To suck or not to suck? : The quaint place of travel writing nestled in the under appreciated world of literature

Rolf Potts wrote a book review of “Smile when you’re lying: Confessions of a rogue travel writer” on WorldHum. The review has led to one of the longer comment threads I’ve seen on WorldHum and largely explores if travel writing sucks. Most agree that there is good travel writing out there, but what runs in many mags and papers is pretty soulless stuff written on comped trips to sell ads.

I don’t necessarily agree with this view. I think that it all has its purpose and if you’re criticizing the Sunday Paper’s Travel section, you’re either an uppity traveler or reader. If you scan the comments, you’ll see a little nugget of mine I would like to share here…

Some people write instruction manuals to crock pots. Some people write award-winning novels. One is useful. One is entertaining. Both are needed.

To translate…

Some people write travel service pieces for Sunday papers. Some people write stories about faraway places. One is useful. One is entertaining. Both are needed.

With that being said, I can’t tolerate much travel writing. It’s not from a lack of trying. I’m all for stories that take place elsewhere. But stuff that verses on the art, psychology, or spirituality of travel, I just can’t chug my way through. I’ve got several Paul Theroux books, including the Great Railway Bazaar, which is supposed to be one of the greatest travel narratives of all time, and I haven’t read a single one of them from cover to cover. The only full-length travel narratives I’ve ever been able to make it all the way through are Bill Bryson’s books and, basically, I would read anything that man wrote including a book about the entire universe.

I require a beginning, a middle, and an end – you know, a story.

So if you are interested in travel writing you should check out the review and the comments. Also, you should checkout this essay by Thomas Swick.