It's the people who have deliberately chosen a place and moved there, that I find very interesting. Lately a lot of people I know have moved to Newfoundland. Certainly the culture of the "people of the rock" is fascinating. It obviously trumps the cold, the rain, the wind, the poverty and lack of creature comforts desired by many.
Others have been transferred to places and decided to stay because of work and still others have asked for transfers to exotic places. We have kept in touch with a couple who spent most of their time abroad because their employer would pay for housing, servants, private schools for the children, vacation travel to anywhere in the world...etc.
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On a more mundane level, especially for people, who would like to mentally escape, the setting of a novel is very important. My husband often chooses books based on their location. He has read all of Ian Rankin and a number of other authors who have set their stories in the Uk or Ireland. Maybe it's a kind of homesickness - he was born in Scotland.
We are now choosing the books that we will read on holiday in Italy. I was saying to a friend that I was taking a lot of Agatha Christie. Her answer was, "shouldn't I be reading novels set in Italy." Now I do remember reading "How Green Was My Valley" while living on the beach in Corfu. Yes, it was a little odd. So I have added to my vacation library, two books by Michele Giuttari, A Florentine Death and A Death in Tuscany. My husband is taking several books by Donna Leon, which I will read when he has finished them. Now I am "in sync" with my setting for the next two weeks.
The picture? I am always on holiday in my garden!! Ciao!!
I plan to blog everyday while on vacation. I would love to have you come along!!
Like your husband, I like detective novels. Interesting that he would read Ian Rankin to remember the place where he was born. I like that author a lot but there is such darkness in his books. However, your husband may see things that I don't in them. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you take some Donna Leon? Her fabulous detective novels are set in Venice....
ReplyDeleteI think setting is very important in a novel. All mine are based in Cornwall, England although I didn't live there. I love the place of my ancestors. Even my futuristic novels are about the place, which the band of friends call Corn World. Hehe. Great to hear you're planning to maintain your blogs while you're away.
ReplyDeleteUBC: http://475035832790540880.weebly.com/blog.html