A review by thebooktrail88
Literary Landscapes: Charting the Worlds of Classic Literature by John Sutherland

5.0

Literary Landscapes

As soon as I saw this book, well, to say it sang to me is an understatement. Setting and place in a book and travelling to those locations for real is how The BookTrail first began. (even if I did tuck myself in wardrobes in search of Narnia or dig holes in search of the white rabbit before that, but that’s another story)

There’s a lot to like about this book. The cover for one is stunning and inside, it’s even better. Great colour pictures and illustrations showcase the location of each book, whilst nice long text explains why and how such a setting was used and brought to life.

It’s a coffee table and dip in and dip out kind of read. There’s so many places and books to travel with. Whether you want to revisit the Canada of Anne of Green Gables or delve into Charles Dickens’ London, it’s all there for exploring. And it's great fun to pick where you want to go next. Canadian Countryside to London town...and the stories which put these places on the map.

Don’t think this is a literary step back in time either. There’s lots for fans of more recent fiction to pour over. Elena Ferrante. is of course there as an Italian stopover, and Kate Grenville’s The Secret River takes you all the way to New South Wales.

There’s a lot of information on each stopover as I’m calling them. I was particularly excited to see Carlos Ruiz Zafón there!It was like meeting old friends and travelling with them which was a joy.

Happily, there's lots of information about the author, ( well theirs are the eyes you’re seeing this new destination through after all ) and plenty of useful background about the book itself such as publication date and the context in which it was written.

I could wax lyrical about this for ages to be honest. I’m like a child in a sweet shop. If there’s one negative about the book, I would have liked to know who was writing the essays in question. The book and locations are clear but the authors of the individual essays on the book are not. They lurk at the back of the book but I say, bring them on to the stage!

I’ve already got this in mind for a few fellow travellers of a literary persuasion!