The Art of Rough Travel: From the Peculiar to the Practical by Sir
Francis Galton (The Mountaineers Books, $15.95, 1594850585, October
2006)
This compendium of advice from a 19th century explorer would be a fine
book to consult while standing in a long security line--the situations
Galton addresses make current travel restrictions seem a cakewalk (see:
"Revolting Food, That May Save the Lives of Starving Men"). The advice
is often actually practical--how to find one's way down a hillside or
through a forest, how to tie elementary knots--and is often charming:
"In countries where they can be used without danger, cattle bells
should always be taken; it adds greatly to the cheerfulness and
gregariousness of the animals--mules positively require them. Hard wood
is sonorous enough for bells."
Some facts are surprisingly current: "It is in the nature of women to be fond of carrying weights; [a modern woman] has hardly ever pockets of a sufficient size to carry small articles; for she prefers to load her hands with a bag or other weighty object." The offbeat tips are fascinating (and abundant), as in the suggestion for secreting jewels, wherein the jewels are buried in the traveler's flesh, optimally in the same spot as one's vaccination; a traveler thus provided "would always have a small capital to fall back upon, though robbed of everything he wore." While Galton's writing provides much to amuse today's readers, his counsel is frequently relevant and elegantly stated. At the end of a journey, he stresses the importance of keeping memoranda, saying, "It appears impossible to a traveler, at the close of his journey, to believe he will ever forget its events [but] crowds of new impressions, during a few months or years of civilized life, will efface the sharpness of the old ones . . . passed out of [his] memories like the events of a dream."
The Week-End Book edited by Francis Meynell (The Overlook Press, $17.95, 1585678139, May 2006)
The Week-End Book was first published by the Nonesuch Press in June
1924, and with various editions and alterations, was reprinted in
England 19 times. A slightly more civilized guidebook than Sir Francis'
volume, it nevertheless has its cutthroat moments. In the chapter on
games, "Russian Sledges" is explained: "We all write down the same list
of a dozen of the dearest friends we have in common. Each of us then
imagines himself crossing the steppes of Russia with all of them in a
sledge pursued by hungry wolves, and one has to throw them out one by
one." One imagines that merriment may not ensue, especially if the
variant "Human Sacrifices" is played instead, a game "impossible
amongst normally sensitive persons."
Written as both advice for guests and travelers, and as a collection to entertain same, Meynell included information on star-gazing, architecture, a complex formula for finding the date of Easter Sunday in any year, periods of animal gestation and incubation, campsite equipment, a birding guide, songs and poems, and a chapter titled "The Law and How You Break It." In the Etiquette section, a piece on saying grace from Leigh Hunt exemplifies the book's eclecticism: "It is not creditable to a 'thinking people' that the two things they most thank God for should be eating and fighting . . . This is odd. Strange that we should keep our most pious transports for the lowest of our appetites and the most melancholy of our necessities!"
Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq by Jonathan Trouern-Trend (Sierra Club Books, $9.95, 1578051312, May 2006)
Francis Meynell says, in his introduction to bird songs,
"Bird-watching, advised a famous Field-Marshal, is the ideal hobby for
all young officers." Jonathan Trouern-Trend would no doubt agree,
although "birding in Iraq" and "hobby" don't seem to belong in the same
universe. Deployed in 2004, the author started an online birding
journal (archived at birdingbabylon.blogspot.com/) from which
this book is drawn, and in his everyday accounts, "fulfilled a need to
know that something worthwhile or even magical was happening, even in
the midst of suicide bombings and rocket attacks." After missing a
whiskered tern sighting in Delaware in 1993, 11 years and 6,300 miles
later he finally saw one to add to his life list, and added 122 more
species while in Iraq. On convoy from Kuwait, as he waited in defensive
position for a flat tire change, wondering if a guy in a pickup would
be taking a shot at them, he saw a pair of crested larks not 10 feet
away, the male displaying and dancing.
"Today I had to drive some people over to get a helicopter ride, so I took my binos and bird book. On the way I saw a nice lesser kestrel fly right in front of my humvee. Birding on base doesn't usually elicit any undue attention from the MPs. I think everyone thinks I'm doing security work when I'm looking into the distance with binoculars. I'm not sure what they think when I'm looking up in a tree."
Whether describing the ruins of an ancient amphitheater near Babylon or checking out the base laundry pond, Trouern-Trend found "continuity and reassurance" in birding. His journal, with its quiet celebration of life and its ordinary but precious delights, is a slender joy of a book.--Marilyn Dahl
This compendium of advice from a 19th century explorer would be a fine
book to consult while standing in a long security line--the situations
Galton addresses make current travel restrictions seem a cakewalk (see:
"Revolting Food, That May Save the Lives of Starving Men"). The advice
is often actually practical--how to find one's way down a hillside or
through a forest, how to tie elementary knots--and is often charming:
"In countries where they can be used without danger, cattle bells
should always be taken; it adds greatly to the cheerfulness and
gregariousness of the animals--mules positively require them. Hard wood
is sonorous enough for bells."Some facts are surprisingly current: "It is in the nature of women to be fond of carrying weights; [a modern woman] has hardly ever pockets of a sufficient size to carry small articles; for she prefers to load her hands with a bag or other weighty object." The offbeat tips are fascinating (and abundant), as in the suggestion for secreting jewels, wherein the jewels are buried in the traveler's flesh, optimally in the same spot as one's vaccination; a traveler thus provided "would always have a small capital to fall back upon, though robbed of everything he wore." While Galton's writing provides much to amuse today's readers, his counsel is frequently relevant and elegantly stated. At the end of a journey, he stresses the importance of keeping memoranda, saying, "It appears impossible to a traveler, at the close of his journey, to believe he will ever forget its events [but] crowds of new impressions, during a few months or years of civilized life, will efface the sharpness of the old ones . . . passed out of [his] memories like the events of a dream."
The Week-End Book edited by Francis Meynell (The Overlook Press, $17.95, 1585678139, May 2006)
The Week-End Book was first published by the Nonesuch Press in June
1924, and with various editions and alterations, was reprinted in
England 19 times. A slightly more civilized guidebook than Sir Francis'
volume, it nevertheless has its cutthroat moments. In the chapter on
games, "Russian Sledges" is explained: "We all write down the same list
of a dozen of the dearest friends we have in common. Each of us then
imagines himself crossing the steppes of Russia with all of them in a
sledge pursued by hungry wolves, and one has to throw them out one by
one." One imagines that merriment may not ensue, especially if the
variant "Human Sacrifices" is played instead, a game "impossible
amongst normally sensitive persons."Written as both advice for guests and travelers, and as a collection to entertain same, Meynell included information on star-gazing, architecture, a complex formula for finding the date of Easter Sunday in any year, periods of animal gestation and incubation, campsite equipment, a birding guide, songs and poems, and a chapter titled "The Law and How You Break It." In the Etiquette section, a piece on saying grace from Leigh Hunt exemplifies the book's eclecticism: "It is not creditable to a 'thinking people' that the two things they most thank God for should be eating and fighting . . . This is odd. Strange that we should keep our most pious transports for the lowest of our appetites and the most melancholy of our necessities!"
Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq by Jonathan Trouern-Trend (Sierra Club Books, $9.95, 1578051312, May 2006)
Francis Meynell says, in his introduction to bird songs,
"Bird-watching, advised a famous Field-Marshal, is the ideal hobby for
all young officers." Jonathan Trouern-Trend would no doubt agree,
although "birding in Iraq" and "hobby" don't seem to belong in the same
universe. Deployed in 2004, the author started an online birding
journal (archived at birdingbabylon.blogspot.com/) from which
this book is drawn, and in his everyday accounts, "fulfilled a need to
know that something worthwhile or even magical was happening, even in
the midst of suicide bombings and rocket attacks." After missing a
whiskered tern sighting in Delaware in 1993, 11 years and 6,300 miles
later he finally saw one to add to his life list, and added 122 more
species while in Iraq. On convoy from Kuwait, as he waited in defensive
position for a flat tire change, wondering if a guy in a pickup would
be taking a shot at them, he saw a pair of crested larks not 10 feet
away, the male displaying and dancing."Today I had to drive some people over to get a helicopter ride, so I took my binos and bird book. On the way I saw a nice lesser kestrel fly right in front of my humvee. Birding on base doesn't usually elicit any undue attention from the MPs. I think everyone thinks I'm doing security work when I'm looking into the distance with binoculars. I'm not sure what they think when I'm looking up in a tree."
Whether describing the ruins of an ancient amphitheater near Babylon or checking out the base laundry pond, Trouern-Trend found "continuity and reassurance" in birding. His journal, with its quiet celebration of life and its ordinary but precious delights, is a slender joy of a book.--Marilyn Dahl