[book 2009] Travel writing
18. New Europe by Michael Palin
This is the book that accompanies his latest TV series. It suffers from being brief & episodic in a way that didn't adversely affect the TV series. Still, it's full of fascinating factoids and beautiful pictures, and is more than competently written, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. I might have felt it a waste of time if I've read it closer to watching the series, but as I have a 6-second memory I can't be sure how much overlap there is.
If you're going to choose one or the other, though, I'd pick the DVD.
19. Rebus's Scotland: A Personal Journey by Ian Rankin
I somehow managed to not pick this up right away when it came out (the library didn't get it then, but has it now). Can't say that I missed much. It's Rankin, so it's written incredibly well, but there is very little to it (I read the whole thing yesterday afternoon while stuck in the house with the builders, & it's not like it was quiet and optimal reading conditions round here). As there's quite a lot of social analysis in Rankin's novels, I was expecting something more in depth here, but there is a lot more depth in the books, it works in such a way that if you've read all the books, as I have, there's very little new here, and if you haven't read the books I'm not convinced it would mean much to you.
There's a lot of autobiographical stuff in here but I've seen so many interviews & TV specials on the man that little of that was news to me either.
I can't believe I'm not wholeheartedly recommending something by Ian Rankin, who is one of my favourite living authors. It doesn't suck, but it doesn't add much either.
He refers to Iain Banks's Raw Spirits quite a bit, which I also picked up at the library last week. I think I read them in the wrong order.
This is the book that accompanies his latest TV series. It suffers from being brief & episodic in a way that didn't adversely affect the TV series. Still, it's full of fascinating factoids and beautiful pictures, and is more than competently written, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. I might have felt it a waste of time if I've read it closer to watching the series, but as I have a 6-second memory I can't be sure how much overlap there is.
If you're going to choose one or the other, though, I'd pick the DVD.
19. Rebus's Scotland: A Personal Journey by Ian Rankin
I somehow managed to not pick this up right away when it came out (the library didn't get it then, but has it now). Can't say that I missed much. It's Rankin, so it's written incredibly well, but there is very little to it (I read the whole thing yesterday afternoon while stuck in the house with the builders, & it's not like it was quiet and optimal reading conditions round here). As there's quite a lot of social analysis in Rankin's novels, I was expecting something more in depth here, but there is a lot more depth in the books, it works in such a way that if you've read all the books, as I have, there's very little new here, and if you haven't read the books I'm not convinced it would mean much to you.
There's a lot of autobiographical stuff in here but I've seen so many interviews & TV specials on the man that little of that was news to me either.
I can't believe I'm not wholeheartedly recommending something by Ian Rankin, who is one of my favourite living authors. It doesn't suck, but it doesn't add much either.
He refers to Iain Banks's Raw Spirits quite a bit, which I also picked up at the library last week. I think I read them in the wrong order.