Wednesday 16 March 2016

The latest books I have read ...


I have recently read two books on travels that couldn't be more different than they actually were, despite having been both written in a sort of diary format. The facts which have been described took place in completely different epochs 3 Ans de voyage  just a few years ago and Quinze jours en Hollande back in 1893; the related issues span through equally different periods of time, one  three years as against the other which corresponds to a mere fifteen days, and their authors being a young French couple going on a reduced budget adventure around the world, whilst the other happens to be a well known French poet (Paul Verlaine) on a series of conferences in Holland following an invitation. 









They are both very interesting and though I could easily see myself in the shoes of the authors of  3 Ans de voyage,  Paul Verlaine's way of writing and meticulous observations in Quinze jours en Hollande (in its Portuguese adapted version) did touch me profoundly. 


 





They both have illustrations, which is something I feel for and would like to be able to do while travelling myself. If on one hand 3 Ans de voyages' pages are interspersed with incredibly beautiful water colour and pen sketches made by one of its authors, the other provides the reader with a few interesting black and white sketches and photographs that add to the  Literary and Artistic feeling of the epoch as well as the author, which they are related to.



I can't deny I have spent some rather comforting hours "in the company" of these authors, whom I praise.
 
 






 
 
 

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