Kerouac’s On the Road has the combination of a poet’s unrelenting free-form lyricism in blank verse—freed from the contrived structure of traditionally staid writing as well as at least some of the formula of conventional storytelling—with the unapologetic mania of youth untethered, unbound by the pages in the present moment of being On the Road, the terrible and terribly beautiful mania of the sleep-deprived, self-medicating, t...
The first in our “Literary Companion” series, I want to recommend My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk to those about to visit (or who have just recently visited) Istanbul, Turkey. The novel, originally titled Benim Adim Kirmizi, was written in 1998 and translated into English in 2001. In 2006, Pamuk received the Nobel Prize in Literature; this novel established his reputation and contributed to his Nobel Prize. Those familiar with...
Though unlikely to appear in contemporary “Best Travel Writing” lists, this Laurence Sterne text is the foundation of the genre. Published in 1768, the book portrays Sterne’s 1765 travels through France and Italy. Upon release, the text was extremely popular, establishing travel writing as the dominant genre of the late 18th century. A Sentimental Journey discusses travel in a new light—rather than focusing on skills and lessons...