Wanderer Between Worlds wrote:I’d be curious to know if anyone has ever visited Prince Edward Island and the Anne of Green Gables museum there. It is one of my dreams to visit/tour the various locations tied to my favorite books—Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts; the Anne of Green Gables museum on Prince Edward Island; the Kilns (C.S. Lewis’s home); the Agatha Christie Gallery at the Torquay museum; the Château de Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas’s home); and the Sherlock Holmes museum. Does anyone else have any “literary pilgrimages” they would want to go on?
This is such a good question. I've been to a few places on my list, like Bath (
Persuasion)and Chatsworth (
Pride and Prejudice). When my family visited Venice several years ago my sister and I spent a lot of time seeking out the places in Cornelia Funke's
The Thief Lord. I've been to Oxford, but I'd like to spend more time there. My sister has been to Hill Top. I've been to the Lake District many times, but haven't made it there yet. A lot of the places I'd really like to visit don't actually exist, though ...
I would like to go to New Zealand to see Hobbiton!
I've been reading through a rather strange (and frankly disappointing) list of books recently, which I've offset by re-reading some of the Chronicles of Narnia.
First was
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. This has been recommended to me several times because of its link with
Save the Cat!, an important book on screenwriting. I was also interested because it talks about various myths and beliefs from around the world in an attempt to solidify them all into one story. What was good were the stories and myths in the book, many of which I did not know. What was not so good was the rest of it, which was heavily Freud-dependent, at times incomprehensible, and very dated in multiple ways. I also didn't like how Campbell dug up the smallest, oddest bits of church history as 'proof'. His use of apostate thinkers to prove his theories makes me sincerely doubt the rest of his arguments, especially regarding other religions and beliefs I know little about. However, there are moments of clarity and good thinking in here that I did appreciate. I gave it two stars on Goodreads because I did enjoy some of it.
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane was a gift. I haven't read anything else by the author so I wasn't sure what to expect. The blurb was promising, listing myth, history, geography, geology ... lots of interesting areas. However. Though parts of this book are fascinating, by the time I was interested and engaged the author had made his point and was on to the next thing. It all felt very bitty, a bit like reading short articles that whet your appetite but don't satisfy. I would have liked to read one book on one subject. The problem is that the 'whole' holding this book together is a vague, made-up concept that involves much waffling and quasi-poetic meandering. It was at times very beautiful. Other times it was annoying and pretentious. I did like the little bits of information given, though. I enjoyed the parts about ancient cave art, and I'd like to find a book more thoroughly on that subject.
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford is a book I was looking forward to. I hadn't heard of Spufford at all until the 'fanfiction' Narnia book he wrote was mentioned on Twitter. I read and liked what I saw, so I thought I'd read some of his other work.
Golden Hill was well-recommended. Unfortunately I really didn't like it. The opening is very good, introducing the characters and setting well and drawing me right into the world. I enjoyed learning more about 1740s New York (I really need to read more about American history) and the differences between there and England (which I know more about at that time). However, the initial question presented in the opening pages (and on the back cover of the book) are not answered until the last pages. Why
is Mr Smith in New York? To distract the readers from the question, Smith is put into increasingly soap opera-like situations. The reveal at the end isn't enough to warrant the secrecy. It adds nothing to hide it from the reader (and in fact takes away suspense). A real pity, and one of the few books I don't recommend reading.