Author’s Journeys (Part One)

Books have a unique force: lost in their pages, we find ourselves dreaming of journeys fueled by the authors’ own imagination. They invite us, in our minds, to peer into places that exist only in fantasy—or they lead us through real destinations made tangible, if only momentarily, by the evocative power of masterful prose. Often, we become unwitting protagonists on an itinerary we’ve already traveled in our reading, caught between the allure of the dream and the concrete world unfolding before us.

From classics to contemporary works, world literature knows no borders. Geolocating novels—past and present—can become the perfect springboard for a honeymoon steeped in culture. Rediscovering or embracing the places that have shaped our souls offers an alternative way to confront fears, rekindle desires, and make room for new ambitions…a kind of emotional therapy that, when shared by two, can only feel wonderful.

…and from Japan to Italy, the honeymoon “palette” reveals countless shades, each bound to personal experiences and shaped by the journeys we’ve already taken. Take London, for instance: for thrill-seekers, it immediately evokes The Da Vinci Code; for lovers of timeless romance, it’s the setting of Pride and Prejudice. From Jane Austen to Dan Brown (1813 and 2003, respectively), there’s a lightness that only the magic of prose can deliver.

Antonio Tabucchi’s 1983 collection transports readers to the Azores Islands. In The Woman of Porto Pim, an ensemble of chance-encountered lives guides us into the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, weaving an enchanting tapestry across the Portuguese archipelago where every detail is amplified to the extreme.

Fourteen locations, plotted on the map, introduce us to two of the world’s greatest masterpieces: Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. Philosophical, historical, and scientific references unfold with dramatic precision in the former, while the latter earns Eugenio Montale’s tribute as “a miracle that everyone should greet with emotion.” Though nearly a century separates their publication, both books portray Russia through the lives of a few, emblematic of a Moscow rich in fragility, idiosyncrasy, unease, and transformation—the very qualities that have defined its people.

Have you ever read Memoirs of a Geisha? Through its pages, Arthur Golden (1997) immerses us in pre-war Kyoto, recounting age-old customs through the eyes of a girl destined for an unchosen future. And in A Fortune-Teller Told Me, Tiziano Terzani reimagines the East via a prophecy-based journey from Hong Kong that unfolds by land and sea—remarkably, without ever boarding a plane.

Shantaram is an audacious fable. In 2003, Gregory David Roberts laid himself bare, transforming his wild adventures into a sprawling memoir. “If fate doesn’t make you laugh, you haven’t understood the joke,” quips one of Australia’s most wanted fugitives, now taking refuge in Mumbai, as he recounts one daredevil episode after another—each comma, each exclamation, gripping the reader more tightly than the last.

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