4 books when you want to escape in 4 directions. And to hell with your kebabs!

Questions about what to watch or what to read can be asked, it seems, endlessly and more than once – after all, any good work, be it a book, movie or TV series, unfortunately, sooner or later ends and leaves. Its audience or reader is in the throes of new searches. But there is some good news, too.

To make your task easier, every week we ask our columnist Konstantin Obraztsov – the writer, author of “Red Chains”, “Hammer of the Witches” and other books, as well as the creator of the “Sample Reading” show on YouTube and the “Obraztsov” channel on Telegram – the best in the world to share his collection of good literature and TV series with diamonds.

Konstantin Obraztsov

Today’s agenda includes the best books for the moments you really want to escape from all four directions.

In just a few days, in the shadows of urban forest parks, on private lands the size of a European principality, or on trampled to gray bald spots on the banks of all bodies of water, whether it be a square on a chessboard, from huge lakes to ponds overgrown with mud, the iron legs of decrepit braziers will stick to the ground. Multi-colored plastic bottles containing lemonade and beer and glass bottles containing vodka will pop out of rustling shapeless bags with supermarket logos; Marinated pieces of meat and onions will be carried from plastic buckets to skewers, and men in rubber slippers will gather around the barbecues, stripped to the waist, their whitish, doughy bellies hanging from the elastic of their wide trousers, and smoking silently, thoughtfully over the coals. Sitting on spread blankets, women will begin chopping vegetables, dogs and children will run around, and the soundtrack of this idyllic music will play from the open doors of a worn-out car.

Of course, changeable weather can make its own small adjustments to dress codes, but in the early days of May the waft of smoke saturated with the smell of burnt lard over ponds and delicate leaves is as inevitable as a sacrament. A bowl of Olivier salad cooked for the new year.

It is possible that these idyllic folk traditions are not close to you, but the circumstances are such that not everyone can go on a trip more distant and pleasant on the May long weekend than a trip to a barbecue in the nearest park. Books are for just such occasions: no one can put obstacles in the way of a literary journey, and no prohibitions, visas or even a modest budget can stop you from going on the joyful tour of your dreams with a witty and talented writer. be your guide, and let the heroes be your companions.

Today, especially for you, a selection of four books about travel to the four directions of the world.

Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals

Our whole family is heading south with Gerald Durrell, British author, scientist and founder of the Wildlife Fund. The pearl of the Greek Mediterranean awaits us: the sunny, hospitable and colorful island of Corfu.

In 1935 widow Mrs Louise Durrell moved here to escape the mists, dampness and cramped living conditions of Britain with her four children: eldest sons Laurence and Leslie, daughter Margot and youngest Gerald. The island in the Corfu trilogy, the first of which is the book “My Family and Other Animals”.

This is a relaxed narrative, filled with warm aromas of olive trees and cypresses, the salty scent of the warm sea wind and thoroughly British humour. As expected on a family holiday, everyone finds something to their liking in Corfu: older brother Lawrence is trying his hand at literature – there is a separate writing room and there are windows overlooking the sea, although the house lacks basic amenities and looks more like a ruin. Leslie tries to hunt and navigate the environment with a gun, posing more of a danger to himself than to the prey, and young Gerald, having completely abandoned his studies as if on an endless summer vacation, enthusiastically studies the fauna of the island. turns the house into a kind of zoo.

There are many funny and touching adventures, colorful southern characters, love, light sadness and charming stories about animals and birds. The book is easy to read and leaves a smile and a warm impression, like memories after a holiday in the company of pleasant travelers.

By the way, there are several film adaptations of Gerald Durrell’s “Corfu trilogy”, the best, in my opinion, is the series “The Durrells” 2016 – 2019.

Hunter Thompson, “The Curse of Hawaii”

The American author and inventor of gonzo journalism, known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and, to a lesser extent, The Rum Diary, invites us to Hawaii. As you can easily guess, there are no family holidays here: This tour is for singles – that is, or those who don’t mind being one for a few weeks – and their crazy young girlfriends.

Gonzo journalism assumes the reporter’s direct personal involvement in the events described: Thompson wrote a book about the Hells Angels bikers after riding motorcycles with them for a year, and tried to run for sheriff from the “Freak Party” to create political materials. ” he invented himself.

“The Curse of Hawaii” begins with an editorial assignment to write about the Honolulu Marathon. Typical adventures of Thompson’s books take place on the plane on the way to Hawaii, and on the islands everything eventually turns into a surreal journey saturated with the prohibition of alcohol and psychedelics. The climax of the story is fishing in the ocean; trying to catch a blue marlin in a storm, almost frantically and like Hemingway’s hero. It took the fisherman three days to watch “The Old Man and the Sea”; Lost in space and time, Thompson claims he fished for marlin for 47 days before culminating in a literal battle with a giant 140-kilogram fish, which he eventually finished with a native Hawaiian mace.

Overall, “The Curse of Hawaii” is a great way to go out on a binge and have your friends ask you for a long time, “How are you?” It’s a great way to safely enjoy the kind of holiday that will make you text. Photos that should not be shown to people you don’t know.

Knut Hamsun, “Under the Autumn Star”

If you like the restrained conciseness of the Scandinavian landscape – foggy skies, cold sea, rocky mountains, a lot of space, air and dim light; If you like looking at photos of small houses hidden on the rocky islands in the north; If you want to get away from everyone and enjoy the silence and solitude, welcome to the Norway walking tour that the famous writer Knut Hamsun will organize for you.

There’s no sticky heat, no giant orange centipedes curled up in their slippers next to the bed, and no giant spiders in the shower; just the refreshing, refreshingly cool air, the stunning views from the rocks, the taste of wild blueberries, and the creaking of stones under the shower. soles of strong boots.

Knut Hamsun describes nature in an incredible way, and in the novel “Under the Autumn Star” his talent is fully revealed. The beginning of autumn, the “Indian summer”, the mountain ash is already red, but the forest is warm, and the sea is smooth and clean, like a silver mirror. The hero of the novel leaves the noise of the city and wanders around the countryside as a free wanderer, finding odd jobs on farms and meeting the same random companions. The entire book is a meditative journey, full of contemplation, quiet joy and love, which the protagonist constantly encounters along the way.

Long walks, fresh air, interesting and pleasant people, exciting meetings – it sounds like both the description of a lyrical story and the formula of an ideal vacation for a tired city dweller.

Heinrich Harrer, “Seven Years in Tibet”

If the mystical atmosphere of the East attracts you more than tropical resorts or postcard attractions of European cities, and Shambhala, Lhasa and Dalai Lama are more interesting and closer than all-inclusive or resort and SPA, then it is best to spend the upcoming long stay . Weekend in Tibet, following the route of Austrian writer and traveler Heinrich Harrer, even if you have only five days, not seven years, to get to know the lost world among the Himalayas.

The format of the book is very simple: in fact, these are the diary entries of a young mountaineer who went to the Himalayas as part of a German expedition and was captured there by the British in 1939, just after the start of the World War. II. Five years later, Harrer and his comrades manage to escape from a prisoner of war camp in India. After walking along mountain paths and miraculously surviving icy passes, they find themselves in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, mysterious and closed to Europeans. They would live there until 1951, leaving Tibet before the invasion by the Chinese army.

Interestingly, the Dalai Lama also responded positively to the book and stated that the novel, which was translated into dozens of languages ​​and filmed in 1997, opened Tibetan culture to Europe and the whole world.

“Seven Years in Tibet” is a real exotic journey, an opportunity to see in detail the external and internal aspects of the life of Tibetans through the eyes of a European, to immerse yourself in spiritual traditions and culture, gradually integrating with life. this special world with the author and his companions. There is enough truth and reflection here, and everything together resembles a kind of spiritual retreat, where you return to everyday life a little differently, more knowledgeable and a little wiser.

Why else do you need to travel?..