Literary Locations

[Emil Miller]

Many years ago, a friend gave me a copy of Longfellow's 'Hyperion': an account of his travels through the Rhineland after the death of his wife. I had already been to Germany but had never visited the Rhine. Longfellow's work inspired me to go there and I subsequently visited it several times.

Have you ever been inspired to visit a place on account of having read about it.

[Night_Lamp]

Although I've passed it many times, the Bloor Viaduct looks different to me since I first read In the Skin of a Lion ; I can almost see the nuns walking it.

The city of Toronto has placed a plaque there now, as a tribute to its literary significance.

[Jozanny]

If I had the money I'd go visit the James home in London and his apartment in Venice; the latter is still a remote possibility.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

The first obvoius choice for me, in reference to my namesake/ avatar, would be the Island of Guernsey

Russia; St. Petersburg for example as it pertains to Dostoevsky and many other Russian works.

Oliver Goldsmiths Ireland and London

Loch Katrine in honor of Sir Walter Scott

[Dark Muse]

Reading The Shadow of the Wind made me want to visit Barcelona, especially sense the back of the book included a little tour guide where you could follow the adventures of the characters and visit the places they have been.

But actually going there is not currently a possibility.

[bounty]

i have a book called literary england, that illustrates many of the places written about by various authors over the yrs. if i ever go back there, itd be neat to do the literary tour so to speak.

watership down is one of my favorite books---itd be neat to see that.

by contrast, ive really enjoyed larry millet's sherlock holmes books because he brings holmes and watson over from england to minnesota in general and st paul and minneapolis in particular---places that ive been fortunate to become well acquainted with and its enjoyable to be reading along and say "hey, ive been to that intersection" or something of that sort...

[ben.!]

I haven't read Ulysses, but I have read Joyce's short stories.

And I hope to visit the places he set the short stories in, and do the Ulysses' Dublin walk that Bloom does in the course of the novel.

[prendrelemick]

Sometimes its better to leave a place in your imagination, rather than discover the dissapointment of reality.

I would love to see Troy and The Lion Gate of Mycenae. But it wouldn't be the same.

[Dark Muse]

Sometimes its better to leave a place in your imagination, rather than discover the dissapointment of reality.

I think that is particulary true for books written in the past, or about the past, when you know that today the place could never look the way it was portrayed in the work and what the author might have seen in the place, may no longer exisit.

[kiki1982]

@Jozanny:

By all means go to Venice! Wonderful place of you go off the beaten track! You can also go to Harry's Bar there, where Hemingway used to go a lot I think. (though you must then be prepared to pay A LOT). Oh, and go to the Armenian convent where Byron got so enamoured by Armenian that he learnt it. They are very very proud of that (island of San Lazzaro). And there is wonderful collection of old manuscripts to see, too. I think the oldest of Armenian writing in the world (or so they say). And while you're at it, you might as well go to a play of the Commedia dell'Arte by Goldoni. You don't need to understand because it's medieval farces anyway. Hilarious though.

Where I would go... Maybe Bath in honour of Austen, take a walk on the Moors in Yorkshire for Brontë, go to old Wessex for Hardy, maybe visit Marseille as well and of course the Chäteau d'Ïf for Dumas. Maybe I might like to visit some places like the Palais du Luxebourg or Royal, but I don't know how much of that is really open to the public. And Weimar for Goethe and Schiller (not for Schiller's grave, because it was proven recently that the man who is in there is not Schiller). That's it for now. I think I will bore my hbby to death... :D

[dfloyd]

the chateau purchased by Dumas. I have a friend who visited there and she e-mailed me pictures. Looks very interesting/ The names of many of Dumas characters are etched into the stone work.

[mal4mac]

I haven't read Ulysses, but I have read Joyce's short stories.

And I hope to visit the places he set the short stories in, and do the Ulysses' Dublin walk that Bloom does in the course of the novel.

Typical Australian - any excuse for a pub crawl :) Good idea though...

[wessexgirl]

Where I would go... Maybe Bath in honour of Austen, take a walk on the Moors in Yorkshire for Brontë, go to old Wessex for Hardy, :D

I've been to Hardy's birthplace, a tiny little cottage, in beautiful "Wessex". I've had a quick dip into Bath, but not long enough to seek out the relevant places, but I did go to Winchester (beautiful place) where Austen's grave is in the Cathedral, and saw the house where she lived last. I've also been to Chawton and wandered around the rooms she inhabited, seeing the little table in the window where she wrote, which looks over a pub :nod: and where the door creaks so she would hide her work away when she heard people coming. It's a beautiful little house. I've been to Shakespeare's haunts loads of times, as I'm just up the road from Stratford (well about 20 miles), but I've never been to Bronte country. I really must do it, as I'm so lucky to live here in Britain with its abundance of literary trails. I don't know if I can cope with the bleakness of the Moors though, I might just go mad and start running riot singing and dancing a la Kate Bush......:lol:

I would love to see Dublin with all of its literary heritage.

[PeterL]

I've been to a number of bars in Lowell, Massachusetts where Kerouac and friends sometimes went. Alas, the finest, The Old Worthen, has been turned into a yuppie haven.

[Emil Miller]

I've been to a number of bars in Lowell, Massachusetts where Kerouac and friends sometimes went. Alas, the finest, The Old Worthen, has been turned into a yuppie haven.

Poetic justice?

[The Comedian]

Walden Pond (from Thoreau's Walden)-- I went there several years ago.

I've long wanted to go to Arches, the focal point of Ed Abbey's Desert Solitaire.

But usually, if the setting of a particular novel involves a city, I'm content with letting the crowd go there. I'll spend my time elsewhere.

[PeterL]

Poetic justice?

Injustice to people who might want to eat and drink. The Old Worthen had old fashioned high backed booths, so you could sit there and be unaware that there was someone else right behind you. The ceiling fans were circa 1870 with a collection of belts running all of them off one motor. The grill looked like it had been there since the Civil War, but it was finally broken in. The building was built around 1750 (that was a hundred years before the mills), and Daniel Boone was said to have stayed there. The food was good and inexpensive.

The Owl and Johnny Gallico's are more closely relted to the beats, but they had the good sense to goto other places.

[kiki1982]

the chateau purchased by Dumas. I have a friend who visited there and she e-mailed me pictures. Looks very interesting/ The names of many of Dumas characters are etched into the stone work.

Oh, yes, he spent a lot of money on it. Sadly, he thought somehow that he was Monte Cristo (even called his château thus), and spent his money accordingly, also wanting the decadent lifestyle he imagined Monte Cristo to have... He bankrupted himself doing it. I think he had to sell it eventually. :(

I think they even have a cell in the Château d'Îf that poses as the one of 'Edmond Dantès', though there was none of that in the first plac, but I suppose it brings in the money :rolleyes:.

[ktm5124]

I'd like to visit Rome after reading Henry James' description of it in Portrait of a Lady.

I'd like to see Alexandria due to its depiction in Justine.

[scaltz]

Reading many Japanese novels has led me to want to go to Japan-- to the rural parts to be precise. A notable Japanese author is Murakami, he has this unique way of writing that makes you feel that you exist within the Japan that he creates in his books.

[janesmith]

I recently visited Dorset because of a long held enthusiasm and academic interest in Hardy's novels. It didn't disappoint.

[PeterL]

I have been to the property that occupies the site where H. P. Lovecraft was born.

[TheFifthElement]

Reading many Japanese novels has led me to want to go to Japan-- to the rural parts to be precise. A notable Japanese author is Murakami, he has this unique way of writing that makes you feel that you exist within the Japan that he creates in his books.
Oh yes! Reading Japanese fiction has very much made me want to go to Japan. Particularly Ueno Station which seems to crop up a lot for some reason.

[leif aricson]

I'm studying in St. Petersburg for 6 weeks, and the largest factor in that has been from Pushkin and Gogol.

[MANICHAEAN]

On my agenda are some of the bars that Hemingway used to frequent in Cuba. I understand a number of the original owners are still in attendance.

[kasie]

I recently visited Dorset because of a long held enthusiasm and academic interest in Hardy's novels. It didn't disappoint.

On the second day of our honeymoon, I was taken by my new native-born Dorset husband to Lyme Regis. As I walked along the Cobb, I looked down and thought, 'Yes, that was a really stupid place to jump', thinking of Persuasion. Himself hung back to take a photograph of me wrapped up against the rather brisk sea-breeze at the end of the harbour, having a more recent book or rather film-of-the-book in mind: when it was printed he looked at it fondly and said, 'Ah, my very own Meryl Streep'. Love truly is blind!

We did do a bit of Hardy sight-seeing, as well - Dorchester, Weymouth, Maiden Castle. I still never tire of Dorset.