All things going well, in exactly one month from today, I’ll be saddling up my trusted ‘Steppenwolf’ and start cycling. Viva Portugal, here we come!
What better way to prepare for an upcoming journey, than to read about the destination? Not just travel books – novels, travelogues, short stories, crime fiction, anything goes…
After a quick browse on real life bookshelves I came up with the following pile:
Monica Ali: Alentejo Blue
Barry Hatton: The Portuguese, A Modern History
José Saramago: El Viaje del Elefante / The Elephant’s Journey
José Saramago: La Caverna / The Cave
Pascal Mercier: Nachtzug nach Lissabon / Nighttrain to Lisbon
Ines Pedrosa: In Deinen Händen / Nas Tuas Mãos / No English translation available?!
Francisco Jose Viegas: O Colecionador de Ervas / No English translation available?!
Cees Nooteboom: Die folgende Geschichte / The Following Story
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Not bad for a start! On the virtual bookshelves the choice is as usual near limitless…
There are of course the literary giants, Jose Saramago, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Eça de Queiroz and Fernando Pessoa.
Tell a Story, an awesome little mobile bookshop in Lisbon, recommended a bit of a younger selection:
Jacinto Lucas Pires: The True Actor
Jose Luis Peixoto: The Piano Cemetery
Afonso Cruz: Jesus Christ Drank Beer
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See you soon, Portugal! More about the travel plans coming soon!
Peppertreechronicles 