A good
book on vacation is a wonderful pleasure; a
good book related to you travel destination is an even greater pleasure this is
the second in a series, to read the first click here.
Amsterdam – The Diary
of Anne Frank
Deservedly
famous, The Diary of Anne Frank is a
must-read if you have ever, or you are planning on visiting Amsterdam. Though I read, “The Diary of Anne Frank” when
I was just a girl, much of it came flooding back to me in my twenties when I
visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.
Because of the depth of the writing of a young girl and the tragic
circumstances in which the diary was written, it is somehow surprising to learn
that the Frank house is very beautiful, bright and airy. Strangely, it is evocative of youth and thus
the spirit of Anne Frank herself.
Hawaii - Hawaii by
James Michener
Considered
by some to be a potboiler, Hawaii
does indeed contain some melodramatic moments, but this saga by Pulitzer Prize
Winner James Michener captivated me both in print and film. Abner Hale, a devoted and uptight divinity
student soon-to-be preacher needs to marry in order to go to Hawaii on a
mission to convert the natives to Christianity.
Abner meets the beautiful Jerusha, and soon they are married and on
their way to Hawaii.
Outside of
the sensitive portrayal of the Hawaiians and their traditions, Michener does a
brilliant job of conveying that it is the spirit of the law and not the letter
of the law that matters. At least the
film did for me when I was a child. When
I read the book later as an adult, I was struck with how sweeping and ambitious
the book was, and I was especially moved by “From the Boundless Deep,” and
early chapter in the novel that details the birth of the Hawaiian
Islands.
Greece – Nicomachean Ethics
by Aristotle – Translated by D.P. Chase
Going to
enjoy the sunshine and beauty of Greece
without tending a bit to your Greek history or philosophy is like going to
Paris and not walking down the Champs-Élysées.
When I was in Greece, I found that a taste of Aristotle a day helped to
keep luxury hotel snobbery away (although I must admit, one can get used to
such things).
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle is
concerned primarily with “the Chief Good” or “that which all Things aim
at.” The book is a kind of ethical
manual for becoming a refined person. Of
special interest to me was Aristotle’s doctrine of “the mean” wherein Aristotle
postulates that it is the person who manages a middle way who is most refined
and balanced.
Also of
special interest to me was Aristotle’s discussion of the meek:
“For the
notion represented by the term Meek man is the being imperturbable, and not
being led away by passion, but being angry in that manner and at those things,
and for that length of time, which Reason may dictate.”
I found
the passage above to be the perfect companion to explicating the Christian
ideal of “Blessed are the meek . . .”
Want to Travel and Read a Great Book?
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Looking for more? Viewthe previous Travel Book blog.
Thanks to travel writer Sona Schmidt-Harris – Follow her on Twitter @Sonag2000
Thanks to travel writer Sona Schmidt-Harris – Follow her on Twitter @Sonag2000
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