One of my favourite things about being a reader is the armchair travelling. Books can transport you to all manner of exotic, or not so exotic, destinations. Sometimes though, it is the journey not the destination that is most important in a novel, as it can be in life. There are countless novels centred on journeys (it's a particularly common theme in dystopian fiction), but here are my favourite and the ones I always recommend.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A disturbing, terrifying and hella emotional journey through post-apocalyptic America. Lacking punctuation.
The Odyssey by Homer
An oldie but a goodie! Follow Odysseus and he makes his way [slowly] home.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
I read this when I was 13 and I still remember it being a rip-roaring read. You can't argue with someone named Phileas Fogg.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Journeys seem to be a key element in dystopian fiction. Todd's journey in this novel will leave even the coldest person in tears.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Another dystopian novel with a journey! Again, this is an emotionally wrought journey but so beautifully written and full of Shakespearean references.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
This novel is about far more than just one man's walk from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
One day 82-year-old Etta wakes up and decides to walk 2000 miles across the country to see the sea for the first time. This will break you heart, but the writing and mystical elements are worth the pain.
Where D'you Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
This is a wonderfully amusing epistolary-style novel.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I could hardly miss out this classic novella about a journey up the Congo: 'The horror! The horror!'
Have you read any of these? Can you add any to the list?
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