Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Qupperneq 26

24 AT L A N T I CA
on the fly
Temperatures are dropping; the days are getting colder. Time to curl up with a good
stack of books about some faraway places.
Barrister John Gimlette seems to enjoy unusual travels. He has followed up his
first book, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels through Paraguay, with another
obscure destination also featuring an animal. The colorful and descriptive Theatre
of Fish chronicles Gimlette’s travels through the remote Canadian province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, an area dependent on fishing until cod stocks were
depleted in the early 1990s, devastating the economy. The book roughly follows
the path of the author’s great-grandfather, Dr. Eliot Curwen, in the late 19th century.
Gimlette visits some of the province’s more creatively named places, including
Blow Me Down, Mistaken Point, Dildo, and Heart’s Desire. There is a helpful glossary
at the front to enable readers to comprehend obscure Newfoundland idioms which
pepper the story in various encounters with locals. Sadly, as he explains at the end,
the fish have still not recovered, but the people are as welcoming as ever.
It’s a tough job but....
In Three Sheets to the Wind, beer expert Pete Brown heads off on a round-the-world
trip to discover the meaning of beer and what it’s like to down a pint in various
different countries. In the name of research, he visits more than 300 bars and pubs
in 27 towns in 13 countries on four continents – and puts on a lot of weight. As is
typical with quest stories, he manages to uncover a little bit about those clichés,
the meaning of life and the kindness of strangers along the way. But fortunately,
Three Sheets to the Wind is written with the famous Brit dry wit, so there’s a laugh
on almost every page. Cheers!
The ultimate in armchair travel, Eland’s new series, Through Writers’ Eyes, chronicles
four destinations in a series of passionate and scholarly extracts by established
authors and travelers, both ancient and new. The extracts include selections from
longer classics like Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, to poetry to short
essays. Read what DH Lawrence, Homer and WH Auden had to say about Sicily.
Follow TE Lawrence through Aleppo in Syria or indulge in William Dalrymple and
Colin Thubron’s tales of this mystical country. There are also books for Croatia and
Marrakesh and next year sees editions for Persia, The Turkish Coast, The Nile and St.
Petersburg. travelbooks.co.uk
The harrowing tale of the 1972 Andes plane crash and rescue was made famous
by the book Alive by Piers Paul Read, and by the 1994 film of the same name.
But it is only now that one of the survivors tells in his own words the story of the
airplane crash carrying members of a Uruguayan rugby team, their survival on a
glacier at 11,000 feet, and their courageous trek to freedom. Nando Parrado, one
of the two men who trekked for 10 days to find rescue when the survivors had
been given up for dead, writes about what it was like to survive in the Andes for 72
days, including their infamous need to eat the bodies of their dead teammates to
survive. Captivating, moving and inspiring.
THE QUEST
Three Sheets to the Wind,
by Pete Brown
THE LITERARY
GUIDE BOOK
Through Writers’ Eyes series,
Eland Publishing
THE TRUE STORY
Miracle in the Andes,
by Nando Parrado
Travel reading to take you from A to Z. Compiled by Eliza Reid.
THE JOURNEY
Theatre of Fish,
by John Gimlette
G
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009 airmail Atlantica 506 .indd 24 25.8.2006 0:32:11