Photo by Leah Kelley
Reading about the Mildenhall oil fortune, Raoul Duke’s American dream and the semi-autobiographical story of On the Road will fill readers with a yearning for travel.
Being on the road can be alluring for a medley of reasons, both personal and otherwise. For a lot, it is emblematic of the human ideal for adventure and their yearning for the unknown and the spectacular–of living a life that is thoroughly lived in all its hours. For some others, traveling on the road is associated with freedom, this primal ideal that everyone has, where everything goes, and you can go wherever you want to go.
Above all, being on the road harkens back to a primitive but otherwise desirable mode of human living, where nothing rooted you to one spot, and you simply kept on moving. It is the independent will and spirit that comes with being on the road that pulls in most, and the opportunities that come with it: meeting new people, learning about other cultures, and seeing the vast wonders of the world.
Regardless of what the reason is, being on the road is a unique and rewarding experience that many people will find hard to resist.
Traveling Novels to Read this June
Reading about the lives of others and their travels along the way can be a brilliant way of broadening one’s horizons without really having to step out of one’s room. It also helps people understand the world better by providing a perspective other than their own.
By reading travelogues and other journey-specific narratives, readers get a good handle on how to interact with different people and cultures. They also get a glimpse of lifestyles they never knew existed. Through learning from other experiences, readers grow to become more empathetic and open-minded about the broader world around them.
While reading a book does have its benefits, it can also be the impetus to step out of one’s comfort zone and experience new things.
Reading about being on the road is a valuable and enriching experience to grow and develop personally.
Fear and Loathing by Hunter S. Thompson
The story of journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s most seminal work follows Raoul Duke arriving in Las Vegas in pursuit of the American dream. Together with his attorney Doctor Gonzo, Raoul goes through a drug-addled fugue, interjecting at times with insightful criticisms of the catastrophic failures of the countercultural movements of the 1960s.
While it is unclear where Fear and Loathing draws the line on whether the events in the book are drawn from Hunter S. Thompson’s colorful life or his equally colorful imagination, it is nonetheless a profound meditation on the clinically insane atmosphere of American politics and more.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
This 1957 narrative by Jack Kerouac is one part autobiographical and one part critique of broader American society. Kerouac based it on his travels across America, together with his friends and members of the Beat Generation, a literary subculture that arose during the post-war era. It is one of the most compelling and artistic portrayals of the period, showcasing what life was like against the backdrop of a growing jazz and poetry movement and the creative effects of drugs on many artists.
On the Road is more than an experimental novel; it is simply a masterwork of its generation.
The Mildenhall Legacy by Albert Sipes
Albert Sipes writes about the life of 22-year-old Eve Chambers in The Mildenhall Legacy. Completely unaware that she is the heir to the Mildenhall oil fortune and that she has family out there, Eve journeys across the United States of America, trying to make a living to fund her studies. The book is a wonderful story of opportunity and community, weaving in that both are reciprocal of each other and necessary.
With its themes of ambition, redemption, and sacrifice, The Mildenhall Legacy is sure to resonate with readers who wish to venture out and discover themselves in the process.
Read more about reviews of the latest books at the ReadersMagnet Review.