10 Books That Will Transport You All Around the World

3. Florida by Lauren Groff

Florida

Storms, snakes, sinkholes and stories? Welcome to Florida. The fantastical tales in this collection span centuries, characters and towns, but all take place in the Sunshine State. You’ll be swept up in a wild hurricane of a ride with these lyrical stories of fury and love, loss and hope.

4. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Cartagena, Colombia

Although the location of the book goes unnamed, it’s generally accepted that Márquez’s hometown was the inspiration for this story of unrequited love. The film adaptation was shot within the walls of the Old City.

5. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Poland

While this book is a collection of tales and ruminations about travel in general, its heart is in the author’s native Poland. The Polish title, Bieguni, refers to an old sect of wanderers who believe that if you stay in constant movement you’ll avoid evil.

6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Sahara Desert, Egypt

Restore your faith in humanity and the power of travel with this classic tale of a shepherd boy’s quest from his home in Spain to the Egyptian desert to find a treasure buried near the pyramids. But instead of finding worldly goods, he discovers something within.

7. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

The Himalayan Mountains, Tibet

This firsthand account of an Austrian mountaineer in the 1940s befriending the 14th Dalai Lama is arguably one of the most inspiring travel stories of cultural understanding.

8. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Tokyo

A detective story (from missing cat to missing wife) with a dose of magical realism, this tale will have you soaring through the labyrinth of netherworlds in mid-’80s Tokyo.

9. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

This whodunit’s main character is Kamchatka, the remote, bleak Siberian peninsula full of unique characters who reveal the ethnic and cultural conflicts of the region, all connected by a crime.

10. Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat

Haiti

Haitian–American author Edwidge Danticat delves into the Haitian/Caribbean immigrant experience in a vivid collection of eight stories that take place in locales from Port-au-Prince to Little Haiti in Miami, asking what it means to love home, leave it and then come back to it.

[SŁOWNICZEK]

haunting mystery – niedająca spokoju tajemnica

ring true – wydawać się prawdziwe

verdant beauty – pełne zieleni piękno

vignette – miniatura, krótka forma literacka

sinkhole – lej krasowy

be swept up – tutaj: zostać wciągniętym, dać się porwać

unrequited love – nieodwzajemniona miłość

ruminations – przemyślenia

avoid evil – uniknąć zła

shepherd boy’s quest – wyprawa pastuszka

worldly goods – dobra doczesne

firsthand account – relacja z pierwszej ręki

soar through the labyrinth of netherworlds – przemierzać labirynt zaświatów

whodunit – kryminał

delve into sth – zagłębić się w coś

Task 1

Read the text and answer the following questions:

Which book …

1. … tells a story of unrequited love?

2. … follows a young Andalusian on his journey to the pyramids of Egypt?

3. … is an autobiographical travel book written by an Austrian mountain climber?

4. … recreates the exuberance, promise and heartbreak of New York?

5. … explores the interconnected lives of women in the Russian Far East?

6. … is a fragmentary novel that tells the stories of wandering runaways?

Task 2

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

1. Which novel by Olga Tokarczuk won the Man Booker International Prize in 2018?

2. What is the book about?

3. Apart from her writings, what else is Tokarczuk well-known for in Poland?

4. The film adaptation of which book by Tokarczuk drew criticism, and why?

5. What are her writing interests?

Task 3

Describe the issue presented in the article. Use the expressions listed below. They will help you give structure to the text analysis.

key words:

books around the globe

travel stories

collocations with positive meaning:

verdant beauty

power of travel

cultural understanding

magical realism

collocations with negative meaning:

wild hurricane

unrequited love

ethnic and cultural conflicts

action verb phrases:

travel the globe through the pages

reveal the promise

avoid evil

find a treasure

Record your text analysis on a voice recorder or practice delivering your presentation in a group setting.

Examples:

While you’re grounded and …

Whether going back in time to …

These books will transport you …

Task 4

Translate the sentences below using the suggested word or phrase. (see Key).

(reveals … struggle … America’s) Ta liryczna oda do Nowego Jorku ukazuje obietnicę, podekscytowanie, złamane serce i zmagania amerykańskiego, bijącego serca miasta.

(span … take place … Sunshine) Fantastyczne opowieści w tej kolekcji obejmują wieki, postacie i miasta, ale wszystkie rozgrywają się w „Słonecznym stanie”.

(wild) Zostaniesz wciągnięty w szaloną przejażdżkę z tymi lirycznymi opowieściami o furii i miłości, stracie i nadziei.

(accepted) Powszechnie przyjmuje się, że rodzinne miasto Marqueza było inspiracją dla tej historii o nieodwzajemnionej miłości.

(shot … within) Adaptacja filmowa została nakręcona w obrębie murów Starego Miasta.

You can use your translations in your presentation of the topic (in Task 6).

Task 5

Continue the translation using the suggested word or phrase. Remember: It’s not about translating these sentences perfectly—there are a number of possible ways to translate each sentence. This task aims to teach you TO THINK IN ENGLISH. By working on your translation of a sentence, you can change it to get closer to the sense of the original (see Key).

While this book jest zbiorem opowieści i przemyśleń na temat podróży w ogólności, its heart is w rodzinnej Polsce autorki.

Polski tytuł nawiązuje do starej sekty wędrowców who believe that, jeśli pozostajesz in constant ruchu, unikniesz zła.

Restore your wiarę in humanity i moc podróży dzięki tej klasycznej opowieści o wyprawie pastuszka z jego domu w Hiszpanii na egipską pustynię.

Ale zamiast finding dobra doczesne, odkrywa coś within.

Ta relacja z pierwszej ręki austriackiego mountaineer z lat 40. XX wieku befriending the 14th Dalai Lama is arguably jedną z najbardziej inspirujących opowieści podróżniczych of cultural understanding.

You can use your translations in your presentation of the topic (in Task 6).

Task 6

Now it’s time to put forward your views on the issues. Record your speech on a voice recorder or practice presenting your opinion in a group setting.

Consider the issues raised in the text from these viewpoints:

Travel: Travel stories

While you’re grounded and …

You can, for instance, go back in time to …

Literary: Books around the globe

There are several excellent writers who …

For example, Olga Tokarczuk, writes about …

Cultural: Cultural understanding

Flights (original Polish title: Bieguni) tells of …

Seven Years in Tibet is an inspiring travel story about …

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