ROAR Term V

For our last term, we will be reading Travel Literature. We will use a broad definition of "travel," and you can feel free to pick a book that recounts an actual journey or select a story of fictional travels.

Hint: If the title has "travel" or "journey" in it, then it is probably going to be acceptable.

You need to get right on selecting a book, since there is not a week break this term and it is so short.

Please use Amazon to research your books. Many students have written ROAR reviews that show dislike for the style of writing. This should not happen since you have the ability to read a few pages before launching full into the book.

Here are two that I like:

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history.


The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers.