July 12th, 2009 / 2:53 pm
Behind the Scenes

travel reading

I feel like Jessa Crispin right now. Doesn’t/didn’t she always blog about what books to pack for trips? Well,  this time tomorrow I’ll be at JFK, boarding a plane to Hong Kong, where I’ll be spending the next month. (No worries, I’ll still be wired there, so you’ll hear from me, albeit perhaps in the middle of the night, since HK is 12 or 13 hours ahead of the East Coast.) Anyway, I’m trying to pack my reading materials for the trip, and have narrowed the list down to a dozenish candidates. I’ll probably take about half that many. The idea is to ensure a variety of options (I learned last year that English language bookstores in HK are basically non-existent, and what’s on offer tends to be horrible) but without making my bag weigh 100 pounds. Read the list and feel free to vote for favorites or suggest other options, though at this point, if your picks aren’t already in my bedroom they’re probably out of the running.

Pirate Utopias (non-fiction/history/politics) – Peter Lamborn Wilson (aka Hakim Bey)

The Sickness Unto Death (philosophy/religion) – Soren Kierkegaard

Sanatorium Unde the Sign of the Hourglass (fiction: stories) – Bruno Schulz

Last Things (fiction: novel) – Jenny Offill

Selected Poems – George Oppen

We Did Porn: Memoir and Drawings – Zak Smith (aka Zak Sabbath)

Like You’d Understand, Anyway (fiction: stories) – Jim Shepard

Omens of Millenium (non-fiction/philosophy/religion) – Harold Bloom

Classic Crews (two novels, one autobiography, three essays all in one spine) – Harry Crews

A Heaven of Others (fiction: novel) – Joshua Cohen

Bats Out of Hell (fiction: stories) – Barry Hannah

So that’s the list as of right now. There’s too much fiction on there, I know that, and though the Crews has a lot of bang-for-buck, I already read the first book in it (the nonfiction one) so I’m at risk of getting burnt out on him. The Shepard book would be a lock, except I’ve read the first handful of stories already and I’d hate to finish it on the plane over then have to lug it around. Smith also would be a lock except I’m going to stay with family, so it’s like when exactly do I sit around and read the illustrated porno-memoir? Oppen, being the only poetry choice, is probably a shoe-in, and I’m really excited to spend a month getting to know his work. I’ve never read him. I’d love to have another poetry choice, but it would need to be another selected, so I could dip in and out of it throughout. Also, I wish I had a pocket bible, instead of my unbringable Oxford King James. Oh shit, I’m also noticing that except for Jenny Offill, there’s no women on this list Hmm. I was thinking of bringing at least one re-read anyway, so that could be, uh….Amy Hempel’s Collected Stories, which for me comes close enough to poetry (in spirit, sort of) to solve three problems at once (re-read, women, poetry). Or else something by Christine Schutt… Maybe the first book? Christ, I’m losing it. And now the phone’s ringing and the subletter is here.

19 Comments

  1. Sabra Embury

      I enjoyed reading this. This afternoon I’m alternating between volume one of HST’s the Proud Highway and Kundera’s the Art of the Novel. Until now, I didn’t stop to think I wasn’t reading fiction. I would highly recommend both books, whether or not that’s a given.

      And maybe we should invent book kuzis for privacy.

  2. Sabra Embury

      I enjoyed reading this. This afternoon I’m alternating between volume one of HST’s the Proud Highway and Kundera’s the Art of the Novel. Until now, I didn’t stop to think I wasn’t reading fiction. I would highly recommend both books, whether or not that’s a given.

      And maybe we should invent book kuzis for privacy.

  3. larry

      That Pirate Utopia book has my interest piqued, be curious to hear what you think…

  4. larry

      That Pirate Utopia book has my interest piqued, be curious to hear what you think…

  5. davidpeak

      No matter what, take the Schulz. Top-flight stuff.

  6. davidpeak

      No matter what, take the Schulz. Top-flight stuff.

  7. pr

      I loved Last Things by Offill. I would bring the Shulz, too.

  8. pr

      I loved Last Things by Offill. I would bring the Shulz, too.

  9. keith n b

      i haven’t been able to pick schultz back up and finish it because i liked it too much. if you like jan svankmajer or the brothers quay, you’re in for a treat.

  10. keith n b

      i haven’t been able to pick schultz back up and finish it because i liked it too much. if you like jan svankmajer or the brothers quay, you’re in for a treat.

  11. Jonny Ross

      i don’t know. seems like a nice selection to pick from. can’t really go wrong. Hannah is always good times.

  12. Jonny Ross

      i don’t know. seems like a nice selection to pick from. can’t really go wrong. Hannah is always good times.

  13. Tony O'Neill

      Have a safe trip and take the harry crews anyway. You cant possibly get burnt out on Crews.

  14. Tony O'Neill

      Have a safe trip and take the harry crews anyway. You cant possibly get burnt out on Crews.

  15. Bill

      I second Mr. O’Neill on Crews and will also add that you can’t get burnt out on Hannah, either. Have fun in HK and be sure to eat street food!

  16. Bill

      I second Mr. O’Neill on Crews and will also add that you can’t get burnt out on Hannah, either. Have fun in HK and be sure to eat street food!

  17. jereme

      why don’t you try reading something out of your comfort, oh say like some chinese poetry?

      i mean if you are in HK, why not try to really emerge yourself in the history and culture of the people?

      from the list i would take kierkegaard, oppen and hannah. novels are only going to detract from the travel experience i think. you’ll have short prose, poetry and philosophy which is a well rounded plate of food.

  18. jereme

      why don’t you try reading something out of your comfort, oh say like some chinese poetry?

      i mean if you are in HK, why not try to really emerge yourself in the history and culture of the people?

      from the list i would take kierkegaard, oppen and hannah. novels are only going to detract from the travel experience i think. you’ll have short prose, poetry and philosophy which is a well rounded plate of food.

  19. HTMLGIANT / Mid-trip Books Update

      […] readers of this blog remember my post a few weeks ago about trying to figure out what books to pack for my trip to Hong Kong. Well, the seven I brought were the Oppen, Schulz, Cohen, Offill, Hempel, Kierkegaard, and Bloom. […]