Originally in print, September 2021.

Illustration by Emily Stevenson.

 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us have been restricted from doing some of the most mundane things: going to the pub with friends, attending lectures in an actual building, and most significantly, traveling. Although by mid-July we were legally allowed to travel again, it is not the same. It’s not as simple as booking a cheap flight on Ryanair, grabbing your passport and going. For obvious reasons, it has become a bit more complicated and somewhat off-putting. Since many of us probably won’t go abroad for another little while, that gives us plenty of time to do some reading. 

 

NEW YORK

Due to Covid, J1 visas were cancelled. Many students’ dreams of working in New York were postponed. Fortunately, there are plenty of books that centre the Big Apple. One I would recommend is Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. This story is as classically New York as yellow taxis and skyscraper buildings. The novel solidified Audrey Hepburn’s place in history as the opening scene for the film adaptation is one of the most iconic scenes ever. In this scene, Hepburn is standing in front of the Tiffany’s store, drinking coffee and eating a pastry in a glamorous dress.  This image made her a style icon. You will be transported to a world where characters drink fancy cocktails in Manhattan bars and walk across famous streets like Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue and drink in the Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge. It will completely whisk you away to what cosmopolitan New York is like. 

Another classic set in New York is The Great Gatsby. If you have not already read this book for your Leaving Cert, I highly encourage you to do so. This book focuses on the actions of a number of wealthy New Yorkers in the 1920s. Even though West Egg and East Egg are fictional New York suburbs, it is speculated that author F. Scott Fitzgerald used Long Island as the basis for the story. It is an interesting insight into what this point in history was like in New York, as it focuses on the intensity of the roaring twenties and the class divide within upper class people, of the nouveau riche (new money), people who earned their wealth versus people who inherited it (old money). The Great Gatsby is a raw insight into a time period in New York’s history many of us are intrigued to explore.

If you are looking for a book based in America but on the West Coast instead of the East, you won’t go wrong with On the Road by Jack Kerouac.  This book focuses on the main protagonists going on multiple trips across America to places such as San Francisco, Denver and Virginia.  It is an outlook to a bohemian lifestyle and a carefree travelling experience many people are envious of in these times of restricted movement. 

 

PARIS

When I was in Paris, one of my favourite places to visit was Shakespeare and Company. This was the creative hub for famous writers known as “The Lost Generation” in the 1920s. From Ernest Hemingway to James Joyce, an array of literary talents have spent a considerable amount of time in this bookshop, which is within walking distance from Notre Dame. Sylvia Beach, who opened the bookshop, explores its storied history in her memoir of the same title. From being the publisher of Ulysses, to shutting the shop down during World War II, both owner and shop have a unique history.

Another book that reminds me of Paris is A Moveable Feast, written by Sylvia Beach’s friend, Ernest Hemingway. This is a memoir of Hemingway’s experiences of living in Paris in the 1920’s. He mentions Shakespeare and Company in one of the chapters, as well as other Parisian locations such as Place St Michel and Ezra Pound’s apartment on Rue Notre Dame des Champs. He speaks of these places with such detail very fondly and picks up little things of these locations you wouldn’t expect someone to remember.  It transports you to a Paris that is loved and adored by someone who once lived there. You can nearly smell the scents of a French patisserie as Hemingway leads you down the Parisian streets.

Reading a book from different people in the same social circles in the same time period is a rare and unique thing to be able to experience. It is worth reading about these two people’s lives of loving and living in Paris until more of us can walk down the Champs Elysées ourselves.

 

TOKYO

Another book to recommend is Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami which is based in Tokyo, Japan. Named after my favourite Beatles song, this story follows a Japanese man nostalgically looking back on his first love in Tokyo. Murakami’s writing is exquisitely beautiful and even though I have never been to Japan, he describes it in a way as if I’m looking back nostalgically on memories in Tokyo.  

The main protagonist is a student in one of the universities in the city, his campus is Tokyo city itself.  He talks about visiting tea rooms and parks as if you live in the city as well.  Books like Norwegian Wood, give you a snapshot image through which you are exposed to Japanese life. Overall, a recommended read.

 

LONDON

Dolly Alderton has been killing it in recent years. As a brutally-honest millennial, her two published books have been doing great. Her memoir Everything I Know About Love focuses on her life with her friends in London in university and beyond. From drinking in pubs in Camden and going on dates in Notting Hill, it is what young people would do and  want to do in 21st century London. She gives advice on the different stages of love a person goes through from their teenage years until their thirties.  However, through that, through the pages of her book, you can see a woman who loves the city she lives in and the places behind her nostalgic memories of growing up.  She is talking to you about London, not as a tourist on their travel blog but as a native who does not chill at the typical tourist spots.  She leads you around popular destinations that Londoners love being in.  Her debut novel Ghosts is also worth recommending for people wishing to escape to London for a while.  However, Everything I Know About Love is a more genuine read and outlook on London life as it is coming from Dolly herself and not a fictional character. 

This list of books should keep you going for a while until international travel begins to pick up again. Hopefully we’ll be able to visit these places and many more over the next couple of years. When it is difficult to travel at the moment, reading about different places that you want to visit and want to see, can transport you literarily until you can be there physically.