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Travel Writing Snark
Apr. 1st, 2008 11:02 amOh, finally, it’s autumn! Changing leaves, cool mornings, mist resting its paws against the hilltops, a soaking wet Maine Coon with leaves in her fur bounding up to join me in bed.
For an Earth Hour party this weekend, I made these cupcakes topped with this frosting and shredded coconut. Both recipes were easy and tasted outstanding, even when adapted to be dairy-free. And then the party was rescheduled, so I’m going to have to make more next weekend.
Slogging away on the novel. As part of this, I am trudging through various books people have written about New Zealand, trying to find punchy quotes. Not only does this exercise hardly ever provide an appropriate quote – I have more luck with other people’s blog entries (hi,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tehta) - I've come to the awful realization that I like travel writing if it isn't about someplace I have lived. All these bodges of New Zealand have my teeth on edge. I've read about 8 of these by now, written between 1959 and 2003, and I'm weary of the authors’ self-conscious naivete, their inevitable, repetitive paths through New Zealand, their persistent failure to evoke the moody landscape. Paul Theroux is in a class of his own - the precursor of today's "adventure travelers" with his irrepresssible urge to violate tabu and visit places locals don't want him to go, in The Happy Isles Of Oceania he, an American, is cranky throughout the South Pacific until he comes to Hawai'i, an American state.
Any travel writing thoughts, folks?
For an Earth Hour party this weekend, I made these cupcakes topped with this frosting and shredded coconut. Both recipes were easy and tasted outstanding, even when adapted to be dairy-free. And then the party was rescheduled, so I’m going to have to make more next weekend.
Slogging away on the novel. As part of this, I am trudging through various books people have written about New Zealand, trying to find punchy quotes. Not only does this exercise hardly ever provide an appropriate quote – I have more luck with other people’s blog entries (hi,
tehta) - I've come to the awful realization that I like travel writing if it isn't about someplace I have lived. All these bodges of New Zealand have my teeth on edge. I've read about 8 of these by now, written between 1959 and 2003, and I'm weary of the authors’ self-conscious naivete, their inevitable, repetitive paths through New Zealand, their persistent failure to evoke the moody landscape. Paul Theroux is in a class of his own - the precursor of today's "adventure travelers" with his irrepresssible urge to violate tabu and visit places locals don't want him to go, in The Happy Isles Of Oceania he, an American, is cranky throughout the South Pacific until he comes to Hawai'i, an American state. Any travel writing thoughts, folks?
