Entertainment for an extremely long walk.

July 28, 2011 8:00 AM

Help me choose books and music for a solo trek through Sweden, Turkey, Nepal, and Jordan. I'll be on the "road" for six months with a lot of down time and a Kindle, so I need a lot of suggestions.

I need at least 50 books. First, I'm interested in fiction or non-fiction related to regions: Sweden (or Scandinavia, Lapland, or the Arctic in general), Turkey (or the Mediterranean), Nepal (or the Himalayas in general), and Jordan (or the Middle East in general).

Second, I'm currently interested in the themes of: nature, hiking, fishing, solitude, shyness, introverts, deception, recovery, physical transformation, depression and becoming a better person. Fiction, non-fiction or even magazine articles.

Third, more generally, I enjoy literature with exceptional artistic merit, especially with multiple protagonists such as Infinite Jest, Cloud Atlas, Let the Great World Spin, and A Visit from the Goon Squad. I also enjoy lighthearted detective/spy novels and chick lit that's not merely romantic, like Confessions of a Shopaholic. I also love YA like Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. Nothing too scary-- I'll be alone in the forest, after all.

Fourth, what books would you recommend to a person who loves: Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, the Good Wife, Mad Men, Parks & Rec, Friday Night Lights, Skins UK, Survivor, or Downton Abbey?

Also... poetry for hanging out in amazing natural places?

In terms of music, I'm searching for albums that would be great to listen to in nature. I typically won't have enough battery power to listen to more than an album a day, and I'm only interested in albums, not individual songs. I enjoy indie rock, pop, and hip hop, but want to bring a few older albums too. I enjoy stuff like Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Ratatat, the XX, Beach House, Sleigh Bells, Antony, the Weeknd, and Frank Ocean.

posted by acidic to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

For poetry hanging out in amazing natural places I recommended some of the classic Chinese poetry translated by Sam Hamill in Crossing the Yellow River. Tons of natural themes.

An older indie rock album that is great to listen to in nature is Mazzy Star's "So Tonight That I Might See."
posted by jeffmshaw at 8:05 AM on July 28, 2011

I'm searching for albums that would be great to listen to in nature.

Boards of Canada, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country. Here's Kid for Today to give you a taste.
posted by googly at 8:06 AM on July 28, 2011

Bill Brysons "A Walk in the Woods." It's basically him chronically his attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail in the US but its very amusing and covers some of the history of the trail and his adventures as pretty much a beginner trying to hike this huge trail. He's not particularly literature per se but he is a very good writer solid writer and storyteller.
posted by wwax at 8:19 AM on July 28, 2011

I would recommend a pair of nonfiction books: Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar and The Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.
posted by mattbucher at 8:25 AM on July 28, 2011

Your Presence Is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman is a novel set in an isolated part of Finland -- at a convalescent home for women. There's solitude, introverts, and deception(!) Creepy rather than scary. A jacket blurb compares the writing to that of Patricia Highsmith -- that seems right.
posted by seabound_coast at 9:04 AM on July 28, 2011

Seconding Bill Bryson. Will add in The Water In Between and Sailing Alone Around the World
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 10:29 AM on July 28, 2011

Two books:

Turkey: My Name is Red by Orhan Panuk

Almost like a mystery novel, among miniaturists in Istanbul in the 16th century. I read this while traveling and it was perfect - supplemented by a visit to the British Library and viewing of tons of illuminated manuscripts!

Sweden: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Not really about Sweden, just written by a Swede. Think a child's primer in philosophy where the lines between fiction and reality slowly start to blur. Vonnegut and Charlie Kaufman would approve.

Both read on recommendations from Mefites! Happy travels!
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 11:51 AM on July 28, 2011

Johan Theorin's Echoes From the Dead is a wonderfully atmospheric mystery set on the Swedish island of Oland. Sounds like it would appeal to you. My great-grandmother came from there; having read it, I feel like I did, too.

I loved Louis de Berniere's Birds Without Wings, set in Turkey.

Try The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan for Israel/Palestine.
posted by Corvid at 2:59 PM on July 28, 2011

I took a somewhat similar trip. I was in Tibet instead of Nepal and also Jordan (which was a surprise highlight of the trip) among other places. I had a limited music selection, and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black was one of three or four albums I had. I have a strong, fond memory of the intense cognitive dissonance I felt looking out of the window of a train in the Himalayas listening to "Rehab."
posted by cmoj at 3:02 PM on July 28, 2011

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson is set in Norway, but still very good.
posted by mattbucher at 8:25 PM on July 28, 2011

The Magus by John Fowles is a good psychological and self deception book. Its also a great read that will leave you a little different at the end. Set in the Mediterranean.

For albums, you could try out Kent's Vapen and Ammunition, good train music and Swedish as a bonus; or vice-versa.
posted by occidental at 8:29 PM on July 28, 2011

Alan Furst writes very good, literary spy novels set during the 1930s and 1940s, generally set in Europe but including some stories or plotlines that have involved Turkey.

W.G. Sebald is worth a try as fiction you might like.

I also really enjoyed Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, about climbing Mt Everest.
posted by Philemon at 11:18 AM on July 29, 2011

Not available in Kindle format, but maybe a fun read before you go: Escape From Kathmandu
posted by mikepop at 11:46 AM on August 1, 2011