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During my trip I have been partaking in books, comedy and music.
Here's a quick review of the main Side kicks to my trip.
Books:
I've got through quite a few but my favourite has been 'The Kite Runner'.
If you thought Afganistan was just a torn up, backwards desert filled with Taliban, Al Quaida and any other evil regime that might do you harm, you'd be wrong. 'The Kite Runner' is a well written story that describes the country before it was torn up by one misfortune after another. It does this so well that I'd put it on my countries to travel list if that Afganistan existed today. It is easy to see why the country was a popular stop for hippies on the free love trail of the sixties.
The main character, much like the country, is torn up by unfortunate circumstances. His attempts to resolve these are the focus of the book. A brilliant read.
As I mentioned, I've read 'The Life of Pi' and some Ernest Hemmingway but also some of 'The Cantebury Tales' and 'Enduring Love' too.
In 800ad, when Chaucer wrote 'The Cantebury Tales', they were clearly having a lot of fun. Like an adult Dr Seus, he weaves tales of sex, alcohol and violence with a large helping of humour. Tricked into kissing the girl you loves backside? What better way to take revenge than shoving a red hot poker up her lover's posterior!
'Enduring Love' is a great read, I had enjoyed Iain McEwan's other novel 'The Cement Garden' but couldn't get to grips with 'Atonement'. I really enjoyed 'Enduring Love'. McEwan managed to twist your opinion of the main character in line with the opinions of others in the novel. Overall, a really interesting story with plenty of twists and turns.
Ernest Hemingway is a perfect writer for my holiday. His passion for the outdoors and his love of nature shines through in his stories. I brought a compilation of 49 short stories with me and have got through 25 of them so far. My favourites have been 'A Very Short Story', 'My Old Man' and 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber'.
What would you do if the ship you were on sank, you lost all your family and find yourself floating in the Pacific ocean on a life raft with a Tiger, a Zebra, a Hyena and an Orangutan? This is the predicament that Piscine Molitar Patel finds himself in in the novel 'The Life of Pi'.
The novel again weaves the tale of idylic life in India (again a country we might have preconceived ideas about much like Afganistan in 'The Kite Runner') then takes us through the tragedy that unfolds and the next 220 or so days at sea on 'the ark'. Presented as a true story, the ending still has me thinking and wondering now.
On the Ipod:
On the iPod has been an audio book of 'Hell No I Aint Happy' which is the stand up comedy of Rich Hall and the musical comedy of his alter ego Otis Lee Crenshaw. The takes on Country Music and the recession are hillarious and I must have listened to it about ten times now.
Music wise the Paolo Nutini track Candy has been a regular as has the track Look by Sebastien Tellier, a french electronic musician. The album of choice has been the Danger Mouse mash up of The Beatles White Album and Jay Z's Black Album (title of this is The Grey Album). Add to the eclectic feel of this was Tie My Kangaroo Down and some Disney tracks and remixes.
For me, the sounds and stories of the holidays are just as important as the adventures themselves.
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