Tequila Oil: Getting Lost in Mexico by Hugh Thomson

Another brilliant book from The Boy’s shelves. I picked this up when I found myself in a house in the countryside, with a storm raging outside, and no book to read. If I’m completely honest, I expected nothing more from it than to help me pass the time until supper. I thought this would be just a book full of the silly things boys tend to do when they are alone and in a foreign country.

I have to admit that I was wrong. I mean, yes, there are a lot of idiotic things that the author did as he embarked on this adventure in Mexico when he was 18. Which are quite funny and fun to read. But this book is more than just a young punk being drunk in Mexico in 1979. It is a very well written travel memoir, full of insight on this wild, strange country and its residents and its history. Sure, Thomson is drunk or hangover for a big part of the book, but his adventures have something very romantic about them. He discovered, and along with him so does the reader, a hidden part of Mexico, offering insights not just on places that are way off the map but also on the spirit of the country.

This isn’t a detached kind of travel guide, just like we are warned by the author in the beginning, this is a very personal journal. Which is why it’s full of wit and charm and it is very intelligently told. Another thing that I greatly appreciated was Thomson’s respect and keen interest for the Mayan civilization and all the fascinating bits of information he shares as he stumbles upon temples and ruins of cities.

Tequila Oil turned out to be a delightful book that made me fall a little bit in love with a time and a place that is now in the distant past. I’m now looking forward to reading Hugh Thomson’s other travel books set in Latin America. And I will perhaps try to be a bit more open to reading outside my comfort zone.

PS It’s funny how in the oddest of places you can find a lovely quote about books and reading, isn’t it?

“Books mattered because they led readers to places they would not otherwise have dreamed of going, not only geographical places, but also places of the spirit and the emotions.” 

Three Men in a Boat & Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome

This was an impulse purchase at the bookstore. Before that I had never heard of Jerome K. Jerome before. Don’t you just love it when you discover an author or a book you’ve never heard of at the bookstore or the library and it turns out to be good?

 

Both the stories are very light and fun, and not really about anything. In both cases, the journeys the narrator goes on with his two friends, Harry and George (along with Montmorency, the dog, in the first one), just serve as a background for the narration of myriads of stories from his past. I really enjoyed reading his silly, satirical recollections as well as his witty observations on everyday life in the end of the 19^th century.

This was a fun book and there were quite a few instances when I laughed out loud while reading. Most importantly, the journey along the Thames in the first story was the inspiration for my recent holiday in the countryside which was amazing (lots and lots of pictures will be posted soon). My only wish is that Jerome K. Jerome had written more books involving the three men going on some kind of adventure.

A bookish holiday

So, everyone knows how much I love the english countryside. I just love going for long walks down brambly lanes, through fields of wild flowers, in ancient, shady woods… It is no surprise then that I’m ridiculously excited for my upcoming long weekend in the countryside with my favourite walking companion, The Boy.

But this is not just an ordinary holiday. What’s special about it is that it’s a holiday inspired by a book! The Boy read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome a while ago and kept saying how nice some of the places by the Thames sound. A few chapters in, and I agreed with him. Not only is the countryside really pretty, but there are numerous little towns and villages with quaint country pubs and parish churches, and there are boat rides on the river  and… basically my idea of heaven.

Before I had even finished the book, we had booked a holiday in one of the little towns mentioned in the book. I would be excited anyway; a few days playing in the country away from the phd are always welcome, but I just love that the idea came from a book. So I was wondering if this is a rare thing. Have you ever been inspired to visit a place because it was mentioned in a book? Do you think that a holiday following the steps of a literary character sounds like fun or is that just me?