notch in their fields, ready to share their worlds.  And calling this experience "an epic expedition" is no doubt true.  But at what price, literally and figuratively?  The literal price is $65-$67,000 per person, depending on time of year.  The figurative price?  Incalculable, boundless, enormous, inestimable, you get the idea.  Just think of the impact to the environment, at large, then the impact to the smaller environment: the villages, the lakes, the groves, etc. that will be visited during this "epic expedition." 


Yes, National Geographic has been at this a long time and I'm sure it employs mitigating steps along the way, but the elitist bent to the trip really bothered me.  So, here is my own reading list for you to travel "around the world by private/public library." (I've touched on both places to be visited by National Geographic journey and my own favorites.)


*The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone
"The passionate biographical novel of Michelangelo" and an excellent background to viewing his artistic genius throughout the museums of Italy today, not to mention it reads like a novel as Stone breathes life into the creator of David, painter of the Sistine ceiling, architect of the dome of St. Peter's and, my favorite, The Pieta (pre- or post- encased).


*A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Mentioned in an earlier post, but worth a second mention here.  Read this and you too will succumb to the author's images of daily life in India and smell the dirt, taste the curry and hear the cacophony that is India's street traffic.


*The Island of Lost Maps, A True Story of Cartographic Crime by Miles Harvey
"Every once in a blue moon you read a book that leaves you absolutely breathless, reminding you of the bright, hidden worlds within our world (emphasis mine). This is that book, a glimmering supersonic journey into terra incognita, where Miles Harvey, acting as writer and sleuth, pursues America's greatest map thief. This is a riveting, hilarious book of twists and turns, unexpected confessions and deep human truths.  You will not rest until the last page." -Michael Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain (Ed. note: Catchy title!)


*Egypt: Read anything by Elizabeth Peters in her Amelia Peabody series; there are more than a dozen.


*Gould's Book of Fish, A Novel in 12 Fish by Richard Flanagan
From the front jacket: Once upon a time when the earth was still young, before all the fish in the sea and all the living things on land began to be destroyed, a man named William Buelow Gould was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Sarah Island penal colony of Van Diemen's land---now Tasmania. A talented phony and art forger, Gould was enlisted by the prison doctor . . ."  Find this book at your local library or used book store; it's worth it and you'll find, despite his surroundings, Gould's story is "an affirmation of life rather than a lament for it.  And, yes, Tasmania, has always been on my list of places to experience.


Where would you journey?