14 books to read on your 2017 summer holiday, wherever you’re going
London, Paris, Tokyo, Bali ... match your reading material to your holiday destination
by Jules Verne
“Was he well travelled? Quite probably, since he had a better knowledge than anyone else of world geography. There wasn’t a single out-of-the-way place that he didn’t seem to know in detail… Here was someone who must have travelled a lot – in his head at any rate.”
Meet Phileas Fogg, hero of Jules Verne’s seminal novel of globe-trotting against the clock. Fogg is a hero of sorts for this article: instead of the usual recommendations of books to take on your summer holiday, here are some site-specific literary works that might suit a range of popular destinations. As Verne’s first description of Fogg reminds us, humans travel in time, space and also our imaginations. One can only hope that your summer holiday has an effect similar to Fogg’s circumnavigation.
“What had the journey brought him?” Verne asks in almost the last words of the novel. “Nothing, it could be said. Nothing, that is, except for a charming wife who, however unlikely it may seem, made him the happiest of men. In all truth, isn’t this more than enough reward for going around the world?”