Find me a great backpacking book!

[Leon]

Ok, so i'm going backpacking in Canada, for about 2 months over the summer, and then living in Mexico for 5 months, and i need a really good, thick novel. I made the L of the R trilogy just about last 2 months in South America a few years ago and i need something equivalent.
Friends have mentioned Hitchiker's Guide (which is way too short) and the Bible (which, well, I'm thinking no).
Im gonna take the new HP as it comes out the day we leave, but i need another slightly less unputdownable one, cos otherwise ill finish it on the plane!
Thanks in advance,

Leon

PS Oh yeah, i like adventure, not too much sci-fi, raunchy is fine, mystery ok, historical basis good.

[novium]

I guess it depends at the rate at which you'll read them. But since you're going to spend so much time in canada at first, why not just get books there, read them, trade them for other books at a used book store, and go on like that until it's time to go to mexico, at which point, grab some really big ones?

[hr]

Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.

[Leon]

Yeah i thought of that, and i did that round Argentina, but the quality of books you get back are poor, and i'd much rather have a really big thick one i can work on. I gave the LoftheR example to gauge my speed. Very fast if something is fascinating, slower if not.

[novium]

Quoting leon from 19:43, 8th May 2005
Yeah i thought of that, and i did that round Argentina, but the quality of books you get back are poor, and i'd much rather have a really big thick one i can work on. I gave the LoftheR example to gauge my speed. Very fast if something is fascinating, slower if not.

I don't know of a single series that could last a person seven months.
Which is why I recommended used bookstores in canada- and why do you say the books you get back are poor? You give them your books, they give you credit, you find books you want, etc.

[hr]

Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.

[ribs]

Okay - I def recommend the Otherland series by Tad Williams or the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Might have difficulty fitting them in a backpack tho - although u did manage with LOTR
Best books in the world though
Or if you're looking for just one book - anything by Stephen King esp The Stand
Enjoy yourself anyway!
btw whered u go in South America? Have any hints 4 Peru n Bolivia?

[hr]

Miracles occur,
If you care to call those spasmodic
Tricks of radiance miracles.

[novium]

the dark tower- good suggestion.

Not so sure about the other guy. They're extremely long books, (At least the one series I did read), but unnecessarily so.

[hr]

Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.

[johness]

the historical genre would suggest to me 'City of God' by St Augistine, its a hefty read and heavy going at times but ultimately great. Stephen King books are easy reads and my guess is that they won't last that long. If you're feeling brave, The Riverside Chaucer is always an option, loads of my friends love it (I hate it, but its a massive book and a long entertaining read)

[hr]

[s]I wish I was Ross Clarke Jones[/s]

[novium]

on the literature theme:
How about the Illiad and Odyssey, and Journey to the West (i quite liked that one)

[hr]

Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.

[Pender Native]

War and Peace is suitably doorstep sized and if your tastes are more fantasy leaning, David Eddings tends to write hefty series with gripping plots.

[hr]

'I like to listen to a man who likes to talk. Whoops! Sawdust and Treacle, put that in your herring and smoke it!' - quote from the Bursar in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Hope that clears up any confusion as to my personal tastes!

[Guest]

This was a while back but would recommend, in Peru:
1. sandboarding in Huacachina
2. trekking in the Cordillera Blanca (Huaraz seemed a nice place)
3. staying on Amantani or Tequile, the islands on Titicaca
4. inca trail obviously - supposed to have become rather regulated though
5. white water rafting on the Apurimac
6. nightlife in Cuzco.

Never made it into the jungle or Bolivia - I have often been told the latter has the most unearthly landscapes. If low on time, maybe go to Ecuador instead - Peru is a time-gobbler. If you're on a grand tour and it is possible, go to Easter Island for a few days (it's fab).

[Guest]

Quoting ribs from 14:21, 9th May 2005
Okay - I def recommend the Otherland series by Tad Williams

[hr]

Memory, Sorrow Thorn trilogy by tad williams is quite LOTRsy and very good.

Theres also things like David Eddinngs and Robert Jordan but I think they are a bit juvenille in comparison.

[Leon]

OOoh i forgot about this thread in all the thrills that is revision!
Thanks for all the suggestions, some of those warrant a good browse in the reviews on Amazon i reckon...
In terms of Peru, Yep Inca Trail, rather well trod of course, but the ultimate in experiences and the actual ruins are just fantastic! I'd say Lake Titicaca (TAKE suncream, i forgot, it was bad) Cusco for browsing through markets and shops and eating in good restaurants. Arequipa for the funny nunnery and lazing in the Plaza.
Bolivia, is brilliant, much better in my opinion than Peru really, less of a tourist rip-off, more traditional costume, natives, la selva, definately try and do a trip into la selva, we did a 3-day one from Santa-Cruz, £65, pony-back trekking, guided selva trecks, swimming in huge isolated river pools, spotting monkeys and toucans and the froggies! Also don't miss Potosi, go on a tour down the mines it is fascinating and a real adventure, they blow the rock to demonstrate for you and you get a little gas headlamp strapped to your head and they dress you in yellow pvc and make you rockclimb about and oh it was such fun!
Then head on to Uyuni and the Salar, which is unmissable. Take a 4-day trek from Uyuni, don't forget rolls of film and a sleeping bag and pop over the border at the end to St Pedro de Atacama if you have time and money.
That was the tour where we were all VERY ill, but then it comes with the territory!
I'm sorry to blather on, it's become rather an epic post, but once i get started... It's always such a disappointment to find noone really gives a shit where you've been and all the absolutely stunning things you've been up to all over the world when u get home!
Incidently, has anyone any tips on Mexico? Anyone been to Oaxaca and able to tell me what it'll b like? I emailed a tourism company out there and asked for a job, and they said yes, so that's where i'm going for 4 months in my year abroad!