/lit/ - Literature

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Anonymous Sat Jul 26 05:32:59 2014 No.5191621 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/, I'm gonna be doing a solo-backpack through Europe, most spent in France (Lyon, Paris) and Italy (Emilia Romagna, Rome).

Could I get some rec's that would be good reading material on this trip?

Could be about traveling through these cities/countries, could be just based IN these cities, anything like that.

Do you guys think travel fuels the creative fire? Any travelers here? Talk about literature and traveling or writing and traveling. I'd love to hear some stories.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 06:55:45 2014 No.5191796 bump

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 06:58:01 2014 No.5191800 About Paris: read Zweig's The World of Yesterday and then weep for what was lost when you arrive in the world's biggest pissoir

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 06:59:54 2014 No.5191808 invisible cities

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:00:10 2014 No.5191809 >>5191800 Reading through a bit about the book, there seems to be nothing about Paris or France. Why should I read it? I'll probably end up reading it anyways since I'm taking just about any recommendation, but what does it have to do with Paris?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:00:14 2014 No.5191810 You want us to say Don Juan, don't you?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:01:21 2014 No.5191816 >>5191800 "His picture of prewar Paris will have you almost in tears for a lost world" Nevermind, my bad.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:02:22 2014 No.5191819 >>5191810 I can only hope.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:02:31 2014 No.5191820 >>5191816 >>5191809 Yeah, Paris is only one of the stations in his long life (he focuses more on Vienna), but the book still carries some valuable descriptions.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:03:27 2014 No.5191823

This is purely travel related as I posted it in /trv/ earlier, but since this thread is going alright I'd figure I'd ask it here.

Hey can someone tell me this:

How is smoking (cigarettes) viewed in EU? I'm going to be spending some time in France (Paris, Lyon) and Italy (Rome and Emilia-Romagna)

Where I'm from (California), smoking has become pretty much criminalized. You get dirty looks, people LOUDLY COUGHING from 50 feet away - can't smoke within 50 feet of any doors, can't smoke in bars, it's ridiculous.

Is smoking a little more easy going in EU, specifically where I'm going - France and Italy?

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:05:38 2014 No.5191827

>>5191823
Smoking is ridiculously easy-going in Europe, but make sure to check the local laws. Most European countries prohibit smoking inside, but some hotels have smokers' rooms.

I remember about two years ago, in Paris, how I walked past a high school, the morning break started and all kids walked on the street to smoke.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:08:41 2014 No.5191834

>>5191827
Good lord that's refreshing. There's so much I'm reading and seeing of Europe (France and Italy in particular) that make me contemplate simply uprooting and moving there. I have no real attachments here and I'm starting to grow a distaste for where I live, what's there to lose? Though I'm not sure how difficult it is to obtain a Visa.

I think this 'trip' will be a lot of me testing the waters and seeing if I'd fit in around these places.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:19:15 2014 No.5191855

>>5191834
Please don't be American around Paris, everyone'll hate you. I remember last time standing on top of the Arc de Triomphe - two American tourists had just met for the first time, one told the other how he wouldn't take the Metro because he was scared of getting murdered.

People don't really have guns outside the US. We have health care instead. ba dum tss

But yeah, if you got some good qualifications, they'll easily give you a visa. If you're under 32 (not sure about the exact age) and got some savings you could try a working holiday visa..

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:21:57 2014 No.5191858 >>5191855 >People don't really have guns outside the US. We have health care instead. In the Nordic countries, along with Switzerland and various other European countries, we have both. Enjoy your travels, OP!

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:22:53 2014 No.5191860

>>5191823

Nobody cares if you smoke in France, it's our national sport. Coffee, a cigarette and the smell of piss in the morning, that's Paris in a nutshell. I hope you'll enjoy your stay, if you're curious, patient and make the effort of trying to use a litte bit of french when you talk to people (even with a heavy accent if you have one) you should have a great experience.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:24:26 2014 No.5191862

>>5191855
>please don't be American
I'm trying to be the antithesis of a tourist on this. I'm backpacking, it's not as if I'm on a tour group or something.

And as far as the metro thing goes, I'm not averse to rougher areas. I grew up in a fairly tough area (then again I have no idea the conditions of the rougher parts of Paris.

I have heard Parisians are absolute assholes though. True?

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:25:02 2014 No.5191865

>>5191860
> make the effort of trying to use a litte bit of french when you talk to people

I can confirm this - when I said my standard "Bonjour! Il va bien, et vous? Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? Mon francais est trés mauvaise (mauvais?)" faces just lit up

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:27:43 2014 No.5191868 >>5191860 Does me being a massive Serge Gainsbourg fan help as well? I have absolutely no idea how big he is in France, I always assumed he was like the Elvis [sorta] of France (I know what a strange comparison that is)

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:29:44 2014 No.5191872

>>5191862
Paris isn't especially rough, I've heard worse things about the US. Muggings happen though, and who can forget the banlieue riots.. But you'll never get there, there's nothing to see or do there.

>I have heard Parisians are absolute assholes though. True?
That depends - it's a huge city which, like all huge cities, has its share of gigantic assholes, just think of New York. But, I've mostly heard that judgement from Americans - the kind of people who wouldn't even try to speak French as described in >>5191865 and >>5191860
Speak a tiny bit of French, be nice, "quiet" and respectful, and people will love you

Also now that I remember: Go to Shakespeare & Company, the catacombs, and the Paris sewer museum

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:38:08 2014 No.5191884 File: 129 KB, 380x480, American Halloween costume.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5191865 "Bonjore. Jay am American. Jer want starbucks. Sivoo play mercy."

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:39:07 2014 No.5191885 >>5191884 not being fat and sweaty probably helped too

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:39:34 2014 No.5191887 >>5191868 Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, you don't need to worry. There's a well developed infrastructure to make sure that visitors have a good time.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:40:29 2014 No.5191888

>>5191862

It is true that first encounters can be a bit rough, and some parisians are full of themselves, but a huge portion of the people you'll meet will be either foreigners or Frenchmen who were born and raised outside of Paris.If you go to bars or concerts you should meet nice people, a lot of us actually like tourists.

>>5191865

Yeah, I personally don't mind tourists asking questions in english (even tried to answer a couple of Chileans in spanish the other day even though I'm terrible at it), but when they try to communicate in french it's much more pleasing, most of the time they really apply themselves because they struggle with the pronunciation and it makes them so much more sympathetic right from the start. You'll get better results that way, that's certain.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:43:30 2014 No.5191898 >>5191884 >the "american guy"s shoes wut

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:45:42 2014 No.5191903

>>5191868

Gainsbourg is pretty big, everybody knows at least one or two songs of him. I know a lot of young people who adore him. Edith Piaf and Georges Brassens also enjoy legendary status over here, I'd say it's our big three when it comes to the "old stuff".

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:50:12 2014 No.5191912 >>5191903 So he's kind of like the Jim Morrison of France? Absolutely nobody knows of him in the states. Shame.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:51:04 2014 No.5191913 >>5191884 Do Europoors actually dress up as Americans for Halloween?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:55:41 2014 No.5191918 >>5191913 >Do Europoors actually dress up as Americans for Halloween? Yes. We also have warning pictures of Americans on fast food wrappers just like the pictures of diseased lungs on cigarette packets.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 07:59:44 2014 No.5191923 >>5191913 We label 'automatics' as 'American edition' and reserve them for people with disabilities.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:06:52 2014 No.5191933 File: 8 KB, 205x246, 1406372961962s.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >know a decent amount of French, still learning >watch a French movie >they talk too fast for me to understand

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:17:15 2014 No.5191949 >>5191918 dude no way! thats hilarious we should have those here, picture of a huge landwhale and her little manatees on the side of your container of super size fries

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:18:29 2014 No.5191954 >>5191903 >edith piaf mah nigga

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:25:11 2014 No.5191964 Orwell's Down and Out In Paris & London is pretty epic for Paris

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:29:50 2014 No.5191971 >>5191903 "our big three" >no jacques brel >no barbara u wot m8

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:31:02 2014 No.5191975

>>5191933
you fuckers have it so easy. Imagine having to learn English so you can do anything in the Internet or to talk with anyone when traveling.

Fuck this was always so traumatic for me, my parents not speaking a word in english always pushing me forward to speak with some niggers in my broken english, when I was 8 years old.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:34:19 2014 No.5191981 >>5191971 >stealing belgians no m8

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:35:03 2014 No.5191984 >>5191975 Isn't a baptism of fire the best way to really get to know a language though? Not doubting how difficult it is.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:37:44 2014 No.5191986 >>5191981 >not liking brel

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:39:38 2014 No.5191990 >>5191986 I like him, he's just not one of "your big three".

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:40:03 2014 No.5191991 >>5191981 >stealing from a country that doesn't really exist

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:43:23 2014 No.5192002 >>5191990 He is, though. I would put him above Brassens anyday. And anyway, Piaf is nice but she is not as liked as the three others by the younger generations.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:47:14 2014 No.5192010 File: 13 KB, 466x264, laughing bores.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5191991 keep talking shit while Brussels rules your country

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:48:51 2014 No.5192013 >>5192010 everyone knows it's Berlin really

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:53:35 2014 No.5192028 >>5192013 finally

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:56:11 2014 No.5192035 I was thinking about doing the same thing OP but then I realized I won't really have all that much fun if I won't have a girl at my side. And since I have none my plans were postponed.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:58:19 2014 No.5192038 >>5191621 Walking Across Thin Ice, Werner Herzog >you best be walking the whole way to stop yr friends death, or propose to your wife-to-be

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 08:58:57 2014 No.5192040 >>5192035 >making your success in life dependent on a woman >being this pathetic gb2/r9k/

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:02:34 2014 No.5192051 >>5192040 dude i'm in my 20s, i need some pussy every now and then

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:04:22 2014 No.5192057 >>5192051 >implying Paris isn't the prime pussy capital of the world >African, Asian, European pussy, all looking for romance in the city of love

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:06:48 2014 No.5192064 >>5192057 >implying anyone browsing /lit is outgoing enough to make use of that

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:18:45 2014 No.5192096 >>5191621 Are you going to Barcelona? Read something by Carlos Ruiz Zafon in that case.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:47:26 2014 No.5192145 >>5191860 I know literally zero French but I have a minor grasp in Italian. Given that they're Romance languages, could I get by with that?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:48:33 2014 No.5192148 >>5192057 > go to Paris looking for lurve > shack up with some American neckbeard Does not compute, dude.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:50:32 2014 No.5192158 >>5192148 Dude who doesn't love America. Greatest nation in the world, everyone wants our seed. USA USA USA

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:50:35 2014 No.5192159 You sound like a faggot OP >le boergoisie delusion that travel makes you more "rounded" or "experienced" There are people working 10 hour days in call centres with more to say than some twink faggot trudging around Venice in unmarked converse

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 09:55:54 2014 No.5192179 >>5192159 Sour grapes, eh? Can't afford to travel and when you do I imagine you try as hard as possible not to immerse yourself in the culture

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:01:15 2014 No.5192194 >>5192159 good lord you're a retard

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:02:39 2014 No.5192198 >>5192159 >boergoisie more like spergoisie amirite

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:04:25 2014 No.5192200 File: 97 KB, 750x500, Carnevale-di-Venezia.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5191913 In europe there is no halloween

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:04:47 2014 No.5192201 >>5192179 >>5192194 >>5192198 Stop samefagging, OP/

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:08:05 2014 No.5192210 File: 4 KB, 333x118, lel.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5192201

RIcky Sat Jul 26 10:09:48 2014 No.5192216

>>5192200
Halloween is getting to be a thing here in Denmark actually.
One more occasion to sell costumes and candies and pumpkins I suppose.

The co-opting of this particular holiday irks me extra since we already have one almost exactly like it in, I think, February. Costumes, kids going door-to-door, parties etc.

I doubt DK is the only European country where this is happening.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:10:09 2014 No.5192217 File: 8 KB, 333x118, 1406383685360.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5192210 You clearly photoshopped that. Here's the original.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:10:12 2014 No.5192218 >>5192210 >actually absolving yourself how new are you?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:12:05 2014 No.5192225 >>5192179 I have plenty of money saved from working and living pretty ascetically, thanks. Enjoy eating overpriced sandwiches for the sake of being "cultured" faggot

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:13:53 2014 No.5192231 File: 4 KB, 160x160, th.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5192225 >he isn't an alcoholic

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:26:29 2014 No.5192280
File: 14 KB, 228x346, index.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>5191621

Read this, and then go sightseeing around the Louvre with a 16th century Paris map. Guaranteed thrills.

(for an antique map check http://perso.numericable.fr/parisbal/plans/1550_StVictor.JPG))

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:27:03 2014 No.5192284 >>5192225 >living pretty ascetically that's why you feel the need to lecture other people, uh?

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:32:29 2014 No.5192300

>>5191971

I was talking about the most popular French singers. Brel isn't French, and Barbara is far from being as popular as the three I mentioned. Most people only know "L'Aigle Noir". I have nothing against her, and my personal top 3 (talking about quality here) would probably be Ferré-Ferrat-Gainsbourg.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:50:28 2014 No.5192340 >>5192216 the 31 October here (italy) is the dead's day. We go on the graves of our fathers flowers and candles, there is even a mass at the cemetery. It's not a day for fun.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:55:12 2014 No.5192360 >>5192340 *with flowers and candles

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:56:28 2014 No.5192363 >>5192340 When do you have fun?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:56:39 2014 No.5192365 >travel >2014 We have the internet now.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:57:29 2014 No.5192368 >>5192365 NEET detected

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 10:59:46 2014 No.5192376 >>5192368 The majority of this board bask in glorious NEETdom.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:00:41 2014 No.5192379 >>5192376 >glorious >bask I hope you mean hide and shameful

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:09:40 2014 No.5192411 File: 409 KB, 590x333, literay life.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5192368 Correct.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:14:11 2014 No.5192420

>>5192363
our halloween is the carnival day (almost a week) before lent, in this day/week we had fun and do shit. Then starts 40 days of lent (jesus is dead, the cross is covered in the church the bell don't toll...). Then again feast at easter (resurrection)

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:16:52 2014 No.5192425 >>5192365 please kill yourself

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:19:22 2014 No.5192431 >>5192425 With google earth you can see all the world without putting a foot out of the door

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:22:00 2014 No.5192438 >>5192431 Go and explore Phnom Penh then. Forget about the throngs of gorgeous young asian girls waiting to pounce on you and fuck you senseless for a very reasonable price, just try to have a google walk around the capital city.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:24:02 2014 No.5192443 File: 61 KB, 1020x365, 1396268709767.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5192438 just wait....

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:25:11 2014 No.5192445
File: 238 KB, 1100x623, ending is better than mending.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>5192379
>2014
>work is on the way out for the majority of people
>automatisation is going to really pick up speed soon
>first world countries have welfare that you can live off comfortably
>unconditional basic income on the way
>europe is forming a proper union like the americans, these unions lie at the base of the world state
>social democracy and progressive liberalism are becoming the only acceptable political ideologies
>recreational drug use getting legalised
>the web increases its embrace of the world, uniting us in a globalist metaculture of buying stuff and smiling
>escalator squash and electro-magnetic golf in VR with the lads across the world
>alpha children wear grey
>they work much harder than we do because they're so frightfully clever
>i'm really awfully glad I'm a beta, because I don't work so hard

My body is ready.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:27:17 2014 No.5192450 >>5192438 >the point of travel is to exploit poor jungle asians are you british?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:29:10 2014 No.5192456 >>5192450 8/10 well played

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 11:32:01 2014 No.5192465 Lyon is a good city. Transports everywhere.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 12:07:13 2014 No.5192604 File: 44 KB, 316x499, gladpunpun.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5191823 we in EU love our coffe and cigarettes, just remeber to share! sharing is caring

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 12:18:42 2014 No.5192635 >>5192040 Fag

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 12:24:37 2014 No.5192655
File: 65 KB, 453x894, 1397916220682.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

OP, I've been looking to plan a similar solo backpacking trip in Europe, also primarily in France (I have a French friend living in the US who has tons of friends there with whom I can shack up). Any tips on planning such an journey? I've been doing some basic snooping around the internet, but the amount of information is overwhelming.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 16:23:33 2014 No.5193886 >>5192159 this nigga mad asf lmao

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 16:25:18 2014 No.5193896 >>5192655 >with whom I can shack up I hope you realize that he is lying to you.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 22:59:08 2014 No.5195380 >>5191913 No, our clothes are too big. It'd be silly to see a bunch of people with pants around their ankles trying to convince their neighbors to give out candy. >>5192420 We call that Marti Gras.

Anonymous Sat Jul 26 23:20:37 2014 No.5195478

Backpacking from August 2nd to November 15th (Lisbon-Madrid-Barcelona-Montpellier-Nice-Lucerne-Milan-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Sofia-Istanbul-Bucharest-Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Bonn-Bruges-Strasbourg-Paris-Hamburg-Hirtshals-Faroe Islands (Torshavn)-London-Cardiff-Glasgow-Hexham-London (departure).

Bringing a copy of 'Speak, Memory' for insights on how one can stylize/poeticize memory, and Moitessier's 'The Long Way' because I've been meaning to get around to it for months and figure it in the midst of my own period of wanderlust.

Though, in all probability, I'll probably get very little reading done.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 26 23:22:39 2014 No.5195491 Camus

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