Rainy Day Reading

Lets face it, after the glorious sunshine of April, May has turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. If like me all this rain is getting you down then it's time to find solace in the escapism of a good book. Here are a few of my choices to help you while away the hours whilst it's chucking it down outside:

A Tramp Abroad:


Mark Twain travelogue contains his diverse and humourous accounts of his 15 month walking trip through Central Europe and The Alps. Wonderful descriptions of nature sit nicely alongside Twain's anecdotal flair. This Modern Library Paperback Classic reproduces the text of the first American edition and features new explanatory notes and a critical Afterword by Kerry Driscoll, professor of English at Saint Joseph College in Connecticut.


A Tramp Abroad - available here
Format: Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Price: £12.99
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7003-6 (0-8129-7003-9)

The Mountains of My Life


Continuing the travel theme, the second recommendation is Walter Bonatti's 'The Mountains of My Life' whose heroic adventures in the Alps and Himalayas make my reluctance to leave the house due to the merest hint of rain seem rather risible. This books retells his fateful K2 expedition as well as being illustrated with Bonatti's own photo's.




The Mountains of My Life - available here
Format: Trade Paperback, 496 pages
Price: £13.99
ISBN: 978-0-375-75640-5 (0-375-75640-X)

Roll on summer sunshine!

Happy Belated Birthday J.M Barrie!!

OK so I'm a few days late (it was the 9th May) but better late than never!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright, and of course most famous for that eternal children's classic, Peter Pan. Barrie's been having a resurgence over the last few years in so far that Johnny Depp played him in the biopic 'Finding Neverland' in 2004. Right I'm off to Kensington Gardens to see the statue and to learn how to fly.

Available from Modern Library:

Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook, the lost boys, and Tinker Bell have filled the hearts of children ever since Barrie's play first opened in London in 1904 and became an immediate sensation. Now this funny, haunting modern myth is presented with Bedford's wonderful illustrations, which first appeared in the author's own day, have long been out of print, and have never been equaled.



Peter Pan
Format: Trade Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7297-9
Price: £5.99

Culture Smart in the press in the UK and US

Our excellent Culture Smart series has been gaining attention on both sides of the Atlantic this week.

Read review in the New York Times

and

Read review in the The Sunday Times

For more information visit Culture Smart Guides

Liverpool fans get ready for Athens with our cross cultural tips!

So its all decided in the football - a repeat of the 2005 Champions League final - Liverpool vs Milan! Thought we'd be of assistance to those lucky Liverpool fans who are making the trip to Athens with our top tips of how to behave in Greece: (Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, you can stop reading now as this doesn't concern you)

Taken from Culture Smart! Greece by Constantine Buhayer:

• Never show the palm of your hand with all fingers apart, as if you are indicating "take five". In Greece this means "excrement on your face", or that you are scum.

• The standard greeting is a handshake, both when you arrive and when you leave... However 'Thank You' is not an expression that you will hear frequently.You will find yourself rendering some small service that the receipient wil accept without batting an eyelid.

• Greeks do not smile continuously during conversations - they smile in approval but if you smile continuously it can indicate that you are weak and simpleminded.

• A nonsmoking admirer of Greece was once asked why he visited the place so often. He replied that he had become addicted to passive smoking. Greeks don't simply smoke; they are among the heaviest smokers in the world.

• You'll will rarely see a drunken Greek..The preferred high is to be in good company and build up the mood with conversation...Though beware - this doesnt mean that Greeks don't drink over the limit. It is just that through their social interaction they channel their behaviours well clear of the ugly conduct common in northern cultures.

So no doubt the travelling fans will stick to a shandy or light ale.

(All together now) When you walk through a storm....

Culture Smart! Greece
Format: Trade Paperback, 168 pages
ISBN: 978-1-857-33369-5 (1-857-33369-1)
Price: £6.95

The Wild Ones - literary scandals, the hell raisers and trail blazers

Welcome to our blog!

I thought we'd kick off our first tentative steps into the blogosphere with a discussion of those literary greats who pushed the boundaries and frequently caused moral outrage - the hell raisers and trail blazers.

Here are my top 3 - let me know yours!

Arthur Rimbaud:
Teenage genius, Rimbaud led a life of excess in 19th Century France, running away to Paris and causing scandal with his affair with Verlaine whilst drinking superhuman quantities of absinthe. Having written most of his poetry in the space of 5 years, he stopped writing at just aged 19 and spent the rest of his life travelling. His work has been celebrated as both visionary and filled with symbolic meaning, and his influence can be seen today in the music of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and the media's latest enfant terrible, Pete Doherty.

Suggested Reading
Rimbaud Complete
Format: Trade Paperback, 656 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-75770-9 (0-375-75770-8)
Price: £11.99

I Promise To Be Good - The Letters of Arthur Rimbaud
Format: Trade Paperback, 416 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7015-9 (0-8129-7015-2)
Price: £13.99

Lord Byron
They don’t make romantics like they used to - Byron experienced it all - womanising, drinking, incest (yes, incest), travelling, marriage, divorce, and fighting for Greek Independence all before his death at the age of 37. Indeed, it’s perhaps surprising that he still had the time to write some of the nation’s favourite poetry.

Suggested Reading
Selected Poetry of Lord Byron
Format: Trade Paperback, 768 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-75814-0 (0-375-75814-3)
Price: 9.99

Oscar Wilde
A great wit, playwright and raconteur, Oscar Wilde’s success came to a swift end when his relationship with Alfred Douglas led to his trial on charges of homosexuality (then illegal in Britain). The dandyish Wilde was no stranger to decadence - his notoriety spread throughout high society as his barbed wit outraged and enthralled in equal measure.

Suggested Reading
De Profundis
Format: Trade Paperback, 160 pages
ISBN: 978-0-679-78321-3 (0-679-78321-0)
Price: £6.99

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Format: Trade Paperback, 304 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-75151-6 (0-375-75151-3)
Price: £6.99

The Importance of Being Earnest
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8129-6714-2 (0-8129-6714-3)
Price: £6.99

Some other names well worthy of mention are:
Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, F. Scott Fitzgerald, DH Lawrence,

Who else do you think should be included - who are your personal favourite trouble makers?

Happy Reading!
Martin